Guidelines for Adoption of Children

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has revised the adoption guidelines and notified ‘Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2011’ on 27th June, 2011 to further streamline the adoption procedures. The criteria and procedures to be followed for adopting a child through Specialized Adoption Agencies are laid down in these Guidelines, which are based on the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 and Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption of which India is a signatory. All adoption agencies are required to follow the provisions of the Guidelines and appropriate action is taken by State Governments/UT Administrations/Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) as the case may be against the defaulting ones. To ensure the best interest of the child, these Guidelines provide that an orphaned, abandoned or surrendered child has to be declared legally free for adoption by a Child Welfare Committee before the child is proposed for adoption. Further, before placing the child with a family, a detailed Home Study Report is prepared to assess the suitability of parents to adopt. The final adoption order is passed by the Competent Court. To safeguard the interest of the adopted child, the adoption guidelines provide for post-adoption follow-up by adoption agencies for period of two years after adoption.

This was stated by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.