Non-married couples now allowed to adopt in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a law meant to speed and encourage adoptions, partly by allowing unmarried couples to adopt children in the socially conservative U.S. territory.

The law also allows biological mothers to hand over a newborn to hospitals without facing charges of child abandonment.

And the law signed will create a central registry of people seeking to adopt a child. It aims to streamline the process so children can be placed with their adoptive parents within two months.

The measure was submitted by Puerto Rico House of Representatives President Carlos Mendez. He is adopted and has said that his case took 19 years to resolve under old laws.

Most U.S. states require couples to be married if they jointly adopt children.