According to the provisions of Article 14 of the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China, a stepfather or stepmother may adopt a stepchild with the consent of the biological parents of the stepchild, and may not be subject to the restrictions of Item 3 of Article 4, Item 3 of Article 5, and Article 6 of this Law, as well as the restrictions of the adoptee under the age of 14 and the adoption of one child. The details are as follows:
(1) Children whose adoptees are unable to support their biological parents due to special difficulties;
(2) The person placing out the child for adoption is the biological parents who have special difficulties and are unable to support their children;
(3) The adopter shall be childless, over the age of 30, capable of raising and educating, and not suffering from any disease that is medically considered unacceptable;
(4) The adoptee is less than 14 years old and can only adopt one;
(5) This kind of adoption is not limited by the provision that "adoption by a married person requires joint adoption by both husband and wife", and can only be a unilateral adoption by a stepfather or stepmother. Because there is a parent child relationship between the stepchild and his/her biological father or mother living together, there is no problem of adoption. However, when a stepfather or stepmother adopts a stepchild, he/she must first obtain the consent of his/her remarried spouse (i.e., the adoptee's biological mother or father), and obtain the consent of the other party's biological father or mother who does not live together with the adoptee. If a stepchild is over 10 years old, his or her own consent shall also be obtained.
