41 .—[F1(1)] A relationship existing by virtue of Article 40 may be referred to as an adoptive relationship, and
(a)a male adopter may be referred to as the adoptive father;
(b)a female adopter may be referred to as the adoptive mother;
(c)any other relative of any degree under an adoptive relationship may be referred to as an adoptive relative of that degree,
but this Article does not prevent the term “parent”, or any other term not qualified by the word “adoptive”, being treated as including an adoptive relative.
[F2(2) A reference (however expressed) to the adoptive mother and father of a child adopted by—
(a)a couple of the same sex, or
(b)a partner of the child’s parent, where the couple are of the same sex,
is to be read as a reference to the child’s adoptive parents.]
F1Art. 41(1): art. 41 renumbered as art. 41(1) (13.1.2020) by The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 30(9)(a) (with regs. 6-9)