Adoption in Turkey is most commonly associated with the institutional route administered by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, in which prospective parents apply to the authorities, are assessed, and are matched with a child in state care. That is not, however, the only route available.
Adoption may also proceed by agreement between individuals, where a prospective adopter and the child's parents agree to the adoption and the matter proceeds directly to the family court. This route is used most frequently within families, for step-children, and in arrangements where the child is already in the prospective adopter's care.
The legal conditions are identical to those applying to institutional adoption. Turkish law does not distinguish between adopting a child from state care, adopting a relative's child, or adopting the child of a person known to the adopter. The same statutory conditions, the same court process, and the same investigation apply in each case.
This guide sets out the conditions, the consent requirements and their timing, the court process, and the additional dimension that arises where a foreign national is involved. For the institutional route, see our guide on adoption in Turkey: legal procedures and requirements.
Quick answer: Adoption of a minor requires that the adopter has cared for and educated the child for at least one year, that the adoption is for the child's benefit, and that the interests of the adopter's other children are not inequitably prejudiced. Spouses may only adopt jointly, and must have been married at least five years or have reached thirty. An unmarried person may adopt alone from the age of thirty. The adopter must be at least eighteen years older than the child. Parental consent is required, cannot be given until six weeks after the birth, and may be withdrawn within six weeks of being recorded. The decision is made by the family court after a comprehensive investigation.
The conditions are set out in the Turkish Civil Code and apply whether the adoption proceeds through the institutional route or by agreement between individuals.
A minor may be adopted only where the adopter has cared for and educated the child for at least one year. This is a mandatory condition and adoption cannot be authorised without it being satisfied.
The requirement is treated seriously by the courts. Where a first instance court granted an adoption without establishing that the one-year period had been satisfied, the Court of Cassation has set the decision aside. The period must be evidenced, not asserted, and the evidence should demonstrate actual care and education rather than periodic contact.
In practice this shapes the sequence of a private adoption. The care relationship is established first, the one-year period runs, and only then can the application succeed. Prospective adopters who apply before the period has been completed will not obtain an order.
The adoption must in every case be for the benefit of the minor. This is not a formality. The court assesses the suitability of the family environment, the adopter's economic capacity, the education and care that can be provided, and the psychological fit between the child and the adopter.
The interests of the adopter's existing children must not be inequitably prejudiced by the adoption. Note that this is a matter of protecting existing children's interests, not a prohibition on adoption by those who already have children. The former requirement that an adopter have no descendants was removed for the adoption of minors.
Spouses may adopt only jointly. Persons who are not married to one another cannot adopt jointly.
To adopt jointly, spouses must either have been married for at least five years or have completed thirty years of age.
One spouse may adopt the child of the other where they have been married for at least two years, or where the adopting spouse has completed thirty years of age.
This is the most common form of private adoption in practice, and the consent requirements considered below apply to it in the same way as to any other adoption.
An unmarried person who has completed thirty years of age may adopt alone. The one-year care requirement, the age difference requirement, and the child's benefit criterion apply as they do to joint adoption, and the court examines the applicant's economic circumstances, health, living conditions, and the education and care they can provide.
A married person who has completed thirty years of age may adopt alone in defined circumstances, where joint adoption is not possible because the other spouse permanently lacks the capacity of discernment, because the other spouse's whereabouts have been unknown for more than two years, or because the spouses have been living separately by court decision for more than two years. The applicant must prove that one of these circumstances applies.
The person adopted must be at least eighteen years younger than the adopter. This is an absolute requirement, and adoptions have been set aside on appeal for failing to satisfy it.
An earlier administrative directive imposing a maximum age difference of forty years between adopter and child has been repealed, so there is no upper limit of that kind, though the court will consider the age of the adopter as part of the overall assessment of the child's benefit.
Adoption requires the consent of the child's mother and father. Consent is declared orally or in writing before the court of the place where the child or the parents reside, and is recorded in the court minutes. Without it, the adoption cannot proceed.
Because the consent is given before the court and recorded formally, it is not something that can be dealt with by private agreement or by a signed document exchanged between the parties. This is one of the respects in which a private adoption is nonetheless a court-supervised process from an early stage.
Two periods apply and both are commonly misunderstood.
Where consent is withdrawn within that period, the adoption cannot proceed on the basis of it. Where the period passes without withdrawal, an application may be made to the family court or the civil court of first instance for the existence of the consent to be formally established.
The one-year care and supervision period is generally understood to run following the establishment of consent, so the sequence and its timing should be planned rather than left to chance.
The Civil Code provides for circumstances in which parental consent may be dispensed with, including where a parent is unknown, has been absent for a long period without their whereabouts being known, permanently lacks the capacity of discernment, or has not sufficiently fulfilled their duty of care toward the child.
These grounds are narrowly applied and must be established with evidence. Applications proceeding on the basis that consent should be dispensed with require considerably more preparation than those with consent in place.
Where the child has the capacity of discernment, their consent is required. A child who is capable of forming and expressing a view about the adoption cannot be adopted against that view.
The adoption decision is made by the family court of the adopter's place of residence, or in the case of joint adoption by spouses, the court of the residence of either spouse. The proceedings are a matter of non-contentious jurisdiction.
The court does not decide on the papers. The judge must comprehensively investigate all circumstances and conditions considered material, hear the adopter and the person to be adopted, and obtain expert opinion where necessary.
In practice this means the file is referred to a social services expert who conducts a home visit, interviews the prospective adopter and the child separately, makes contact with the child's school where relevant, and prepares a report. The report addresses whether the care period has been satisfied and whether the adoption serves the child's benefit.
An adoption granted without this investigation being carried out is liable to be set aside on appeal, as is one granted without hearing the parties.
The documentary requirements vary with the circumstances, but generally include identity and civil registry documents for the adopter and the child, evidence of the adopter's income and accommodation, a health board report confirming the absence of physical, mental, or psychological impediment and of addiction, evidence establishing the one-year care period, the record of parental consent, and where the child is under guardianship, the permission of the guardianship authorities.
Documents issued abroad will generally require apostille certification and sworn translation.
The adoption takes effect on the court's decision, and the registration is then made with the population authorities.
On the adoption taking effect:
Adoption records are subject to confidentiality protections, and access to them is restricted.
The adoption of a person who has reached majority, or a person subject to restriction, is possible under a separate provision, subject to the adopter having no descendants and to additional conditions being satisfied. These include circumstances such as the adoptee having been cared for by the adopter for a defined period, or the existence of other just grounds.
Applications of this kind are more frequently refused than those concerning minors, because the court examines closely whether the adoption reflects a genuine parent and child relationship or is directed at a collateral objective such as inheritance planning or immigration status.
This dimension is absent from most published guidance on adoption in Turkey, and it is central to the position of our clients.
Where an adoption has an international element, Turkish private international law determines which country's law governs the various aspects of it. Capacity to adopt and the conditions of adoption are governed by the national law of each party at the time of the adoption. Whether the consent of the other spouse is required is likewise governed by the spouses' national laws. The effects of the adoption are governed by the adopter's national law, or in the case of joint adoption by spouses, by the law governing the general provisions of the marriage.
The practical consequence is that a foreign national adopting in Turkey may need to satisfy conditions under their own national law in addition to the Turkish conditions described above, and the interaction between the two should be assessed before proceedings are commenced rather than after an order has been made.
An adoption order made in Turkey does not automatically take effect in another country. Where the adopter intends to live outside Turkey with the child, or where the child will need to travel on the adopter's nationality, the recognition of the Turkish order in the destination state must be considered separately.
This should be addressed at the planning stage, because an adoption that is valid in Turkey but not recognised where the family intends to live produces serious practical difficulties concerning travel, residence, schooling, and inheritance.
An adoption affects the child's position under Turkish nationality and immigration law, and the specific consequences depend on the nationalities of the parties and the circumstances. Where a foreign national adopts in Turkey, or where a Turkish citizen adopts a foreign child, the immigration and nationality position should be assessed alongside the adoption itself.
An adoption may be set aside in defined circumstances, including where consent was absent or defective, or where a statutory condition was not satisfied.
The right to bring proceedings lapses one year from the date the ground became known and, in any event, five years from the adoption. These are strict periods, and the five-year outer limit applies regardless of when the ground was discovered.
For a broader overview of the framework, see our comprehensive guide to adoption procedures in Turkey.
Yes. Adoption may proceed by agreement between individuals, with the matter going directly to the family court. However, the legal conditions are identical to those applying to institutional adoption, and the court conducts the same investigation. Agreement between the parties is the starting point of the process, not a substitute for it.
At least one year. The adopter must have cared for and educated the child for that period, and the condition must be evidenced rather than asserted. Applications made before the period is complete will not succeed, and adoptions granted without the condition being established have been set aside on appeal.
The adopter must be at least eighteen years older than the child. An unmarried person may adopt alone from the age of thirty. Spouses adopting jointly must either have been married at least five years or have completed thirty years of age. One spouse may adopt the other's child where they have been married at least two years or the adopting spouse has completed thirty.
Yes, from the age of thirty. The one-year care requirement, the eighteen-year age difference, and the requirement that the adoption serve the child's benefit apply in the same way. The court examines the applicant's economic circumstances, health, living conditions, and the care and education they can provide.
As a general rule no; spouses may only adopt jointly. A married person who has completed thirty may adopt alone only where joint adoption is impossible because the other spouse permanently lacks the capacity of discernment, their whereabouts have been unknown for more than two years, or the spouses have been living separately by court decision for more than two years. The applicant must prove that one of these circumstances applies.
Consent cannot be given before six weeks have passed since the birth. Once given and recorded, it may be withdrawn within six weeks of the date of the record. If it is withdrawn within that period, the adoption cannot proceed on the basis of it. If the period passes without withdrawal, an application may be made for the existence of the consent to be formally established.
Consent may be dispensed with in defined circumstances, including where the parent is unknown, has been absent for a long period without their whereabouts being known, permanently lacks the capacity of discernment, or has not sufficiently fulfilled their duty of care toward the child. These grounds are narrowly applied and must be established with evidence, and an application on this basis requires considerably more preparation than one with consent in place.
Yes, where the child has the capacity of discernment. A child capable of forming and expressing a view about the adoption cannot be adopted against that view, and the court hears the child as part of its investigation.
The family court of the adopter's place of residence, or in joint adoption the court of either spouse's residence. The judge must comprehensively investigate all material circumstances, hear the adopter and the child, and obtain expert opinion where necessary. In practice a social services expert conducts a home visit, interviews the parties separately, contacts the school where relevant, and reports on whether the care period is satisfied and whether the adoption serves the child's benefit.
Partly. Where the adoption has an international element, capacity to adopt and the conditions of adoption are governed by the national law of each party at the time of the adoption, and the effects are governed by the adopter's national law or, in joint adoption, by the law governing the general provisions of the marriage. You may therefore need to satisfy requirements under your own national law in addition to the Turkish conditions, and this interaction should be assessed before proceedings are commenced.
Not automatically. Recognition in another state is a separate question governed by that state's law and by any applicable international arrangements. Where you intend to live outside Turkey with the child, or where the child will travel on your nationality, the recognition question should be addressed at the planning stage. An adoption valid in Turkey but unrecognised where the family lives creates serious practical difficulties.
It is possible under a separate provision, subject to the adopter having no descendants and to additional conditions. Applications of this kind receive close scrutiny, because the court examines whether the adoption reflects a genuine parent and child relationship or is directed at a collateral objective such as inheritance or immigration status.
An adoption may be set aside in defined circumstances, including where consent was absent or defective or a statutory condition was not satisfied. The right to bring proceedings lapses one year from the date the ground became known and in any event five years from the adoption, and the five-year limit applies regardless of when the ground was discovered.
Adoption by agreement between individuals is a genuine and frequently used route in Turkey, particularly within families and for step-children. It is not, however, a lighter or more informal process than institutional adoption. The statutory conditions are the same, consent is given before the court and recorded, and the family court conducts its own investigation before deciding.
The requirements that most often determine whether an application succeeds are the one-year care period, the age thresholds, and the consent timing rules. Each of them is capable of being satisfied with planning and each of them defeats an application that proceeds without it.
For foreign nationals, the additional dimension of which law governs the adoption and whether the resulting order will be recognised elsewhere should be addressed at the outset. These questions are considerably easier to answer before an application is made than after an order has been obtained.
Bayraktar Attorneys advises foreign nationals on adoption in Turkey, including private adoptions, step-child adoptions, the international private law dimension, and the recognition of Turkish adoption orders abroad. Contact us to discuss your circumstances and the route best suited to them.
