Challenges and Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Process: Adoption is a beautiful journey that gives a homeless child a new home to find love and a better future. For children who are abandoned or orphaned, and couples who desire to become parents, adoption is a blessing for them. By adoption, couples and children get the opportunity to complete their incomplete family. There is a process for adoption, which is regulated by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), and the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) through an online application.
In India, adoption can be quite challenging and a lengthy process, but in 2024-2025, 4,515 children were adopted, the highest record in 12 years. Parents should be registered on CARA’s website. There is a certain criteria and eligibility requirements that parents should meet through this system; they can adopt the child through the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act. The whole process of adoption can take at least two to three years. In this blog, Gupta Document Centre will provide you the insight into Challenges and Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Process, which will help individuals and legal workers understand better.
Legal Framework of Adoption
Adoption in India is governed by an organized legal structure to protect the rights of both children and adoptive parents. To understand challenges and opportunities in the legal adoption process, mentioned below are the laws and the authorities that govern how a child is legally adopted:
- The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA)
- The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act)
- Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)
Challenges in the Legal Adoption Process
There are many challenges in the legal adoption system that adoptive parents can face, but after having all the difficulties, they wait for long waiting times, complex procedures, and emotional stress just to fulfill their parenthood. Lack of awareness and social acceptance can make the adoption more difficult for the parents. Some of the legal challenges are listed below:
Long Wait Times and Too Much Paperwork
There is a large demand from adoptive parents, and the supply of legally free children is limited. This is why the waiting time has risen to 3.5 years in 2025. There are a lot of legal steps, like documentation, verifications, home studies, and matching, which also lead to delays.
Mismatch between Waiting Parents and Available Children
Parents often choose children who are aged between 0-2 years, healthy, and of the desired gender according to their preference. But some children are older, disabled, and need special attention or have any medical conditions, who are likely to get overlooked. Also, some children are not legally free for adoption due to issues like parental rights, etc.)
Eligibility Criteria & Legal Challenges
There are some strict and unclear eligibility requirements for Adoptive Parents, like physical, mental, and financial Stability, age, marital status, criminal record, or existing children. Some laws work according to religion (HAMA vs JJ Act).
Negative Attitudes and Cultural Beliefs about Adoption
In some communities, people are still not able to accept adopted children, especially those who are older, from a different religion, or with special needs. Because of this, many children reduce the chance of getting a loving home.
Lack of Awareness and Clarity in Adoption
Most of the adoptive parents are unaware of adoption laws and procedures, but we have mentioned the Challenges and Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Process. There should be clear information on how the adoption process takes place.
Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Journey
Crossing through the difficult challenges, there are several opportunities that can help improve the legal adoption process. These improvements give hope to thousands of waiting parents and provide a loving home to children. There are some positive and helpful opportunities for the parents, which make the process more accessible and transparent, as follows:
Using Online Platforms for Adoption: CARA’s website helps adoptive parents in tracking cases, matching children, etc. This helps them to know clear information and the process. Some workflows help to speed up the adoption process, like home studies, etc.
Widening Adoption Opportunities: Society should be encouraged to adopt older, special needs children through awareness campaigns. This will help change the social views of people and increase the opportunities of their getting adopted.
Help and Support throughout Adoption: It is mandatory to take counselling before and after the adoption so that both parties can get comfortable and reduce the post-adoption challenges.
Awareness Campaigns and Changing Social Views: Efforts to promote adoption across all communities to increase openness in society. NGOs, or the media, should also focus on providing information on the rights of adopted children so that the negative beliefs of people can be reduced by the transparency of the Challenges and Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Process
Focusing on the Child’s Needs: Children’s needs are ensured by children’s welfare, psychological needs, and identity, as compared to parents’ preferences.
Conclusion
The legal adoption process in India has come a long way, but still, there are multiple challenges like delays, mismatches, eligibility criteria, and mainly social acceptance. Public awareness and education about adoption are important because people still get frowned upon, and it is very difficult for families and children to be socially accepted in society.
People face a lot of Challenges and Opportunities in the Legal Adoption Process. It is necessary to create an efficient, fair, and compassionate system for adoptive parents, NGOs, policy makers, and child welfare advocates so that every adoption is easy, stable, and every child gets a loving home.