The government led by Prime Minister Peter Magyar intends to amend Hungary’s 2020 law requiring single applicants to obtain approval from the minister responsible for family affairs before adopting. Magyar announced the change on Saturday, after unseating Viktor Orbán in April following 16 years in power.

The Fidesz rule has, in practice, been a major obstacle. Same-sex couples cannot adopt jointly, and their marriages are not recognised in Hungary; one partner could apply only as a single person, subject to ministerial approval. Reuters describes that filter as amounting to a ban.

The agency reports the case of Bence Lakatos, 36, a special-needs teacher, and Jozsef Vanyovszki, 41, who have been trying to adopt since 2021. They met in 2011 and married in Denmark in 2016; Hungary recognises civil unions, not same-sex marriage. In August Lakatos was found eligible to adopt as a single parent.

Vanyovszki said their first meetings with social services did not feel openly hostile, but they inferred that a decision would go against them. After three years without progress, the eligibility finding still felt unexpected. Lakatos also hopes for marriage recognition, which he says would remove extra difficulties.

A Median poll in June indicated that more than half of Hungarians would roll back Orbán-era LGBTQ restrictions, while two-thirds supported gay marriage and adoption. The government’s announcement is not yet law and does not automatically introduce joint adoption.

The amendment’s text, the parliamentary process and implementing rules will determine the real effect. Individual cases will still require social and legal assessment, with the child’s best interests as the reference. Until a vote, the 2020 rule remains the legal frame.

Image: Hungarian Parliament, Budapest / Pierre Blaché / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. The building, not an adoption sitting. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Hungarian gay couple hoping for adoption breakthrough under new PM Magyar | Reuters; Government of Hungary.