Two adults walking hand in hand with a small child across a park

Adoption in Turkey for Foreigners: Conditions, Step-Parent Adoption and Procedure

By Av. Talha Yayla · October 21, 2026 · 14 min read

Adoption in Turkey (Türkiye) is granted only by a court, after the child has been cared for by the adopter for one year and a full investigation shows that the adoption is in the child's interests (Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Art. 305, 315, 316). Spouses must adopt jointly and must have been married for at least five years or both be over thirty; a single person can adopt from the age of thirty (Art. 306, 307). The adopter must be at least eighteen years older than the child (Art. 308). Foreign nationals are not excluded, but each party's capacity and the conditions of adoption are tested under their own national law (Law No. 5718, Art. 18), and placement of a child from state care with a family abroad is a last resort.

Most foreigners who look into adoption in Turkey are in one of three situations: they are married to a Turkish citizen and want to adopt their spouse's child; they are long-term residents who hope to adopt a child from state care; or they want an adult adoption to formalise a long-standing family relationship. The rules are the same Civil Code provisions, but the route is very different in each case.

Decision-maker: the court at the adopter's place of residence; the relationship arises with the judgment (Art. 315).
Care period: the adopter must have looked after and educated the child for one year (Art. 305).
Joint adoption: spouses only; married five years or aged thirty (Art. 306).
Single adopter: aged thirty or over (Art. 307).
Age gap: at least eighteen years (Art. 308).
Consent: both birth parents, and the child if capable of judgment (Art. 308, 309).
Timing of consent: not before six weeks after birth; revocable for six weeks (Art. 310).
Citizenship: a minor adopted by a Turkish citizen may acquire Turkish citizenship from the date of the decision (Law No. 5901, Art. 17).

Legal status of this guide. It reflects the Turkish Civil Code, Law No. 5718 and Law No. 5901 as in force. The administrative procedure for adopting a child from state care, including eligibility criteria applied by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, is set by regulation and internal practice and should be confirmed with the provincial directorate. Last updated: October 2026.

Who can adopt

The Civil Code distinguishes joint adoption from adoption by one person.

Married couples

Spouses can adopt only together; unmarried partners cannot adopt jointly (Art. 306). The couple must either have been married for at least five years or have both reached the age of thirty.

One spouse adopting the other's child

A spouse may adopt the child of the other spouse. The Code sets a lighter threshold for this case than for joint adoption of an unrelated child; see below.

Single persons

An unmarried person who has reached the age of thirty can adopt alone (Art. 307). A married person aged thirty or more can adopt alone only in narrow cases where joint adoption is impossible: the other spouse permanently lacks capacity, has been untraceable for more than two years, or the spouses have been living apart under a court decision for more than two years.

The age gap

In every case the adopted person must be at least eighteen years younger than the adopter (Art. 308). In a joint adoption both spouses must satisfy this.

The welfare test

Meeting the formal conditions is not enough. Adoption must in every case be in the interests of the minor, and it must not unfairly prejudice the interests of the adopter's other children (Art. 305). The court's investigation, described below, is directed at exactly this.

Who can be adopted

A minor can be adopted if the conditions above are met and the required consents are given. A minor who is capable of judgment cannot be adopted without his or her own consent (Art. 308). There is no fixed age; courts hear the child and assess maturity, and in practice the views of a school-age child carry weight. A minor under guardianship can be adopted with the permission of the guardianship authorities regardless of capacity.

Adults can be adopted only in the limited cases set out in Article 313, discussed under adult adoption.

Adoption of a minor requires the consent of the child's mother and father (Art. 309). The rules are strict because consent ends their legal position as parents.

Form: consent is declared orally or in writing before the court of the place where the child or the parents live, and recorded in the minutes. A signature on a private document, or before a notary, is not sufficient.
Blank consent is valid: consent is effective even if the adopters are not named or have not yet been identified.
Not before six weeks: consent cannot be given until six weeks have passed since the birth (Art. 310).
Six-week withdrawal: consent can be withdrawn in the same form within six weeks of being recorded. Consent given again after a withdrawal is final.

The consent of one parent is not required where that parent's identity or long-term whereabouts are unknown, where he or she permanently lacks capacity, or where he or she has not adequately fulfilled the duty of care towards the child (Art. 311). Whether the last ground applies is decided by the court. Where a child has been placed with an institution with a view to adoption and one parent's consent is missing, the court of the child's residence decides, on the application of the adopter or the mediating institution and as a rule before placement, whether that consent is to be dispensed with (Art. 312).

In step-parent adoptions this is often the central issue. A father who disappeared after the divorce, pays no maintenance and has had no contact for years may be found to have failed in his duty of care, so that his consent is not needed; a father who sees the child and pays maintenance cannot be bypassed.

A missing consent can undo the adoption. If consent was not obtained without a legal ground, the person whose consent was required can ask the court to annul the adoption, unless this would seriously harm the child's interests (Art. 317). The claim must be brought within one year of learning of the ground and in any event within five years of the adoption (Art. 319). Do the consent stage properly.

The one-year care period

A minor can be adopted only if the adopter has cared for and educated the child for one year (Art. 305). The purpose is to test the relationship in real life before it becomes permanent.

For a step-parent, the year is usually already complete: the child has been living in the household. For a child from state care, the year is a formal placement supervised by the Ministry's social workers, governed by a temporary care agreement, with periodic reports that later go to the court. The adoption lawsuit is filed after the year has passed.

Adopting a spouse's child

This is by far the most common adoption involving a foreigner: a foreign husband or wife adopts the Turkish spouse's child from an earlier relationship, or a Turkish citizen adopts the foreign spouse's child.

The Civil Code allows a spouse to adopt the other's child where the couple has been married for at least two years or the adopting spouse is at least thirty. The remaining conditions apply in full: the eighteen-year age gap, one year of care, the child's own consent if capable of judgment, and the consent of the other birth parent unless a ground for dispensing with it exists.

The effects are worth understanding before filing. The adopting spouse becomes the child's legal parent with joint custody alongside the birth parent. The child takes the family surname. The child becomes the adopter's heir. And where the adopter is a Turkish citizen and the child is a foreign minor, the adoption opens a route to Turkish citizenship.

The reverse case — a foreign step-parent adopting a Turkish child — does not change the child's nationality under Turkish law, but may give the child a claim to the adopter's nationality under that country's rules, and the adopter's national law must permit the adoption in the first place (see below).

Adult and young child drawing together at a table — The one-year care period lets the court see the relationship as it is lived, not as it is described.

Adopting a child from state care

Placement of minors for adoption is carried out only by institutions authorised by the President (Art. 320). In practice this means the Ministry of Family and Social Services, through its provincial directorates. Private agencies and direct arrangements with birth families through intermediaries are not lawful routes, and paying for a child is a criminal offence.

The administrative stage runs roughly as follows:

Application to the provincial directorate where the applicant lives, with identity documents, proof of income, health reports, criminal record and, for a married couple, the marriage record.
Assessment by social workers: interviews, home visits and a social investigation report.
Waiting list. Demand for healthy infants greatly exceeds the number of children available for adoption; waiting times are long. Applicants open to older children, sibling groups or children with special needs are matched sooner.
Matching and placement under a temporary care agreement for the one-year period.
Court application after the year, with the Ministry's report.

For foreigners the realistic picture is this. The Ministry's practice gives priority to placing children with Turkish citizens resident in Turkey; placement with families abroad is treated as a subsidiary option, consistent with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to which Turkey is a party. A foreign national who lives in Turkey with a long-term or family residence permit, particularly one married to a Turkish citizen, can apply jointly with the spouse. A foreign couple living abroad should apply through the central adoption authority of their own country, which communicates with the Turkish Ministry under the Convention. Direct applications from abroad to Turkish orphanages do not lead anywhere.

Where adoption is not available or would take too long, the Ministry's foster family scheme is a separate possibility for residents. It does not create a legal parent–child relationship or inheritance rights, and the Ministry retains responsibility for the child.

Planning to adopt your spouse's child, or unsure whether your national law allows a Turkish adoption? Send both spouses' nationalities, the child's age and the position of the other birth parent. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form.

Adult adoption

An adult, or a person under guardianship, can be adopted with the express consent of the adopter's descendants in three situations (Art. 313):

the person is permanently in need of help because of a physical or mental disability and has been cared for by the adopter for at least five years;
the person was cared for and educated by the adopter for at least five years while a minor;
other justified reasons exist and the person has lived with the adopter as a family for at least five years.

A married adult can be adopted only with the spouse's consent. The provisions on adoption of minors apply by analogy to the rest.

Adult adoption is sometimes proposed as a way to obtain a residence permit or citizenship for a foreign adult. It does not work for that purpose. Citizenship through adoption is available only to minors, and a court asked to approve an adoption examines the reasons behind it; an adoption sought for immigration advantage, without a genuine five-year family life, will be refused.

The court procedure

The application is made to the court at the adopter's place of residence or, in a joint adoption, at the residence of either spouse (Art. 315). Adoption is a family-court matter. The legal relationship arises with the court's decision.

The court may decide only after a comprehensive investigation of all the essential circumstances, after hearing the adopter and the person to be adopted, and where necessary after obtaining expert opinion (Art. 316). The investigation covers in particular the personality and health of both, their relationship with each other, their economic circumstances, the adopter's ability to raise the child, the motives for the adoption, family relationships, and how the care relationship has developed. Where the adopter has descendants, their attitude is also considered.

In practice the file includes a social investigation report prepared by the court's expert or by the Ministry, health and criminal-record documents, proof of income and housing, and the minutes recording the birth parents' consent. A foreign adopter adds evidence of the content of his or her national law on adoption, properly translated.

If the adopter dies or loses capacity after applying, the adoption can still be granted provided the other conditions are unaffected. If the child reaches majority after the application, the rules on minors continue to apply if their conditions were already met.

Effects of adoption

Matter	Effect
Parental rights and duties	Pass from the birth parents to the adopter (Art. 314). In a step-parent adoption they are exercised jointly by the spouses.
Surname	A minor takes the adopter's surname. The adopter may give the child a new first name. An adult may choose to take the adopter's surname.
Inheritance from the adopter	The adopted person and his or her descendants inherit from the adopter like blood relatives (Art. 500).
Inheritance in the birth family	Continues. The adopted person inherits in both families.
Inheritance by the adopter	The adopter and the adopter's relatives do not inherit from the adopted person.
Confidentiality	Records and documents relating to the adoption are not disclosed without a court order or the adopted person's request.

Turkish adoption therefore does not completely sever the legal tie with the birth family: inheritance rights there survive. This differs from the "full" adoption known in many countries and can matter when the adoption is to be recognised abroad.

Citizenship

A minor adopted by a Turkish citizen may acquire Turkish citizenship from the date of the decision, provided there is no obstacle on grounds of national security or public order (Law No. 5901, Art. 17). The acquisition is not automatic on the court's judgment: an application is made to the civil registry authorities and decided by the Ministry of Interior. An adult adopted by a Turkish citizen gains no citizenship right from the adoption.

Foreign adopters and applicable law

Where the adopter or the child is foreign, the Turkish court applies the conflict rules of Law No. 5718, Article 18:

Capacity and conditions: governed, for each party, by that party's national law at the time of the adoption. The Turkish child must satisfy Turkish law; the foreign adopter must satisfy the law of his or her own country.
Spousal consent: the national laws of both spouses are applied together.
Effects: governed by the adopter's national law; in a joint adoption by spouses, by the law that governs the general effects of their marriage.

The practical consequence is that a foreign adopter must show the Turkish court that the adoption is permitted under his or her own law — minimum age, age difference, marital requirements and any prohibition. Nationals of countries whose law does not know adoption in the Turkish sense face a real obstacle, and the court may refuse where the adopter's law forbids it. Obtain a certificate of law from your consulate or a legal opinion early; it is the document that most often delays these cases.

Adoptions made abroad

An adoption order made by a foreign court does not appear in the Turkish civil registry by itself. Where one of the persons concerned is a Turkish citizen, or Turkish effects are needed — citizenship, inheritance, a residence permit as a family member — the foreign decision must be recognised by a Turkish family court. The court checks that the decision is final, that the Turkish party was properly able to take part, and that the result is not clearly contrary to Turkish public policy. Adoptions lacking a genuine examination of the child's interests, or made by simple contract without any authority's decision, run into difficulty at this stage. The procedure is explained in our guide to recognising and enforcing a foreign judgment in Turkey.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreigner adopt a child in Turkey?

Turkish law does not bar foreigners, but the adopter must also meet the conditions of his or her own national law, and children in state care are placed first with Turkish citizens living in Turkey. Step-parent adoption by a foreign spouse is the most common and most realistic case.

How long does adoption take in Turkey?

At least the one-year care period plus the court case. For a child from state care, waiting for a match usually takes far longer than the legal procedure itself.

Can a single person adopt in Turkey?

Yes, if aged thirty or over and at least eighteen years older than the child.

Can unmarried or same-sex couples adopt jointly?

No. Only spouses can adopt jointly, and Turkish law recognises marriage only between a man and a woman. One partner could apply as a single adopter, subject to the court's assessment.

Do I need the biological father's consent to adopt my wife's child?

Yes, unless his identity or whereabouts have long been unknown, he permanently lacks capacity, or he has not adequately fulfilled his duty of care towards the child. The court decides whether consent can be dispensed with.

Does the child have to agree?

A child who is capable of judgment cannot be adopted without his or her consent. The court hears the child directly.

Will my adopted child get Turkish citizenship?

A minor adopted by a Turkish citizen may acquire citizenship from the date of the decision on application, if there is no national security or public order obstacle. Adults adopted by Turkish citizens do not.

Does an adopted child inherit in Turkey?

Yes, from the adopter like a biological child, while keeping inheritance rights in the birth family. The adopter does not inherit from the adopted child.

Can an adoption be cancelled?

Only by court, where a required consent was missing or another essential defect exists, and not if cancellation would seriously harm the adopted person. The claim must be brought within one year of learning of the ground and within five years of the adoption.

Legal basis and sources

Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Articles 305–320 and 500 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
International Private and Procedural Law No. 5718, Article 18 — mevzuat.gov.tr.
Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 17 — mevzuat.gov.tr.
Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Administrative practice on placements from state care changes and should be confirmed with the Ministry of Family and Social Services.