Debate has occurred throughout Europe over proposals to legalise same-sex parental adoption as well as step-child adoption. Currently some types of adoption by same-sex couples are legal in 20 of the 56 countries and in 4 of the 6 dependent territories in Europe. Full joint adoption by same-sex couples is legal in sixteen European countries, namely Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland (effective March 2017), France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. An additional two, namely, Estonia and Germany, permit step-child adoption in which the registered partner can adopt the biological and, in some cases, the adopted child of his or her partner. In Croatia, a life partner may become a partner-guardian over their pa