Name: R S
Date: 2010-01-06
To all of you prospective and hopeful parents

We hope you find this useful.

Myself and my wife recently adopted a beautiful baby girl in India going through the entire Government of India adoption process (via CARA). It was efficient (within reason) and definitely worth the time and effort. We have set out some thoughts based on our experience, which is very recent (2009) and up to date and we hope this may be of some help to anyone contemplating adoption/currently in the process.

As we are NRIs, (Indian’s living overseas) the adoption process is a little different than it will be for those of you who may be Indian residents/Non Indian nationals. Whilst the summary below is based on our own experience as NRIs, the differences in procedure are not vast and can be easily established by reading this synopsis and then reading the CARA website. (CARA or the Central Adoption Resource Agency is the Central Government entity in India that regulates adoptions). You will find the website via google. I cannot post it here due to restrictionson posting a URL.

General

Firstly, ignore all of the stories around you that the adoption process in India is a ‘nightmare’. That is not wholly accurate. Adoption in any country (and we had researched several countries after hearing such stories ourselves) requires lots of patience, lots of perseverance, lots of time and some expense. India is no different and for those of you familiar with India/living in India, you will know very well that most things require patience in India. Your reward in return is a little pair of hands and feet that will call you ‘mama’ and ‘daddy’ and literally adore just about everything about you and your partner. After an exhausting day at work or taking care of baby, there is just no feeling like it.

NRIs (like us) and Non Indian nationals do need to put in just that extra bit more effort vs resident Indians, However, if successful, the eventual reward is exactly the same for everyone.

Adoption Process

Assuming that you fulfill the criteria for being considered as potential adoptive parents (there are certain criteria prescribed by the Indian Government and can be found on CARA’s website), then broadly this is how it goes:

Step 1

You need to have a “Home Study” report done, whereby a social worker assesses your suitability as potential adoptive parents. This involves an extensive questionnaire, along with a list of documents that you need to provide (e.g bank records, Police clearance, medical tests, references, employment letter etc). The list will be given to you by the Social worker with help on how to go about putting together the ‘pack’ for their review.

The Indian Government has appointed either social workers (individuals) or agencies in several countries to do the Home study and advise you on the documentation requirements. The full list of social workers/agencies is on the CARA website under EFAA’s and even if you live in a country, which is not covered on the CARA website (as we do), you should email CARA/call them in Delhi and they will either direct you to a neighboring country where they do have someone who could possibly fly across and cover you or they will suggest your identifying a local social welfare agency and getting the local Indian High Commission to review your choice and agree/reject the possibility of that local agency doing the Home Study for CARA.

Step 2

Once the Home Study report has been prepared, reviewed and checked by the Social worker and they are satisfied with your background and suitability for adoption, they will issue a summary report and an undertaking in a prescribed format and have it notarized and then attested by the Indian High Commission in that country. A copy will go to CARA and another to you. These documents along with all of the other documents that you had submitted for the ‘Home Study’ report need to be put into a folder for Step 3.

Step 3

Now you again look up CARA’s website and you will find a list of approved children’s homes (referred to as RIPAs or Recognized Indian Placement Agencies) who are essentially orphanages who are authorized by the Government (acting through CARA) to place orphaned and abandoned children legally.

Now you do some travelling!

Go and visit as many RIPAs as possible with multiple copies of your file. (Your social worker may wish to directly send the files to the particular RIPAs you have chosen or she/he may wish you to do so yourself). Start with Delhi, Pune and Mumbai (and I will explain why very shortly).

You will come across everything from disinterested orphanages to highly organized and dedicated orphanages. Some will give you stories of waiting lists upto 2 years long, others will do what they are supposed to, which is to review your file and try and match you with a child that is free for adoption.

A word to the wise and I cannot stress this point enough. There are indeed a lot of parents waiting to adopt and the theory says that there is a ‘pecking order’. The reality is that good orphanages want to see their children settled with good families and they will match suitable families with suitable children based on their experience rather than simply waiting lists alone.

It is the child’s welfare that is paramount and not the prospective parents. The key here is ‘do not be disillusioned by a few or many ' sub par meetings’, you are now getting closer to your first hug of your little baby bear.

Register yourself with every orphanage where you feel comfortable and they will get in touch with you (quicker than you would imagine, although it helps to stay in regular touch with them) when they have a child available who matches you and your partner. Usually they send photographs through to you, however please bear in mind something that one only realises with the benefit of hinsight, which is:

“ Photographs do not always do justice to children who have spent months in an orphanage-These are beautiful little souls who need lots of hugs and good nutrition, both of which are in limited supply at the best of orphanages- A few months of loving care from a family and you will not recognize the baby you adopted…trust yourself and most importantly your wife’s instincts on the baby and absolutely ignore advice from relatives (parents included)”

The more orphanages you register with the higher the likeleihood of your being offerred a child quicker. Simple maths and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

Step 4

Once you are offered a child, you go to the relevant orphanage and do so swiftly to see the child in person. If you accept, the orphanage will charge you an adoption fee and apply to CARA on your behalf for a NOC (No objection certificate)*. This takes around 15 days and during that time you can visit the child at the orphanage every day. Once you have received the NOC, you are officially permitted custody of the child.

The catch is that you or your partner will need to remain in the country now with your new son/daughter, until the rest of the process is complete. This inconvenience pales into obscurity when you realize that YOU HAVE A SON/DAUGHTER!!!!! Congratulations.

* For Non Indian passport holders and Non Indian nationals there is another clearance that your RIPA will obtain in addition to the NOC.

Step 5

Now you begin the court process and here’s where the state (India has a 25+ states) in which your RIPA is based, becomes absolutely critical. The courts in India are organized by state. Whilst the legal system is common to all states and is a well established one, based on the same principles as the UK legal system i.e common law, India’s courts are inundated with a backlog of cases stretching back a decade in some cases. Add to this, underpaid judges, who are permitted a very large amount of annual leave and you have record setting delays for certain types of cases.

The good news is that the apex court in India i.e the Supreme court has as recently as 1 year back re-iterated that adoption cases must be cleared by judges giving priority to these types of cases. Courts in Delhi and Mumbai, the 2 most significant cities in India have for some time had one or more dedicated judges devoted to clearing adoption cases. The advantage therefore with adoptions coming to courts in Mumbai and Delhi from RIPAs in these areas, is that not only do these judges specialize in these cases and therefore move quickly (its all relative!), but they also know what they are doing and do not keep adjourning hearings whilst asking for new bits of paper.

We were told (and therefore please do your own homework on this issue) that this is not always the case in some states, where you may be in queue with other types of cases and even when you do go to the hearing, the judge has no idea on whether or not your application is complete and how he/she should apply the law. The end result could be multiple adjournments and frustration.

Anyhow, the RIPA you use, will have a known law firm who have represented parents before you. This lawyer will file an application in court for you and advise you on the process and time frame. This person is critical. Do ensure you develop a good relationship and understand his/her constraints as well as probe on what aspects can be speeded up i.e date of hearing. (you’d be surprised). Do offer to pay the legal fees, although it is supposedly included in your adoption charge.

There are 2-3 court hearings over a period that can be in total between 2-4 months (in Delhi and Mumbai atleast…not sure of other states/places). You do not have to attend except for the last one, where you will be given legal approval and a deed of adoption prepared on your behalf.

Congratulations, you are legally daddy and mummy!! It’s a nice nice feeling.

Step 6

Almost there!

Now you can apply for a passport. You send your court adoption deed to a passport office (there are several in India) and they will issue an Indian passport for your child within 2 weeks and sometimes even less.

Thereafter, depending on your residency status overseas/nationality, you will need to speak to the relevant embassy regarding the visa.

We hope this has been useful. When we ourselves started the process, we had to cobble together information from so many sources and over so many months that we swore that if we were successful, we’d try and help others with as much comprehensive information as possible and as long as our experience remained relevant and up to date.

Good Luck and God speed your search.

PS: For those of you for whom it may not be obvious, the entire process from start to finish requires no knowledge or need for any other language than English.

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