BUDAPEST — Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has promised to dismantle a rule that effectively prevented same-sex couples from adopting, placing family assessment back with child-welfare professionals rather than a cabinet minister.
Magyar announced the plan on 12 September, five months after his Tisza party ended Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Before a late-2020 change, a person in a same-sex relationship could apply as a single adopter. The amended system required approval from the minister responsible for family affairs for single-person adoptions, creating a political gate that rights groups said operated as an exclusion.
Hungary recognizes registered partnerships for same-sex couples but not marriage. Because joint adoption is tied to marriage, lesbian and gay couples have been pushed toward individual applications even when they are raising a child together.
Magyar said adoption decisions should be made by qualified professionals. That is an important principle, but repeal alone will not guarantee equality. The government will need to publish the new legal route, remove political vetoes, train assessors and provide an appeal process when an application is rejected.
Child-centred assessment should examine safety, stability and the applicant’s ability to meet a particular child’s needs. Sexual orientation is not a substitute for those questions. Nor should reform be framed as lowering safeguards: the same evidence-based checks can apply to every prospective parent.
The pledge also sits within a wider European legal conflict. In April, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Hungarian restrictions on access to content depicting LGBTQ lives breached EU law. The judgment addressed media rules rather than adoption, but it reinforced the limits on using public policy to erase a protected group from social life.
Families already formed under the old framework will need attention. A child may have only one legally recognized parent despite being cared for by two adults, affecting consent, inheritance and security if the recognized parent dies. Lawmakers should examine second-parent recognition as well as future applications.
Implementation should be measured through anonymized data on applications, waiting times, approvals and reasons for refusal, without exposing children or applicants. A reform that exists only in a ministerial speech would leave discretion intact.
Magyar’s pledge signals a change from a system designed around political permission. The test is whether Hungary builds an adoption process in which the child’s welfare is assessed consistently and a parent’s identity is not treated as disqualifying evidence.
Source Check: Reuters, 12 September 2026; Court of Justice of the European Union, 21 April 2026; Human Rights Watch, 22 April 2026.
Image recommendation: Produce an original policy graphic showing “political approval” being replaced by “professional child-welfare assessment.” Credit: “Graphic: SheFront.” Data reference: Reuters report. Do not depict identifiable children.
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