On January 14, 2014 Austria’s top court lifted a ban on gay adoption, bringing the country into line with many other EU countries.

The Constitutional Court said the law contravened the European Human Rights Convention. Explaining the decision, chief judge Gerhart Holzinger said there was ‘no objective argument for a differing rule based solely on sexual orientation’ of the parents.

Previously, only married couples were allowed to adopt but gay marriage is not legal in Austria.

However, LGBT* couples can form registered partnerships and have been able to adopt the biological child of their partners since 2013.

Some EU countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and France allow gay marriage with full adoption rights. However, varying restrictions remain in others such as Portugal, Germany and Hungary.