Adoption means the process through which the adopted child is permanently separated from his biological parent and becomes the legitimate child of his adoptive parents with all right, privileges and responsibility that are attached to the relationship.

As per the Juvenile Justice act 2015
The following shall be eligible for adoption,

(a) Any orphan or abandoned or surrendered child, declared legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee;

(b) A child of a relative defined under sub-section (52) of section 2 of the Act;

(c) Child or children of spouse from earlier marriage, surrendered by the biological parent(s) for adoption by the step-parent.

Indian citizens can adopt in India under three major legislations:

• Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956 (Hindus, Jain, Sikhs or Buddhists)
• Guardian and Wards Act of 1890 (Foreign citizens, NRIs and Indian nationals who are Muslims, Christians or Jews)
• Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 (a part of which deals with Adoption of children by non-Hindu parents)

In India, an Indian whether married or single, Non-Resident Indian (NRI), or a person belonging to any nationality (foreigner) may adopt a child. The guidelines and documentation process for each group of adoptive parents may differ.

Yes. Prior to the Juvenile Justice Act,2006 a non hindu would only be allowed the guardianship of the child under the Guardians and Wards Act ,1890 as personal laws of Muslim, Christian, Parsis and Jews do not recognise complete adoption.

The main strengths of the Juvenile Justice Act are:

• Any Indian citizen can adopt a child who is legally free for adoption;
• The adoptee gets the same rights that a biological child might;
• The religion of the adoptive parent is not relevant;
• Single people can adopt;
• The adoption is irrevocable;
• Some time limits have been set to ensure that children are considered legally free for adoption earlier; and
• The thrust is on the best interest of the child.

Eligibility criteria for prospective adoptive parents are as follows

(1) The prospective adoptive parents shall be physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable and shall not have any life threatening medical condition.

(2) Any prospective adoptive parents, irrespective of his marital status and whether or not he has biological son or daughter, can adopt a child subject to following, namely:-
  (a) The consent of both the spouses for the adoption shall be required, in case of a married couple;   (b) A single female can adopt a child of any gender;
  (c) A single male shall not be eligible to adopt a girl child;

(3) No child shall be given in adoption to a couple unless they have at least two years of stable marital relationship.

(4) The age of prospective adoptive parents, as on the date of registration, shall be counted for deciding the eligibility and the eligibility of prospective adoptive parents to apply for children of different age groups shall be as under

Age of the child	Maximum composite age of prospective adoptive parents (couple)	Maximum age of single prospective adoptive parent
Up to 4 years	90 years	45 years
Above 4 and up to 8 years	100 years	50 years
Above 8 and up to 18 years	110 years	ears

(5) In case of couple, the composite age of the prospective adoptive parents shall be counted.

(6) The minimum age difference between the child and either of the prospective adoptive parents shall not be less than twenty-five years.

(7) The age criteria for prospective adoptive parents shall not be applicable in case of relative adoptions and adoption by step-parent.

(8) Couples with three or more children shall not be considered for adoption except in case

of special need children as defined in sub-regulation (21) of regulation 2, hard to place children as mentioned in regulation 50 and in case of relative adoption and adoption by step-parent.

Adoption Procedure for Prospective Parents Residing In India:

• The prospective parent willing for adoption makes an application to Child Welfare Agency.
• Registration can be done either by an Adoption Coordinating Agency (ACA) found in each state’s capital city, or an agency certified by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in New Delhi.
• The registration shall be complete and confirmed to the prospective adoptive parents immediately on receipt of the completed application form and requisite documents on Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System. The documents shall be uploaded within a period of thirty days from the date of registration failing which the prospective adoptive parents have to register afresh.
• Registration on Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System would be a deemed registration in all Specialised Adoption Agencies of the State or States they have opted for.
• The prospective adoptive parents shall get their registration number from the acknowledgement slip, this is used for viewing the progress of their application.
• The prospective adoptive parents shall select a Specialised Adoption Agency nearest to their residence for Home Study Report in their State of habitual residence.
• The Home Study Report of the prospective adoptive parents shall be prepared through the social worker of selected Specialised Adoption Agency.
• The Specialised Adoption Agency or the empanelled social worker of the State Adoption Resource Agency or District Child Protection Unit shall counsel the prospective adoptive parents during the home study.
• The Home Study Report shall be completed within thirty days from the date of submission of requisite documents and shall be shared with the prospective adoptive parents immediately, thereafter.
• The Home Study Report shall be posted in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System by the Specialised Adoption Agency as soon as it is complete and shall remain valid for three years and shall be the basis for adoption of a child by the prospective adoptive parents from anywhere in the country.
• The prospective adoptive parents shall be declared eligible and suitable by the Specialised Adoption Agency based upon the Home Study Report.
• The District Child Protection Unit shall facilitate online registration of application of prospective adoptive parents, uploading of their documents and also for addressing technical difficulties faced by the Specialised Adoption Agencies.
• After viewing the profile of the child or children, the prospective adoptive parents may reserve one child within a period of forty-eight hours for possible adoption and the rest of the children would be released by Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System for other prospective adoptive parents in the waiting list.
• The Specialised Adoption Agency then organises a meeting of the prospective adoptive parents with the child.
• The adoption of a child by the prospective adoptive parents, after completion of their registration and Home Study Report, shall depend upon the availability of a suitable child.
• The prospective adopting parent decides which child is going to adopted and a petition is filed at the court of apt jurisdiction, where court hearing takes place regarding adoption (the court is required to dispose the adoption case within 2 months).
• Once the Court issues the decree, the adoption is finalized.

• Non-resident Indian prospective adoptive parents are treated at par with Indians living in India in terms of priority for adoption of Indian orphan, abandoned or surrendered children.
• As per the Supreme Court Guidelines for intercountry adoption a foreign parent can adopt an Indian child before he/she completes the age of 3 years. In the absence of any concrete Act on intercountry adoption, the provisions of Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 will be followed for adoption.
• In case of adoption of abandoned, abused and surrendered children all intercountry adoptions shall be done only as per the provisions THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015 and the adoption regulations framed by the Authority
• Any Non-Resident Indian, Overseas Citizen of India or foreign prospective adoptive parents, living in a country which is a signatory to the Hague Adoption Convention and wishing to adopt an Indian child, can approach the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency or the Central Authority concerned, as the case may be, for preparation of their Home Study Report and for their registration in Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System.
• In case, there is no Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency or Central Authority in their country of habitual residence, then the prospective adoptive parents shall approach the Government department or Indian diplomatic mission concerned in that country for the purpose.
• The Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency or Central Authority or the Government department or the Indian diplomatic mission concerned, shall get their Home Study Report completed and register their application in Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System in the format along with the required documents.
• The Home Study Report and other documents of the prospective adoptive parents shall be scrutinised at the Authority in order to determine their eligibility and suitability and be forwarded to the Specialised Adoption Agency where children legally free for adoption are available.

Adopting a child in India is a long process.

Parents who wished to adopt would go to the nearest Specialised Adoption Agency and register. The agency would match preferences of the couple with the children available. The match may or may not happen, and would take months, even years.

All adoption agencies have to upload details and the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) software will match preferences across the country. This has lessened the duration of an adoption.

An adoptive parent is allowed to ask for a child, as per their preferences. For example a parent may ask for a child of a certain age, gender (if it is the first child in the family), skin colour, religion, special features, health condition, etc. However, greater the specifications, more difficult it is to find a child who conforms to them.

Yes. The gender of the child becomes a factor here. The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA, under which Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and Arya Samaj adopt) allows only to adopt a child of the opposite gender to the adoptive parent which they already have. There is no such problem under the other 2 adoption laws, namely the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 which has enabled many Indians to adopt a child of the same gender.