37.— (1) F42[A person habitually resident in the State, a step parent, a married couple married to each other, a couple who are civil partners of each other or a cohabiting couple], each of whom is habitually resident in the State, may apply to the F41[Child and Family Agency] for—

(a) an assessment of eligibility and suitability in relation to himself, herself or themselves, and

(b) the issuance by the Authority of a declaration of eligibility and suitability in accordance with that assessment.

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall—

(a) be made in writing addressed to an office of the F41[Child and Family Agency],

(b) be made in conjunction with a separate application under this Act by the applicants for an adoption order or the recognition of an intercountry adoption including in the circumstances discussed in section 81, and

(c) specify which state is the habitual residence of the child the applicants propose to adopt under their separate application referred to in paragraph (b).

(3) As soon as practicable after the F41[Child and Family Agency] receives an application under subsection (1), the F41[Child and Family Agency] shall take the following steps concerning the adoption proposed under the separate application referred to in subsection (2)(b) or arrange for the steps to be taken by an accredited body:

(a) providing information, advice and counselling to the applicants;

(b) carrying out an assessment of eligibility and suitability in relation to the applicants;

(c) preparing an assessment report that conforms to paragraph (1) of Article 15 (which relates to reports by Central Authorities of receiving states) and that includes—

(i) the information described in Article 15, and

(ii) a finding as to the eligibility and suitability of the applicants.

(4) As soon as practicable after preparing the assessment report referred to in subsection (3)(c), the F41[Child and Family Agency] shall refer the report to an adoption committee for the latter’s recommendation to the Authority under section 39(1).

F43[(5) A person may make an application for an adoption order in respect of a child where, at the date of the application—

(a) the person is—

(i) a spouse of a parent of the child,

(ii) a civil partner of a parent of the child, or

(iii) a cohabitant in a cohabiting couple where the other cohabitant is a parent of the child,

and

(b) the child, in respect of whom the adoption order is sought, has a home with the child’s parent and that person (in this Act referred to as a “step parent”), for a continuous period of not less than 2 years.

(6) The Authority, having regard to the particular circumstances of the case may accept an application for an adoption order in respect of a child notwithstanding that the child has not a home with the child’s parent and that step parent, for a continuous period of not less than 2 years at the date of the application.]