Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 45a — PROBATE COURTS AND PROCEDURE · Chapter 803 — Termination of Parental Rights and Adoption
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-724 (2026)

(Formerly Sec. 45-61i). Who may give child in adoption

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a) The following persons may give a child in adoption:

(1) A statutory parent appointed under the provisions of section 17a-112, section 45a-717 or section 45a-718 may, by written agreement, subject to the approval of the Court of Probate as provided in section 45a-727, give in adoption to any adult person any minor child of whom he or she is the statutory parent; provided, if the child has attained the age of twelve, the child shall consent to the agreement.

(2) Subject to the approval of the Court of Probate as provided in section 45a-727, any parent of a minor child may agree in writing with his or her spouse that the spouse shall adopt or join in the adoption of the child; if that parent is (A) the surviving parent if the other parent has died; (B) the mother of a child born out of wedlock, provided that if there is a putative father who has been notified under the provisions of section 45a-716, the rights of the putative father have been terminated; (C) a former single person who adopted a child and thereafter married; or (D) the sole guardian of the person of the child, if the parental rights, if any, of any person other than the parties to such agreement have been terminated.

(3) Subject to the approval of the Court of Probate as provided in section 45a-727, any parent of a minor child may agree in writing with one other person who shares parental responsibility for the child with such parent that the other person shall adopt or join in the adoption of the child, if the parental rights, if any, of any other person other than the parties to such agreement have been terminated.

(4) Subject to the approval of the Court of Probate as provided in section 45a-727, the guardian or guardians of the person of any minor child who is free for adoption in accordance with section 45a-725 may agree in writing with a relative that the relative shall adopt the child. For the purposes of this subsection “relative” shall include, but not be limited to, a person who has been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the father of a child born out of wedlock, or who has acknowledged his paternity under the provisions of section 46b-571, with further relationship to the child determined through the father.

(b) If all parties consent to the adoption under subdivision (2), (3) or (4) of subsection (a) of this section, then the application to be filed under section 45a-727 shall be combined with the consent termination of parental rights to be filed under section 45a-717. An application made under subdivision (2), (3) or (4) of subsection (a) of this section shall not be granted in the case of any child who has attained the age of twelve without the child's consent.

(P.A. 73-156, S. 10; P.A. 74-164, S. 9, 20; P.A. 80-476, S. 148; P.A. 86-264, S. 9; P.A. 96-130, S. 8; P.A. 98-52, S. 3; P.A. 00-228, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 74-164 reworded Subsec. (b) and added Subsecs. (c) and (d); P.A. 80-476 reorganized Subsecs., combining former (a), (b) and (c) as Subsec. (a) and designating former Subsec. (d) as (b), and rephrased provisions; P.A. 86-264 changed age of minor from 14 to 12 years of age; Sec. 45-61i transferred to Sec. 45a-724 in 1991; P.A. 96-130 made technical changes to Subdiv. (3) of Subsec. (a); P.A. 98-52 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by deleting phrase “or the other parent has been removed as guardian of the person before October 1, 1973”; P.A. 00-228 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by making a technical change and (a)(2) by changing “if the other parent's parental rights have been terminated” to “if the parental rights, if any, of any person other than the parties to such agreement have been terminated” and added new (a)(3) re agreement between parent of minor child and one other person who shares parental responsibility for child with parent that the other person shall adopt or join adoption of child, redesignating former Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv. (4), and amended Subsec. (b) by changing references to “subdivisions (2) and (3)” to “subdivisions (2), (3) or (4)”.

Annotations to former section 45-61i:

Cited. 198 C. 138.

Cited. 41 CS 23.

Annotations to present section:

Only adoption agreements authorized by Subsec. (a) are statutory parent agreements, stepparent agreements and blood relative agreements. 247 C. 474.

Cited. 45 CS 33.

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1996–2018 · leading case: In re Baby Z., 724 A.2d 1035 (Conn. 1999).
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In re Baby Z., 724 A.2d 1035 (Conn. 1999). · cites it 115× “, statutory parent, 7 stepparent or blood relative adoptions, permitted by General Statutes § 45a-724 (a). 8 The court further concluded, *479 however, that General Statutes § 45a-764 9 gives the adoption review board (board) authority to waive the requirement under § 45a-724…”
Kerrigan v. Comm'r of Pub. Health, 957 A.2d 407 (Conn. 2008). · cites it 4× “See General Statutes § 45a-724 et seq. (permitting same sex couples to adopt children); General Statutes §§ 53a-181j, 53a-181k and 53a-181 l (recognizing crimes of intimidation based on bigotry or bias for conduct directed at another on account of that person's actual or…”
Nancy G. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 733 A.2d 136 (Conn. 1999). · cites it 7× “” General Statutes § 45a-707 (7). A child-placing agency, in turn, is defined as “any agency within or without the state of Connecticut licensed or approved by the Commissioner .”
Zilkha v. Zilkha, 183 A.3d 64 (Conn. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 45a-724 (a) (1), for example, provides that a child in foster care who can be adopted must consent to that adoption [if the child has attained the age of twelve].”
Rosengarten v. Downes, 802 A.2d 170 (Conn. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 2× “The plaintiff next claims that the Connecticut legislature has evinced a willingness to recognize civil unions both by recently amending the adoption laws, found in General Statutes §§ 45a-724 through 45a-737, inclusive, to allow adoptions by same sex partners and by its refusal…”
In Re the Adoption of K.S.P., 804 N.E.2d 1253 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004). “See Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 45a-724(a)(2) and (3); 45a-731(5), (6) and (7).”
In Re the Adoption of Baby Z., 700 A.2d 1065 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1996). · cites it 16× “A Adoption Pursuant to § 45a-724 In the state of Connecticut, adoptions are governed by General Statutes §§ 45a-724 through 45a-737.”
Zilkha v. Zilkha (Conn. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 45a-724 (a) (1), for exam- ple, provides that a child in foster care who can be adopted must consent to that adoption [if the child has attained the age of twelve].”
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-724(a)(2) — 1 case
In Re the Adoption of K.S.P., 804 N.E.2d 1253 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004). “See Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 45a-724(a)(2) and (3); 45a-731(5), (6) and (7).”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.