Adoption has become quite the inspiring act and a much-covered trend in India, especially because actors and celebrities—starting with Raveena Tandon and Sushmita Sen to Mandira Bedi and Sunny Leone—have famously adopted kids and shared their love with the world. But celebrities aren’t the only Indians who adopt children. According to data provided by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), 3,142 in-country and 417 inter-country legal adoptions of children took place in India between 2020 and 2021. There are many reasons why these numbers of legally adopted children is increasing now, and partially, it’s due to the widespread acceptance of adoption as an ultimate act of love instead of charity.
Now, as an Indian woman, if you are also planning or hoping to adopt a child, there are quite a few things you need to know. The first and foremost thing to know are the legal options you have, and this is where legal adoption laws passed in India come in—and there are quite a few of those.
Indian Laws That Lay The Ground For Adoption
This author found it very interesting that legal adoption in India was basically associated with or created in accordance with personal law tenets, i.e. based on culture, faith or religion. This is primarily because under Indian law, legal adoption is seen as an agreement between the party willing to adopt and a child. So, if you identify as Hindu, Jain, Sikh or Buddhist, the law giving you the rights and methods to adopt is the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. On the other hand, the personal laws of Muslims, Christians, Jews and Parsis do not allow for adoptions, which is why if you identify as a member of any of these communities, the go-to law would be the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.
But these laws were largely limited because they were not secular and all-encompassing. Plus, illegal adoptions and abuse are still rife, which is why safeguarding the rights of children, including those who are adopted, became critical. This is the basis for the creation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2006, which has been updated multiple times since. Currently, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Adoption Regulations, 2017, are the primary laws that stipulate mechanisms through which persons can adopt children legally in India. CARA and its accredited associate, Adoption Coordination Agency (ACA), now govern the process of in-country and inter-country legal adoptions—and this is the agency you need to approach if you are interested in adoption.