January 30, 2003, Belgium became the second country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Like in The Netherlands (the first country) this was achieved when the Christian Democrats were exceptionally not in power. However, the law still does not permit adoption by same-sex partners; and as birth within a same-sex marriage doesn't imply affiliation, the same-sex spouse of the biological parent has no way to become the legal parent.
Belgium allows marriages of foreign same-sex couples only if their country of origin also allows these unions.
According to the Belgian "Staatsblad" , approximately 300 gay couples got married between june 2003 and april 2004.(245 in 2003 and 55 in 2004). This was 1.2 % of the total number of marriages in Belgium during that period. Two out of three gay marriages were performed by male couples, one out of three was a lesbian couple.
