Choosing a name for your adopted child is a very personal decision. Your feelings, values, family tradition and fashion for children’s names may all come into it.
When naming your adopted child, these influences will be mixed with issues of culture, the wishes of the child’s birth parents, and the child’s age.
While the adopted child will usually take the last name of their new family, the Adoption Act 1994 has a principle of keeping the child’s first name. This is because a child’s first name is an important symbol of their past, and a significant part of their identity.
The importance of a name for children
For children adopted from overseas, their first name is an important link to their heritage. Other people may use it for many years to come in making links to the child. Keeping the first name acknowledges the importance of the child’s past and respects the name chosen by the birth parents or those who were caring for the child during early childhood. The right to retain one’s first name is contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Can the child’s name be changed?
If there are special circumstances where you need to change your adopted child’s first name, approval is needed from the Family Court of Western Australia. The Court considers the report that is prepared by the Social Worker and the reasons why a request is made for a name change.
The exception to this is for adoptions that are finalised in China, as the granting of the Adoption Order there makes the applicants the new legal parents at the time of placement. In these circumstances the parents can decide, although they are asked to uphold the principles of retaining the child's original name.
In cases where the child is 12 years or older, they must give their written consent for a change of name.
The new name is registered with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.