Ecuador has recently passed a new law containing discriminatory provisions that explicitly bar LGBTQ+ couples from adopting and establish that single adopters must be straight. The legislation also adds custody risks for parents who are supportive of their trans children.

Taking effect on August 14, the law was approved by Ecuador’s National Assembly in a 118-0 vote, with 25 abstentions. The Reform Law of Various Legal Bodies for the Streamlining of Adoption supposedly aims to remove inefficiencies in the adoption process.

While same-sex marriage is legal in Ecuador, the country’s constitution already contains provisions preventing LGBTQ+ couples from adopting. The new law compounds this existing ban by providing that single adopters must be heterosexual, thus barring lesbian, gay and bisexual people from accessing the same rights.

The law also targets parents of trans children by adding custody risks for those who are supportive of their transition. According to the text, which activists have criticised as too vague, parental “promotion” of gender-affirming medical care can justify stripping parents of custody rights over their children. The law also outlines a pathway in case both parents lose parental authority, where the child will be declared eligible for adoption.

The legislation also clarifies that these provisions do not apply to parents who support “normalising” medical intervention on children with diverse sex characteristics. Such surgeries are often performed on intersex children without informed consent and carry risks of lifelong sexual dysfunction, urinary incontinence, loss of sensation, psychological trauma, and sterilisation. For years, intersex activists worldwide have fought to have such procedures outlawed.

Speaking about the legislation, Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch, Cristian González Cabrera, said: “Improving the adoption system is a legitimate legislative goal, but it should not be used as a pretext to entrench discrimination and undermine children’s health.

“By legislating on the basis of bias and misinformation rather than evidence, Ecuadorian lawmakers are endangering children and perpetuating stereotypes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics,” Cabrera added.

The Ecuadorian LGBT Federation also condemned the law, stating: “Being heterosexual does not demonstrate parental fitness”.

“If heterosexuality becomes a legal requirement for a single person to adopt, institutions will have to determine, in some way, whether that requirement is met.”

The group also spoke about the provision regarding trans children, stating that parental support “does not make a family an enemy of childhood.”

The law comes amid a broader crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Ecuador, especially on the trans community. Ecuador legalised same-sex marriage in 2019 following a Constitutional Court ruling, but with limitations on the rights of LGBTQ+ parents.

Moreover, last year, President Daniel Noboa signed a public commitment stating that the government would prevent so-called “gender ideology” from being included in educational materials and would ban “sex changes” for children.

In 2026, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court affirmed the rights of trans adolescents in a landmark ruling, finding that officials cannot refuse to modify their documents’ gender markers solely on the basis of age. The ruling was handed down amid broader attacks against judges from the government and other actions that threatened judicial independence.