Same-sex adoption in Brazil

[1] The ministers (Justices) underlined that neither the Statute of Children and Adolescents of 1990, nor the Civil Code of 2002, much less the Federal Constitution of 1988, define any restrictions as to gender, marital status or sexual orientation of the adopter.

[2] On August 16, 2010, the minister (Justice) Marco Aurélio Mello, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court of Brazil), ruled in favor of a same-sex couple, formed by a British citizen and a Brazilian, in the state of Paraná.

The judge of the Childhood and Youth of Bagé, Marcos Danilo Edon Franco, permitted the adoption of two brothers by a lesbian couple.

[10] May 30, 2008 − In Acre, Judge Luana Cláudia de Albuquerque Campos of the Civil Court of the District of Senador Guiomard rendered a favorable decision involving a gay couple adopting a child.

The judge said the decision is unique due to the joint request of two persons of one sex with an entry in the register, in the same manner as a heterosexual couple.

[12] May 13, 2009 − a lesbian couple formed by an analyst and university professor Michele Kaners, 31, and Carla Regina Cumiotto, 37, from the city of Blumenau, in the State of Santa Catarina, won in court the right to adopt one girl and one boy.

They had their request granted by a judge who ruled that the couple were living in a stable and affectionate union, and were able to raise a child of either sex and age in a healthy environment.

[16] July 23, 2009 − the Justice of the State of Mato Grosso granted the same-sex couple Júlio Castilho, 40, and Paulo Ciliato, 35, the adoption of two brothers, aged six and eight.

The decision was declared by Judge Douglas Romão of the Court of Childhood and Youth of the District of Juara, a city located 690 km (428 mi) from Cuiabá, the capital of the state.

In the case, a lesbian couple from the city of Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, the physiotherapist Lídia Brignol Guterres and the psychologist Luciana Reis Maidana, had their right to share the adoption of two sons recognized.

[22] October 27, 2010 − the Justice of the city of Cascavel, Paraná, authorized the adoption of an eight-year-old child with cerebral palsy by a gay couple who had been living together for twelve years.

The authorization is irreversible, according to Judge Sergio Luiz Kreuz, who granted the application for adoption based on the decision of the Superior Court of Justice.

[23] November 16, 2010 − the Justice of the city of Boa Vista, Roraima, authorized the adoption of a two-year-old child by a gay couple, the course instructor Múcio Rosendo da Silva and the hairdresser Alexandre Lúcio de Farias.

The biological mother, that is heterosexual, gave evidence in the Court of Minas Gerais, demonstrating a desire to give her child up for adoption by the lesbian couple.

[27] June 30, 2011 - the Justice of the city of Itapetininga, São Paulo, authorized the adoption of five children, three male and two female, by a gay couple.