My Thai wife and I both want me to adopt my stepson, both of whom currently live in Thailand? I dont live in Thailand currently for work reasons. Assuming the real father agrees, how difficult is it to:

a) adopt and what are the procedures and approximate costs

after adoption we may want to change the surname to be the same as mine and my wife's. What are the procedures and costs for this?

b is a nice have, a is the primary need. Both have British citizenship, but I am guessing we would go down the thai route of adoption first. Would this then be recognised by the UK, or if not how would we get it recognised if we wanted to or needed to go down that route (not sure of any benefit of doing so perhaps others better qualified could advise).

I've read quite a few threads on thai visa but none seem to relate specifically to my circumstances or are archived, hence the new thread.

Thanks in advance.

UK isn't interested.

They say, dad's alive and Thailand adoption isn't internationally recognized.

Waste of your time and your money.

Really? I find that strange as you can adopt in the UK if the natural father is still alive

ok but surely if you get the adoption order in Thailand then you still should be able to get one in the UK albeit difficult or are you point blank saying its not possible.

At this stage even the thai adoption is good as to be honest I doubt we will ever go back to the UK and even when we were there we didnt encounter any issues, obviously my wife god bless her was and still is alive, but I imagine if the natural parent dies without legal adoption in the UK then that could present issues.

@maejomtb, it sounds like you are bitter about Thailand for some reason and see everything as impossible and negative. Your answer to the OP is not helpful at all and what has taking a driving test got to do with anything remotely concerning adopting a child?

@stament, to adopt your son here is possible, albeit very time consuming and you and your wife having to jump through a few hoops. Time frame for completion is between 2 and 3 years for the adoption to be finalized but once it is, this is th recognized worldwide, even in the UK. There is no need to go through any other process in the UK once it's finalized here. You would need to apply for an international adoption, wherein th authorities here would contact the UK and make sure that you would be eligible to adopt there as well as here I.e no criminal record, etc. it's a long process but, patience, you can do it and it doesn't matter whether the sperm donor is alive or dead! Worst thing with the adoption process here though is that, once it's finalized, the birth Mother loses all rights and privileges concerning the child as she must sign them all over to you. In other words, if there was an emergency and your son needed an emergency operation, it would need your signature on the form, not your wife's as she would have no rights over the child. I personally find this a ludicrous idea and would never ask my wife to give up rights to our son Isis this way. I hope that this helps a little. Regards,

Falcon, it thats the case that my Thai wife wouldnt have any rights over her own son then I wont go ahead, sounds ludicrous, why is that? Is it because the law leans towards males in such circumstances? Bizarre is this an international law or thai law?

The adoption will only be recognized by the UK if you do an international adoption. A Thai adoption will not be recognized at all in terms of citizenship/passport etc.

Please post the relevant link stating that a Thailand only adoption would provide all the benefits of a home country international adoption i.e. full citizenship of adopters home country, passport etc.

Also please post link stating the mother would lost parental rights in the case of an intermarriage adoption.

AFAIK, if the op adopted his wifes child (Thai adoption only), as long as they were married he would get 50% equal PR with the mother.

The adoption will only be recognized by the UK if you do an international adoption. A Thai adoption will not be recognized at all in terms of citizenship/passport etc.

Just to be clear wife and stepson have full British citizenship and passports as well as Thai. My concern is what if something happens to my wife god forbid, better to plan for the worst just in case. If my wife died now presumably I would have no rights as not adopted.

Lets take this one step at a time so not to confuse things which perhaps my original post unintentionally did.

What is the process for me adopting in Thailand and if I did how would this affect my wife and I in terms of rights whilst we are alive and also if either one of us died?