Adoptions in Greece recorded a 77 percent increase in 2017 when compared to 2016, the Greek Statistics Authority (ELSTAT) announced on Thursday. The increase is attributed to remarriages rather to the new adoptions law that was introduced at the end of 2017, beginning of 2018.
Of the 393 adoptions, 198 were girls and 187 boys with the highest increase observed in the geographical region of the islands of the Aegean and Crete (93.8 pct), followed by the region of Attica (93.2 pct).
The greatest rise in adoptions (162.5 pct) was registered by individuals married to the child’s biological parent. The adoption of children born out of wedlock rose by 208.3 pct compard to 2016.
The majority of the adopted children range in age between 0 and 5 years (57.8 percent). The age range showing the sharpest rise concerned 6- to 10-year-olds which jumped to 140 pct.
Adoptions 2008-2017
End of 2017, a new legislation was introduced to ease the complicated adoption process in Greece.
According to the previous legislation in effect for several decades, aspiring parents wanting to adopt had to wait between four and six years to do so. At the same time, estimated 2,800 children under the age of five lived in the country’s state-run institutions according to data end of 2017.
The situation was in the interests of neither parents nor children.
