Adoption: the rules for adoption leave in Denmark

Parents are entitled to parental leave when they have a child. And if you adopt a child, you also have the right to leave.

Leave in connection with adoption from abroad

As prospective parents of a child/children adopted from abroad, you both have the right to absence with maternity/paternity benefits for up to 4 weeks before receiving the child, when you are staying abroad to receive the child.

The right only applies from the time when the adoption mediation organisation has given notice that you must travel to pick up the child up to and including the day when the formal conditions for taking the child out of the country are met.

If the stay abroad lasts more than 4 weeks for reasons that are not your fault, you can have the period of benefits extended by up to 4 weeks.

It is a condition that the adoption is mediated by an approved organisation. If it is a private adoption from a country with which the approved organisations do not have an agreement, the adoption must be carried out with permission from the Department of Family Affairs (Familiestyrelsen).

If the child is accompanied to Denmark, you are only entitled to leave when you receive the child.

Leave in connection with adoption from Denmark

If you adopt the child from Denmark, and if you stay with the child before the adoption in the place where the child was before the adoption, you have the right to absence with maternity/paternity benefits for up to 1 week. The day you bring the child home is included in the period before reception.

The leave can be extended by 1 week for special reasons that are not your fault.

If you receive the child in your own home, you are only entitled to leave when you receive the child.

CO-PARENTS: Leave after receiving the adopted child when the parents live together

If you as parents live together when you receive the child, you generally each have 24 weeks of leave after receiving the child.

In the first 10 weeks after receiving the child, you are both entitled to 6 weeks of leave. This means that mother and father / co-mother have equal access to leave in the first 10 weeks after the child's reception, and that the child can be looked after by at least one of the parents during the period.

You must take 2 consecutive weeks of parental leave each, but the 2 consecutive weeks can be divided by agreement with the employer so that, for example, one week is taken at the same time immediately after receiving the child, and the second week is taken at the same time, e.g. 4 weeks after the reception. It is also possible, by agreement with the employer, to take individual days at the same time within the first 10 weeks after reception.

The 2 consecutive weeks' leave cannot be extended.

Apart from the 2 consecutive weeks, the 6 weeks of parental leave cannot be taken at the same time.

You can each transfer up to 4 weeks of leave to the other adopter or one or more social parents if you are an LGBT+ or if there are more than two parents/step-parents.

After the first 10 weeks after receiving the child, you are each entitled to 32 weeks of leave, during which you can receive maternity/paternity benefits for 18 weeks.

If you, as an adopter, are a salaried employee or become one within the first year after receiving the child, you must take 9 of the 18 weeks of leave yourself – they are earmarked and cannot be transferred, unless there are special reasons.

The earmarked weeks must be held within 1 year of the child's reception.

Earmarked leave can be taken partially, but if all leave is not taken within the first year, the leave expires.

You can take the leave in continuation of each other, alternately or simultaneously.

You can transfer, extend or postpone the leave:

Transfer of leave: If you are salaried employees, each parent can transfer 9 weeks to the other parent or to any social parents, to be taken within the first year after the child's reception.

If you are self-employed, 18 weeks can be transferred to the other parent or any social parents.

The leave can be extended by agreement with the employer if you partially resume work or postpone the leave. In that case you can take the leave after 1 year after receiving the child and before the child turns 9.

Extension of leave: As parents or social parents, you can extend leave in connection with adoption by partially resuming work by agreement with your employer.

When you partially resume work to extend leave, you must work fewer hours than usual during a week.

The 32 weeks of leave (of which 18 weeks are with maternity/paternity benefit) that comes after the first 10 weeks of leave after the child's arrival can be extended by 8 or 14 weeks, but the benefit covers 24 weeks and cannot be extended. You can therefore take some of the leave "at your own expense" without salary or benefits. You only have to notify the employer of the extension.

Postponement of leave: As adopters, you have the right to postpone 5 weeks of leave, which can be taken after the first year after you receive the child and before the child turns 9.

The 5 weeks' leave is law-based - this means that you, if you are a salaried employee, have the right to take the leave later, even if you change employers.

As adopters, you can additionally postpone 4 weeks' leave (so-called agreement-based leave) after the first year after the child's reception and before the child turns 9 years old, by agreement with the employer. However, you have no guarantee that you will be able to take leave agreed with your employer later, or if you change jobs, for example. It depends on the agreement between you and your employer.

In order to postpone leave until after 1 year after receiving the child, you must resume full-time work during a period when you were otherwise entitled to maternity/paternity benefits. This concerns the first year after the child's reception.

It is a condition for taking deferred leave with benefits that the parent fulfills the employment requirement at the time of taking the deferred leave and that the parent is employed immediately before taking the leave.

If you transfer leave to social parents, they can postpone the weeks transferred to them. The deferred leave must be taken before the child turns 9.

SOLO MOTHER, SOLO FATHER OR PARENTS NOT LIVING TOGETHER: Leave after receiving the adopted child

If you adopt a child alone - i.e. without cohabiting with the child's other adopter - you are entitled to 22 weeks of extra leave, which as a rule must be taken within 1 year of receiving the child.

As a solo parent, you can also transfer leave to close family members.

Parents of twins, triplets or more children at the same birth are entitled to extra leave

If you adopt triplets or more than 3 children born at the same birth before 1 May 2025, you as parents are entitled to extra parental leave.

If you adopt twins or more children born on or after 1 May 2024, you are also entitled to extra parental leave if the children were born at the same birth and are under 1 year old at the time of reception.

Salary and maternity/paternity benefits in connection with leave upon adoption as an employee

If you adopt a child, both parents are entitled to maternity/paternity benefits:

4 weeks before receiving a child from abroad, if you are staying abroad to receive the child.
1 week before receiving the child in Denmark, if you are staying with the child in the place where the child is staying.
From you receive the child, if the child is received in your own home.

Whether you are entitled to full or partial salary in connection with adoption is stated in your employment contract, a local agreement, your collective agreement or the company's personnel policy.

The right to pay generally depends on whether your employer receives a full benefit refund during the period in which you are paid.

In order to receive pay during leave, you must therefore meet the requirements to receive maternity/paternity benefits.

Read about the requirements to receive maternity/paternity benefits

Remember to check whether your employer reports your leave. Your employer must apply for benefits for you from Udbetaling Danmark, and you will then receive a notification letter, which you must complete and return to Udbetaling Danmark. It is your responsibility that Udbetaling Danmark has the information before the application deadline:

8 weeks after the birth, if you are not paid during the leave,
8 weeks after the salary payment from the employer has ceased,
8 weeks after the first day of absence, when you start the leave at a later time, e.g. when taking paternity leave without pay.

Maternity/paternity benefits when adopting as self-employed

As a self-employed person and adopter, you are entitled to maternity/paternity benefits.

Read about maternity leave and the self-employed

Notification of leave in connection with adoption

As a mother, you must notify leave in connection with adoption as follows:

No later than 3 months before the expected reception of the child (if possible): Tell your employer whether you will take 4 weeks' leave before the reception of the child.
No later than 4 weeks before expected reception of the child: If you, as a mother, want to transfer up to 8 of the weeks that are in the first 10 weeks after the birth, you must tell your employer now. You must also state whether you are continuing directly on the subsequent leave.
6 weeks after receiving the child: If you take leave for the first 10 weeks after receiving the child, you must now tell your employer when you will resume your work.
If you take leave after the first 10 weeks after receiving the child, you must also tell your employer when you will take leave and how long the leave will last.
If you want to postpone 5 weeks' leave so that you can take them after the child turns 1, you must inform your employer no later than 6 weeks after receipt.

As a father / co-mother, you must notify leave in connection with adoption as follows:

No later than 4 weeks before expected reception of the child: Now you must inform your employer if you want to take leave for the first 10 weeks after receiving the child. You must tell your employer when you want to take leave and for how long.
6 weeks after receiving: If you want to take leave after the first 10 weeks after receiving the child, you must tell your employer when you want to take all your leave and how long the leave will last - also if you receive leave from the mother.
If you want to postpone the 5-week leave to after the child's first year, you must inform your employer of the postponement no later than 6 weeks after receipt.

Will you take deferred leave?

When you want to take the deferred leave of up to 5 weeks, you must inform your employer about when and how long you want to take the leave no later than 8 weeks before the start of the leave. You must take the leave before the child turns 9.

Parental leave