Péter Magyar was also asked at a press conference on Saturday, where he presented a report on the child protection system, whether the government planned to change the current rules requiring ministerial approval for adoptions by single people and same-sex couples.
Same-sex couples already faced an uphill battle
The prime minister repeated his earlier view that anyone who believes a child is better off with criminals or in inhumane conditions than with either a single parent or two good same-sex parents is a particularly evil person.
He said the system would be changed because such decisions should not be made by a minister, but by professionals capable of determining the conditions and support a particular child needs in order to grow up to become a happy and well-balanced member of society.
Orbán governments had previously tightened rules
The legislation still in force was passed by Parliament at the end of 2020 through an amendment to the Civil Code. In practice, it took effect on 1 March 2021, when a government decree made the adoption of children by single people subject to the personal approval of the minister responsible for family policy. At the time, the post was held by Katalin Novák, the former president who later resigned over the child abuse scandal in Bicske.
The Orbán government justified the measure by arguing that children’s healthy development could be ensured only in families made up of a man and a woman – a father and a mother.
As same-sex couples cannot jointly adopt in Hungary, they had previously been able to apply as so-called sole adopters. In practice, the ministerial approval requirement restricted this avenue. Applications were later assessed by ministers responsible for family policy, including the heads of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
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Adoptions became considerably harder
During the first two years after the measure was introduced, the ministry approved almost every application submitted by a single applicant who had already been deemed professionally suitable. The decision was not made personally by the minister, but by one of the ministry’s administrative departments on the basis of the documents.
This was misleading, however, because the multiple layers of administration and the recommendation process slowed applications down, meaning that a significant proportion never reached the decision-makers. In 2024, for example, just 11 single parents managed to adopt a child in Hungary.
Meanwhile, 2,416 children were waiting to be adopted in 2025, while 1,478 approved prospective parents were registered, according to figures from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
Check out some more articles concerning the adoption of same-sex couples in our LGTBQ in Hungary archive.
“[A]nyone who believes a child is better off with criminals or in inhumane conditions than with either a single parent or two good same-sex parents is a particularly evil person.”
Put it back in your pants, “Peti.”
Nobody believes it and you know it.
The normal, sensible, SANE majority believes that a child is better, indeed BEST, off with a mom and a dad who are in a committed, stable, loyal, lifelong relationship (i.e. marriage). Not only do we believe that, but numerous studies support it. Children in other types of “arrangements” have a greater propensity to drop out of school, substance abuse, criminality, anti-social behavior, and mental health issues.
Are there exceptions? Sure. There always are. But that is ALL they are: exceptions. Exceptions to the rule.
You are right, Dear Michael, about he insanity of regarding all people, and all walks of life, as equally same, equally good, and so on. Yet, until The West gives up on this premise, horrendous crimes, such as this, will go forth. All children deserve the right to be born into a Christian situation – starting with a real mom and a real dad; they who are committed making a loving and stable home.
BS.
Most major scientific and medical organizations report that children raised by same-sex parents fare just as well as children raised by opposite-sex parents.