About:

Adoption is a process wherein a child is taken into a family lawfully and post adoption the child gets all the legal rights from the adopting parent(s) as a biological child would have got. Post adoption the child loses all the legal rights to be transferred from the biological parents that he/she may have got.

Generally, adoption helps the society in two ways. Firstly, the parent(s) who are either issueless or have enough resources to support more kids get a chance to adopt and provide a good environment to the child. The adopting parents enjoy the bliss of having a child in their lives. Secondly, the child who is getting adopted, usually, gets an opportunity to lead a more conducive and better life. Most of the times in India a child is adopted from orphanages and that give the child a fair and right options to live a fruitful life and be part of the mainstream society.

All said and done our Adoption process is nicely regulated and our government has enacted laws to ensure that trafficking and other illegal activities are not done in the garb of adoption.

Applicable Laws:

Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956
Indian citizens who are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, or Buddhists are allowed to formally adopt a child. The adoption is under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956. Under this act, a single parent or married couple are not permitted to adopt more than one child of the same sex.

Guardian and Wards Act of 1890
Foreign citizens, NRIs, and those Indian nationals who are Muslims, Parsis, Christians or Jews are subject to the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. Under this act, the adoptive parent is only the guardian of the child until she reaches 18 years of age. Foreign citizens and NRIs are supposed to formally adopt their child according to the adoption laws and procedures in the country of their residence. This must be carried out within two years of the individual becoming a child s guardian.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act of 2000
A part of these laws deals with adoption of children by non-Hindu parents. However, this act is applicable only to children who have been abandoned or abused and not to those children who have been voluntarily put up for adoption.