St. Petersburg child services now require proof of ‘no sex change’ for adoption

People applying to become adoptive parents or guardians in St. Petersburg are now required to provide documentation proving that they have not undergone any gender-affirming transition. The city’s social policy committee confirmed to journalists at Fontanka that this paperwork — typically, a birth certificate — is now necessary for adoptions and guardianships to proceed. Last week, sources told the news outlet iStories that St. Petersburg has been enforcing the new policy for at least a year, though some offices will accept self-reported statements.

St. Petersburg instituted the rule despite the absence of such requirements in federal regulations. “They said we’d be in trouble if we accepted document packets without this certificate,” a child custody worker told iStories, admitting that these requests are embarrassing.

Staff at the city’s social policy committee confirmed to iStories that the new policy was instituted in spring 2024 to comply with Russia’s ban on “sex changes.” President Putin signed the ban a year earlier, also prohibiting adoption by people who have changed their registered sex. Attorneys told iStories that Russian officials lack the authority to demand documents not specified in federal regulations. St. Petersburg’s social policy committee told journalists that the federal authorities are still “working through the issue” of how prospective adoptive parents and guardians should prove their lack of “transition status.”