The High Court authorised the Adoption Authority of Ireland to make an adoption order for C.W. in favour of his foster carers and dispensed with the consent of his birth parents. Mr Justice MacGrath delivered judgment on 6 September 2018, after a hearing on an application under section 54(2) of the Adoption Act 2010.
C.W. was 17 and due to turn 18 on 11 October 2018. He had lived with the applicants since he was 13 days old and told the court unequivocally that he wanted to be adopted by them. He understood that adoption would establish legal ties with his foster parents and sever them with his birth family. The judge gave his views due weight in light of his age and maturity, while stressing that they did not determine the application by themselves.
The birth parents opposed the application. They disputed that they had abandoned their son, saying they had challenged the care order and wanted contact, and that they had stopped pursuing access partly because they believed it was in his interests. They also raised concerns about the handling of contact, his connection to his Nigerian and Yoruba heritage, the effect on his relationship with his siblings and whether adoption was proportionate. The court heard evidence from the birth mother and a foster parent; the birth father attended but did not give oral evidence.
The judge considered the statutory requirements separately. He found that, for at least the 36 months before the application, the parents had failed in their duty to C.W. to an extent likely to prejudice his welfare. He said they had not been involved in his day-to-day upbringing or key decisions, and considered the recent period alongside the earlier years when they had no contact with him. He also found no reasonable prospect that they could care for him without prejudicing his welfare before he reached 18, and that their failure objectively amounted to abandonment of parental rights. The care order, by itself, was not treated as proof of abandonment.
On proportionality and C.W.’s best interests, the judge concluded that adoption would provide greater security and legal rights within the foster family and was likely to benefit his psychological and emotional needs. He found the requirements of section 54(2) had been met and ordered that the Authority be authorised to make the adoption order and that the birth parents’ consent be dispensed with. The judgment records that C.W. remains free to reconnect with his birth parents or siblings if he wishes.