Ecuador adoption law implementation and criticism

Ecuador has implemented the Reform Law of Various Legal Bodies for the Streamlining of Adoption. While the legislation is intended to expedite adoption processes and reduce the time children spend in institutional care, it has faced significant criticism from human rights organizations.

Critics, including Human Rights Watch and the Ecuadorian LGBT Federation, argue the law contains discriminatory provisions. The reform mandates that only different-sex couples may adopt and explicitly requires single applicants to be heterosexual. The Ecuadorian LGBT Federation has questioned how authorities will verify the sexual orientation of single applicants without infringing on privacy, noting that heterosexuality is not an indicator of parental fitness.

Furthermore, the law includes provisions regarding the parental rights of families with transgender children. It states that promoting medical, surgical, or pharmaceutical procedures intended to ‘modify the biological sex’ of a child can be grounds for the loss of parental rights. Human Rights Watch has warned that the term ‘promoting’ is vague and could lead to the loss of custody for parents providing medically recommended gender-affirming care.