How to adopt a child in India legally: CARA process, eligibility, HAMA
Who can adopt, the CARA steps from registration to the District Magistrate's order, family adoption under HAMA, and why informal adoption is risky.
In short
- Two legal routes: the JJ Act route through CARA (open to everyone) for orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children, and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act for adoptions within Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist families.
- Register on CARA's online portal (CARINGS). A Specialised Adoption Agency does your home study; you wait for a referral by seniority; the District Magistrate issues the adoption order (Sec 61 JJ Act).
- Only prescribed fees. Paying for a child, or taking one from a hospital or middleman, is a crime (Sec 80–81 JJ Act).
- After the order, the child is yours "for all purposes", including inheritance (Sec 63 JJ Act). Found an abandoned child? Call 1098.
Thousands of Indian families want to give a child a home, and thousands of children in care wait for one. The law exists to bring them together safely: to make sure the child is truly free for adoption, that the parents are ready, and that nobody buys or sells a child along the way. Only an adoption done through the legal process gives your child full and permanent rights as your son or daughter. A baby "handed over" by a nursing home, a relative or an agent has no such protection, and neither do you.
Two legal routes
Route 1: the JJ Act and CARA. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Adoption Regulations, 2022 framed by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) govern adoption of orphaned, abandoned or surrendered children (Sec 2(2) JJ Act). This route is open to every Indian, whatever their religion (Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India, 2014). Such a child can be adopted only after the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has declared them "legally free for adoption" (Sec 38 JJ Act).
Route 2: HAMA. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs, and is mostly used for adoption within the family, for example a brother's child. The adoptive parent must have capacity (Sec 7–8), only a parent or guardian may give the child (Sec 9), the child must be under 15 and not already adopted (Sec 10), and Sec 11 adds conditions: you cannot adopt a son if you already have a living son, and a man adopting a girl (or a woman adopting a boy) must be at least 21 years older than the child. A registered adoption deed is strong proof of a valid adoption (Sec 16). Hindu relatives can also use the JJ Act route, which gives an official order recognised everywhere.
Who can adopt under the JJ Act
- You must be physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially able, and free of any life-threatening medical condition.
- A married couple must both consent and have at least two years of stable marriage.
- A single woman may adopt a child of any gender. A single man may not adopt a girl.
- Age limits depend on the child's age. For a couple, the combined age may not exceed 85 years for a child up to 2, rising to 110 years for a child between 8 and 18. For a single parent, the limit is 40 to 55 years.
- The age gap between the child and each parent must be at least 25 years.
- Couples with three or more children are normally not considered, except for special-needs or hard-to-place children and relative or step-parent adoptions.
Age is counted on the date you register. Relative and step-parent adoptions have their own simpler conditions under the Regulations.
Step by step: the CARA process
- Register online on CARA's portal, CARINGS, and upload the documents listed below.
- Home study. A social worker from a Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) in your district visits you and prepares a Home Study Report on your motivation, health, finances and support system.
- Waiting list and referral. Once approved, you join a seniority list based on your registration date and preferences (age, gender, state). When your turn comes, you receive a child's profile with medical and background reports, and must accept or reserve within the short window the Regulations fix.
- Pre-adoption foster care. You meet the child, sign an acceptance, and take the child home.
- Adoption order. The agency files the application before the District Magistrate, who hears it privately and must decide within two months (Sec 61 JJ Act). Since the 2021 amendment the DM, not a civil court, issues the order.
- Birth certificate and follow-up. With the order you get a birth certificate naming you as parents. The agency makes follow-up visits for about two years.
Fees are fixed by CARA and published on its website; no agency may ask for more or for "donations".
Older children, siblings and children with special needs wait much longer. Families who widen their preferences get referrals far sooner.
What the adoption order does
Under Sec 63 JJ Act, from the date of the order the child becomes your child for all purposes, as if born to you, including inheritance. The child's legal ties with the birth family end. You can obtain a new birth certificate, school records, passport and Aadhaar in the child's new name.
Illegal adoption and child trafficking
Taking or giving a child for adoption outside the JJ Act procedure is punishable with up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of one lakh rupees or both (Sec 80 JJ Act). Selling or buying a child carries up to five years and a fine (Sec 81). Parents who take part can be charged and the child removed. If you find an abandoned child, do not keep the child: call 1098 or the police at once so the child receives care and the legal process begins.
Farida and Anil, married six years and living in Indore, register on CARINGS and choose "child up to 2 years, any gender". The SAA's social worker visits twice and uploads their home study. Fourteen months later they receive the profile of a 14-month-old girl from a Bhopal agency, with her medical report. They accept online, meet her, and bring her home in pre-adoption foster care. The agency files the application; the District Magistrate passes the adoption order within six weeks. With it, they obtain her birth certificate showing their names. Nobody asked them for anything beyond CARA's fees.
Keep these ready
- PAN, Aadhaar or passport; proof of address; marriage certificate if married
- Latest income proof (salary slip, income tax return or business papers)
- Medical fitness certificate for each parent from a government or recognised doctor
- Family photograph and two reference letters from people who know you well
"The doctor knows an unwed mother who will give the baby" is the classic trafficking pitch. An adoption without a CWC declaration and a DM's order is void: the birth mother can reclaim the child years later, the child inherits nothing from you, and you face prosecution. Walk away and report it.
Where to go
- CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) and its CARINGS portal
- Specialised Adoption Agency in your district; State Adoption Resource Agency for complaints about an agency
- Abandoned child or suspected sale of a child: 1098 (Childline), 112
- Free legal advice: 15100 (NALSA); grievances about delay: pgportal.gov.in
Common questions
How long does adoption through CARA take?
Registration and home study take a few months; the wait for a referral depends on your preferences and on how many children are legally free in that age group. For a healthy infant the wait is often more than a year; widening your preferences shortens it. After referral, the legal steps usually take a few months more.
Can a single man or woman adopt in India?
Yes. A single woman may adopt a child of any gender; a single man may adopt only a boy. The single-parent age limits run from 40 to 55 years depending on the child's age, and the 25-year age gap applies. The process is the same as for couples.
Can I adopt my brother's or sister's child?
Yes. Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist families can do a relative adoption under HAMA with a registered adoption deed, if the conditions in Sec 10 and 11 are met. Any family can instead use the relative-adoption procedure under the JJ Act and the 2022 Regulations, which ends with a District Magistrate's order accepted everywhere, including by passport offices.
Can a step-parent adopt a spouse's child from an earlier marriage?
Yes. The Adoption Regulations, 2022 provide a step-parent procedure: the biological parent and step-parent apply together, the other biological parent's consent is taken where required, and the District Magistrate passes the order. There is no waiting list.
Can a baby given to us by a hospital be made legal later?
Only through the legal process. Approach the Child Welfare Committee without delay; it will trace the birth parents, and the child may be declared legally free and placed with you under the Regulations. Keeping the child quietly is an offence under the JJ Act, so get legal advice (15100) at once.
This article is general information for awareness, not legal advice. For your situation, consult an advocate or call free legal aid at 15100.
