The country’s latest adoption reform maintains a constitutional restriction on same-sex couples, prompting LGBTQ+ organizations to announce legal challenges.
A new legal reform in Ecuador, published in the Official Registry on August 14, 2026, has confirmed that joint adoption is reserved exclusively for legally constituted couples of different sexes, excluding same-sex couples. The Organic Law Reforming Various Legal Bodies to Streamline Adoption also establishes that single heterosexual individuals will have the same opportunity to adopt as couples. This restriction did not originate with the new law: it was already set out in Article 68 of Ecuador’s Constitution, which states that “adoption shall correspond only to couples of different sexes.”
The reform’s main goal is to speed up adoption processes that had previously dragged on for long periods, setting new maximum timeframes for each stage: two months for investigating relatives, 45 days for the Technical Adoption Unit’s report and the ruling on adopters’ suitability, 40 days for matching children with families, and up to six months for family reintegration. The law also introduces new grounds for stripping parental rights, including certain medical, surgical or pharmacological interventions aimed at altering a minor’s biological sex, with an exception for people with intersex conditions.
LGBTQ+ organizations and groups have rejected both provisions and have announced they will challenge the law before the Constitutional Court, invoking principles of equality, non-discrimination, family rights and the best interests of the child; they have not ruled out turning to international mechanisms if they do not receive a favorable response. Until a court ruling changes the current framework, the constitutional restriction on same-sex adoption remains in force, reopening a debate in the country that combines legal, constitutional and social dimensions.