Adoption is one of the noblest legal acts that enables a child to grow up in a loving and secure family when biological parents are unable or unwilling to care for them. In India, adoption is not merely a social practice but also a legal institution governed by multiple laws depending on the religion of the adoptive parents. While the idea of providing a home to an orphaned or abandoned child is simple, the legal process is complex, involving personal laws, secular laws, and regulatory frameworks to ensure the child’s welfare and to prevent misuse.
Unlike many Western countries where adoption is governed by a uniform civil code, India’s adoption laws remain diverse. The principal statute governing adoption for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs is the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA). For people of other religions—Muslims, Christians, Parsis, and Jews—who lack a codified adoption law under personal statutes, adoption is primarily facilitated through the secular Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act). This dual system reflects India’s pluralistic approach to personal laws.
Under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, adoption is a legal transfer of a child from one family to another, creating a permanent parent-child relationship as if the child were born to the adoptive parents. HAMA allows only Hindus to adopt under its provisions. It lays down clear rules regarding who may adopt, who may give a child in adoption, and who can be adopted. According to HAMA, any male Hindu of sound mind who is not a minor can adopt, provided he has the consent of his wife if she is alive. Similarly, an unmarried, divorced, or widowed Hindu woman can adopt a child. However, a married woman cannot adopt independently.
HAMA also prescribes the conditions for a valid adoption. The adoptive parents must have the capacity and the right to adopt, and the child must be eligible for adoption. For instance, the child must be Hindu, unmarried, and under fifteen years of age unless there is a custom allowing adoption beyond that age. There are also gender restrictions—a male can adopt a girl child only if he is at least twenty-one years older than the girl. These provisions aim to safeguard the welfare of the child and ensure that the adoption does not violate prevailing moral or social norms.
For non-Hindus, the only legal route for adoption is the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The JJ Act provides a secular and uniform mechanism for adoption of orphaned, abandoned, or surrendered children irrespective of the adoptive parents’ religion. It empowers the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to regulate and monitor adoptions across India. CARA issues guidelines to ensure transparency, checks on child trafficking, and compliance with the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, to which India is a signatory.
Under the JJ Act, the process of adoption is detailed and regulated. Prospective adoptive parents must register with an authorized agency, undergo a home study, and be declared eligible. Only children declared legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee can be adopted under this Act. The Act also provides for inter-country adoption, allowing foreigners to adopt Indian children under strict safeguards, ensuring that the child’s best interests are paramount. The entire process is designed to balance the right of the child to a family with the need to prevent illegal or forced adoptions.
One significant feature of adoption law in India is that it creates irrevocable rights. Once a valid adoption takes place, the child is deemed the legitimate child of the adoptive parents, with all legal rights, including inheritance rights. This distinguishes adoption from guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, which is applicable to Muslims and others who do not wish to use the JJ Act. Guardianship does not create a permanent parent-child relationship and ceases when the ward reaches majority.
Despite the legal framework, adoption in India faces several challenges. Social stigma and preference for biological children often discourage adoption. Many people still prefer to adopt secretly or informally, which is not legally valid and deprives the child of secure rights. Another major issue is gender preference—families often prefer to adopt boys, leaving many girls in institutions. The law tries to address this by encouraging equal opportunity for girls, but social attitudes change slowly.
The adoption process can also be time-consuming and bureaucratic. Prospective adoptive parents often complain of delays due to extensive paperwork, slow clearance from child welfare committees, and repeated scrutiny. While these checks are necessary to prevent misuse, there is a need for balancing vigilance with efficiency. The recent push for digital adoption portals and streamlined procedures under CARA is a step in the right direction.
Judicial pronouncements have played a vital role in shaping adoption law. In Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India (2014), the Supreme Court held that any person, irrespective of religion, can adopt under the JJ Act. This landmark judgment reinforced the idea that the right to adopt is part of a citizen’s fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. The courts have also reiterated that the welfare of the child must be the primary consideration, outweighing religious or social customs that might hinder adoption.
One important area for reform is the introduction of a uniform civil code for adoption, as envisaged by Article 44 of the Constitution. A common adoption law could remove ambiguities, ensure equal rights for all citizens, and simplify procedures. However, such a move remains politically sensitive due to India’s religious diversity.
Another evolving aspect is the recognition of single parents and same-sex couples as adoptive parents. While single women can legally adopt under both HAMA and the JJ Act, single men face restrictions, especially in adopting girls. The debate on adoption rights for LGBTQ+ couples is gaining momentum in India following the decriminalization of homosexuality in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018). However, legislative clarity is still awaited to ensure equal opportunities for such families to adopt.