On this page of GaramChai.com we present information on Adoption of children from India and is especially targeted at NRIs and people of Indian origin looking to adopt and support children in India.

The page also has extensive listings on Indian Charities and social organizations working with Non Resident Indians and people of Indian origin. Individual organizations are responsible for their links. Please use due diligence while dealing with the organizations and associations.  

Indian Child Adoption Links

Official Links:

The Embassy of India: Guidelines for adoption of Indian children. Contains extensive information on: Role of Government of India, List of Recognized Foreign Agencies for Adoption, Procedure to be followed etc.

Adoption Of An Indian Child: High Comission of India in Singapore: Procedure for the Adoption of an Indian Child by a Foreigner or NRI. Obtain all relevant documentation (Click here to see list of required documents) to support your application for adoption.

United States U.S. Embassy New Delhi, India: Procedure for an American citizen to adopt an Indian orphan child. This section provides an overview of the intercountry adoption process. The process varies greatly, as it is governed by the laws of the countries where the adoptive parents and the child reside (which in the case of the United States means both federal and state law), and also in which of these locations the legal adoption is finalized. Additionally, if the child’s home country is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention, the Hague processes of both countries must be followed. Prospective adoptive parents should consider all of these factors when evaluating what to expect.

US State Department: [Intercountry Adoption: India] U.S. immigration and visa laws provide for advance approval of an adoption petition on Form I-600A by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security (BCIS) office that has jurisdiction over your place of domicile. Includes a list of U.S Government authorized adoption agencies.

Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) - India’s adoption authority. Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.
CARA is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003. CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.

CARA - Right Step for Adoption
Do's: i) Only adopt from Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) recognised by State Governments.
ii) Read the Guidelines carefully on the website and follow the due procedure.
Don'ts: i) Do not approach any nursing home, hospital, maternity home, unauthorised institution or individual for adoption.
ii) Do not upload any incorrect document, else your registration will be cancelled. iii) Through illegal adoption, you may unintentionally become part of child trafficking network. Save yourself from legal ramifications.

Public Links

India Adoption FAQ: Answers questions like What are the requirements to adopt a child from India? How long does it take to adopt a child from India? How much does it cost to adopt a child from India?

awaa.org: Waiting Children Available for Adoption: Children with minor to moderate medical needs of any age or healthy children or sibling sets over the age of five. Per CARA, India’s adoption authority, healthy children under the age of five are not available for adoption to foreign families. Families with NRI or OCI status are eligible to request a healthy child of any age.

Ours by choice is a sensitive study of adoption issues, in the Indian Socio-Cultural context and responds well, to the needs of Adoptive Parents.

The Voluntary Co-ordinating Agency is an association registered under the Societies Registration Act and is a centralized agency for adoption in the State. The Voluntary Co-ordinating Agency for Child Adoption, Tamil Nadu is registered under Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act,1975.

Children's Hope International .

Bal Jagat Childrens World - Bal Jagat is a private, non-profit inter-country adoption agency. It's programs currently include China, Guatemala, India, Romania, Russia, and Vietnam. Address: 5199 E. Pacific Coast Highway, #204,Long Beach, CA 90804. Phone:(562) 597- 5029 or Email:baljagat@verizon.net

Ichild    India Adoption, Information, Support & Resources

The Process

Articles of Interest

Blog: Musings on the dark underbelly of Global Adoptions: I had an opportunity to observe Kumars (pseudonym) go through the ordeal of adopting a child from India. Though I call it ordeal, the story had a happy ending since the Kumars ended up adopting not one but two children: a girl of 8 and a little boy of two, completing their American dream. Before they could adopt, however, they had to jump through several hoops. For one, the couple was of Indian origin with American permanent resident status. Intent on adopting a child from their native culture, they made several trips to India and spoke to experts and consultants in the US.

Chennai Online Interesting articles on Adoption: ""Orphaned children can have a normal life too, if somebody adopts them and takes them away from the confines of their orphanage. And for childless couples, adoption is a way out of lack of progeny, a way in which they also ensure a meaningful life for an abandoned child. But the hurdles one faces in adopting a child are many, as one finds out at the Voluntary Adoption Homes in Tamil Nadu. When a couple comes over to adopt a child, their ordeal begins there. For them to attain the status of ?parent?, they have to go through a series of rigorous test stages and processes which prompt most of the people seeking to adopt a child to call it quits somewhere in between. Interest gives way to frustration, and it results in word spreading far and wide that adoption is a burdensome process."

Complete Adoption Formalities In India: Court

NEW DELHI: At a time when several foreigners have expressed willingness to adopt tsunami-hit children in southern India, a city court has said foreign nationals wanting to adopt Indian children should complete the adoption formalities in the country and not take them abroad on guardianship rights. The judgment, said legal experts, is timely and reiterates the importance of following the adoption guidelines laid down by the government following Supreme Court's directions aimed at limiting the scope for child abuse by foreigner guardians. Advocate Sanjay Parikh welcomed the judgment. He said: "Despite guidelines, incidents of child abuse by foreign parents have come to light and it is encouraging that the court has stepped in to emphasise the measures to safeguard the interest of adopted children." District judge Rekha Sharma observed, while deciding on a petition by two foreign nationals who wanted to adopt an Indian girl, that foreign nationals wanting to adopt Indian children should follow the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 which requires them to adopt the child within the country, and not the Guardian and Wards Act, 1890 (GAWA).
Under GAWA, Indian courts could only grant guardianship rights to the foreign national who could adopt the child as per the rules of his/her country.

"Why should an Indian child be left to the mercy of foreign parents for his ultimate adoption in the country of origin of such parents, when we now have an act which provides for such an adoption," Sharma said while deciding a petition in which NGOs and the Delhi Council of Child Welfare sought its permission to give orphaned children to foreign nationals.

Advocate Ajay Tandon, who was associated with the adoption case of Anokha - daughter of a Alwar taxi driver - said: "The judgment is timely and it should alert all those agencies involved in the adoption of tsunami-hit children."

Advocate Meenakshi Arora said: "It is important to ensure all the procedures laid down by the government and the Child Adoption Resource Agency are followed to check child abuse by parents abroad." - Times Foundation

Another Article: OCI cardholders to get some NRI privileges