Adoption Act, 1952

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Religion.

12.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless the conditions of this section in regard to religion are fulfilled.

(2) The applicant or applicants shall be of the same religion as the child and his parents or, if the child is illegitimate, his mother.

(3) The Board may, having regard to the special circumstances of a particular case, make an adoption order although the persons referred to in subsection (2) are not all of the same religion, provided that each of them is a member of one of the following religious denominations, namely, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, the Baptist Union of Ireland and the Brethren, commonly known as the Plymouth Brethren.

(4) The religion of a parent who is dead shall be taken to be the religion at the time of death.

(5) A child's religion shall be taken to be that in which he is being brought up.

(6) The Board shall have discretion to dispense with the condition as to the religion of a parent if unable to ascertain it.