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 Less than 10% of NZ couples with a Civil Union have converted to a marriage.

 25 same-sex couples have chosen a Civil Union since the law change.

Thus far in NZ there have been 881 same-sex marriages. 503 of those have been between women, 378 between men. For the women, 118 of those couples changed their relationship from a Civil Union. Either one or both partners had been previously married in the case of 106 female couples.

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Of the male couples, 92 of the 378 changed their relationship from a CU, and either one or both had partners had been married in the case of male 47 couples.

The majority of couples of either gender were marrying in their thirties. However, for men, more couples in their fifties were marrying than couple in their twenties.

Registrar General Jeff Montgomery also highlighted since the change of legislation there have only been three officially registered adoptions by same-sex couple. “It remains possible for people to adopt as individuals,” he says, which may explain the low number of registered adoptions by couples.

Statistics from 19 August 2013 – 14 July 2013, provided by The Department of Internal Affairs. 

Article | Oliver Hall

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