Call for Ban on Marriage Between Guardians and Adopted Children in Iran

A member of the Social Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has called for a ban on the marriage of guardians with adopted children in Iranian laws, citing what he termed "different requirements" of father-child relationships compared to spousal relationships. In an interview with the official news agency of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (House of the Nation) on Friday, Shakour Hosseinpour stated that the marriage of an adopted child with a guardian would cause "significant harm to the adopted children." Mr. Hosseinpour characterized the relationship between a guardian and an adopted child as "emotional, affectionate, and custodial," adding that changing the relationship from "father-child" to marriage would have "negative consequences and multiple effects." He supported the "prohibition of such marriages," stating that from a "religious basis," he does not consider the marriage of a guardian with an adopted child to be "correct." This parliament member explained his opposition by saying that "the content and form of father-child and husband-wife relationships are completely different, and the requirements of each of these relationships are different." Mr. Pourhossein added that "a legal prohibition alone is sufficient to eliminate the negative effects and consequences" and that "there is no need to criminalize this issue." His statements come at a time when, although there are "strict measures" in current laws regarding this matter, such marriages can be permitted with court authorization. Previously, in the Child Protection Bill, marriage between a guardian and an adopted child was prohibited, but in 2013, parliament members amended Article 27 of this bill to condition the marriage of a guardian and an adopted child on "the order of a competent court." The Guardian Council also approved this controversial bill, not considering it contrary to the principles of Sharia and the Constitution of the country. This bill had been approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly since 2009, but since previous resolutions had absolutely prohibited the marriage of an adopted child with a guardian, the Guardian Council deemed it contrary to Islamic Sharia and the Constitution and rejected it. The Islamic Consultative Assembly, to satisfy the Guardian Council's views, stipulated that the marriage of an adopted child with a guardian would only be possible with a court order. Following the approval of this bill by the Guardian Council and its conversion into law, many political and social activists, especially child rights advocates, opposed it for ethical and humanitarian reasons. In this context, Hassan Rouhani's government also announced its opposition to Article 27 of this bill, which allows the marriage of a guardian with an adopted child. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the then Minister of Justice, stated that such a marriage is "against the spirit of the law" and called for "reforms" in it. Shahindokht Molaverdi, the then Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, also stated that the approval of the amendment to Article 27 of the Child and Adolescent Protection Bill would have "devastating consequences." According to Ms. Molaverdi, this bill would "reduce families' willingness to adopt orphaned children, especially girls," and "women would not agree to adopt a girl if they consider the possibility of her marrying the guardian." ISNA news agency also reported in an interview with the then President of the Iranian Social Pathology Association that the law does not address whether a girl who marries her guardian has the right to divorce, and if her marriage leads to divorce, where she can live. Kourosh Mohammadi added that this law would seriously damage "societal values" and "take away the right of choice from someone we once took under our care as a child." He considered the marriage of a guardian with an adopted child to lead to an increase in "divorces and a new type of divorced children" in society, stating that "this marriage will provoke the reaction of the original spouse and could even lead to losing the original spouse." This law faced opposition from several clerics, including Ayatollah Ali Ashkouri, who stated that while the marriage of a guardian and an adopted child is permissible based on jurisprudential principles, "since it may create grounds for abuse within families, conflicts, and the disintegration of family structure, community leaders should prevent it for the sake of public interest." Bahman Keshavarz, the former head of the Iranian Bar Association, also opposed this law, stating that "this marriage is undoubtedly not an ethical establishment, and it should not be forgotten that the existence of this regulation reduces instances of adoption and decreases the number of volunteers willing to adopt children." Two years after the approval of this law, Iranian media reported on the efforts of the Welfare Organization to "eliminate the law on the marriage of guardians and adopted children." According to the newspaper Jahan Sanat, Habibollah Masoudi Farid, the then Deputy for Social Affairs of the Welfare Organization, stated that "based on the experiences we have in the Welfare Organization, this issue is very rare, and when something is this rare, it does not need to be included in the law." He described this type of marriage as "very rare and sometimes impossible in terms of custom and society." Four years after the approval of this controversial law, the House of the Nation website quoted Mohammad Nafarieh, the director general of child and adolescent affairs at the Welfare Organization, stating that the government intends to present a bill to parliament to prohibit the marriage of guardians with adopted children. As he mentioned, if this bill is approved, the marriage of adopted children with guardians, both during custody and afterwards, will be removed from the law.