of the bill, with three members concluding that the Constitution requires the recognition of same-sex marriages. The ruling was published in the official gazette on 28 April, giving the President twenty days to sign, or veto, the bill. On 17 May 2010, Cavaco Silva signed the bill into law. The law was published in the Diário da República on 31 May and became effective on 5 June 2010. On 7 June, Teresa Pires and Helena Paixão, the couple who had originally challenged the same-sex marriage ban in court in 2006, became the first same-sex couple to marry in Portugal, exchanging vows at the registry office in Lisbon. The first same-sex marriage in the Azores was performed on 29 August 2010 on Terceira. Article 1577 of the Portuguese Civil Code was amended to read: Marriage is a contract between two persons who intend to found a family through a full communion of life, in accordance with the provisions of this Code. 2012–2016 On 24 February 2012, Parliament rejected two bills which would have allowed married same-sex couples to adopt children. On 17 May 2013, Parliament rejected a bill to allow same-sex couples to adopt children in a 104–77 vote. On the same day, Parliament approved a bill in first reading to allow married same-sex couples to adopt their partner's children (i.e. stepchild adoption). However, that bill was rejected in second reading on 14 March 2014 in a 107–112 vote. On 17 January 2014, Parliament approved a resolution to hold a referendum on adoption rights for same-sex couples. On 28 January, President Cavaco Silva asked the Constitutional Court to verify whether the resolution was constitutional. On 19 February 2014, the court declared the resolution unconstitutional, and Cavaco Silva vetoed it the following day. On 20 November 2015, Parliament approved 5 bills granting adoption rights to same-sex spouses in first reading. The bills were sent to the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees. On 16 December, the committee merged the bills into one project and voted for its approval. On 18 December, the bill was approved by Parliament in its second, final vote. President Cavaco Silva vetoed the bill on 23 January 2016, with the decision being announced publicly on 25 January. On 10 February 2016, the veto was overridden by Parliament. The law was published in the official journal on 29 February, and took effect the first day of the