Child Adoption Regulatory Authority (CARA) has allowed Live-in Partners to Adopt Children

Individuals in a live-in relationship will now be able to adopt children from and within India after India’s Nodal Adoption Agency CARA decided to withdraw a circular issued earlier this year disallowing them from doing so.

Child Adoption Regulatory Authority (CARA), in a circular issued on May 31, barred the applicants in a live-in relationship from adopting a child on the ground that “Authority would like children to be placed only with a stable family and individuals in a live-in relationship cannot be considered as stable family.”

Women and Child Development Ministry, R.K. Shrivastava told The Hindu that,“We have decided to withdraw circular and applications from prospective adoptive parents will be examined on a case-by-case basis”.

Decision was taken at last meeting of Steering Committee of CARA, chaired by Mr. Shrivastava, in August, and will benefit both domestic and international applicants.

Eligibility criteria under Adoption Regulations, 2017, permit single women to adopt a child of any gender, while single men can adopt only boys.

When a married couple seeks to adopt a child, it needs to give its consent for adoption and should be stable marriage for at least two years.

Applicants have to be physically, mentally and financially stable to raise the child.

Source Hindu

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