Country Information

Inter-country adoption between India and other select countries is open. Prospective families do not have to meet certain residency requirements or be of the Hindu religion. Currently, Indian law does not have specific provisions for inter-country adoption of an Indian child. However, under the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890 prospective parents may be granted legal custody of a child and then take that child out of India into their country of residence for the adoption to occur. There are numerous adoption agencies that are licensed according to Indian law. Only adoption agencies that are on the approved list
of agencies by the Indian government may facilitate an inter-country adoption. Prospective parents interested in adopting a child from India should research and contract with one of these approved agencies.

Children Available: Infants through children around the age of 7 years old are available for adoption in India.. It is possible to adopt an older child as well, but does take some additional steps which are well worth the effort. Many of the children available may have not met all of the developmental milestones that other children their age have experienced. This is due to malnutrition during the child’s early months of life. Licensed adoption agencies work to bring the children into an overall healthier state providing them with caretakers, food, medical care, affection, and play time to increase the developmental growth. There are boys, girls, and siblings sets available for adoption.

Parental Requirements:
Married couples, with a minimum of 2 years of stable and healthy marriage
Single women
If married, couples must be at least 21 years of age to 50 years of age
If single, a women must be at least 25 years of age to 40 years of age
India gives preference to couples that have experienced infertility.
Families wanting to adopt a healthy child are asked to have no more than two children in the home. Families with more than two children in the home are asked to adopt a child that is on the waiting child list due to age or special need.

Timeline: After submitting a dossier, a referral is commonly received within 0-6 months

There is a great deal of social pressure in India to not have a child out of wedlock. Unwed birth mothers often with the mixture of this stigma and a lack of economic resources can not care for their child. Children are sometimes abandoned making information such as their exact birth dates and history unknown. When this occurs an adoption agency will do its best effort to provide as much accurate information as possible to the prospective parents. Many children are abandoned in the traditional sense of the word. There is a movement among humanitarian agencies in India to help mothers put their children up for adoption, if needed, in a healthier manner than abandonment. Through programs such as these there are safe places where mothers can received prenatal care for their child and care for him or her until the adoption goes through. This provides for healthier children, healthier birth
mothers, and more information that will be useful for the adoptive family as their new child ages.

An agency will assist prospective parents each step of the way in attaining custody of the child in India and then bringing the child back to the United States for adoption. The entire process is estimated to take 14-18 months from start to finish.