China
Guatemala
Russia
Vietnam
India
Ethiopia Who is eligible to adopt from India?
What is CARA?
Is FTIA licensed by CARA?
How long has FTIA worked in India?
Where in India does FTIA work?
What is an NRI?
What is OCI?
What is non-NRI?
What is a Hindu adoption?
What is a Guardianship adoption?
What are the home study requirements?
What is the timeframe for adoption from India?
What is the youngest age of a referral for India? Are infants available for adoption?
Are both boys and girls available for adoption?
Are siblings available for adoptions with India?
May we/I choose the age and gender of the child I adopt?
May we visit the orphanage and choose the child we wish to adopt?
Who matches children with adoptive families?
Can we adopt a family member?
What information will we/I receive with my referral?
If I'm not satisfied and feel the referral does not have adequate medical information, can I request additional information and/or testing?
Can we have a doctor we chose examine the child we are referred?
What happens if we/I decline the referral?
I have friends and/or family in India who are willing to help with the adoption. Does FTIA do "Assisted Adoptions" (adoptions where friends and/or family of the adoptive family in India can help in the adoption process to reduce adoption expenses)?
Can a family member or a friend of the family visit the child at the orphanage?
Once the referral is accepted, may we/I send the gifts to the orphanage for the child?
Can we foster our own child while the adoption is being completed?
Will you arrange our/my travel to India? If not, who does?
How long will we/I be in India to bring home my child?
Do we/I have to travel to bring home my child?
Does India have post-placement requirements?
FTIA accepts applications from married couples of Indian heritage. Our Indian Partner Organizations can accept NRI (1 parent still an Indian citizen) parents, or OCI (Oversees Citizenship of India) parents. We will consider PIO (persons of Indian origin) or non-NRI for older or special needs children.
Adoptive parent(s) generally must be at least 30 years of age and not more than 45 years of age to adopt an infant less than 15 months at time of referral. Adoptive parents should be no older than 55 years of age to adopt. If a married couple wants to adopt an infant their combined ages cannot be over 90 years.
FTIA partnering organizations in India prefer that only married couples adopt. Some of our Indian partner organizations allow single women to adopt waiting or special needs children. Prospective adoptive parent(s) must have the financial ability to care for a child. Persons previously divorced are permitted to adopt with some orphanages.
CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) requests that couples be married for 5 years. If the couple has been married for 2 years and can confirm in their home study that they have been together for 5 years or longer, then they may be eligible to adopt. Regardless of how long a couple has been married, they must evidence a stable marriage.
CARA is the Central Adoption Resource Authority in India. CARA officials act as the Central Authority for adoption related matters, including inter-country adoptions. CARA is under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Indian government. CARA also issues licenses to US agencies and has complete autonomy to act in matters of adoptions.
Please click here for additional information on CARA: http://www.cara.nic.in
Yes. FTIA received a license from the CARA authority in January of 2002. Our current license is valid through January 21, 2013.
We began working with India adoptive families in October 2002. FTIA recently acquired SAI (Special Additions Inc) and they have had an active India program since 1999.
FTIA works with orphanages in:
NRI stands for Non-Resident Indian. An NRI, in relation to India adoption, means a couple where at least one parent is of Indian decent and has a current Indian citizenship/passport.
Overseas Citizen of India. If you are from India but are a U.S. citizen, you may apply for OCI status by clicking this link: http://www.indianembassy.org/consular/Overseas_Citizen/OCI.html. Persons eligible may go as far back as the grandparent’s origin from India. It takes a couple of months to process your OCI application.
Parents who are not of Indian heritage. Possibly eligible to adopt a waiting child who is older and/or has special needs depending on the orphanage requirements.
A Hindu adoption is an adoption that is completed in India. There are basic requirements as to who qualifies to complete a Hindu adoption, and then different Indian States have specific court requirements. The adopting father must be Hindu. The family will be required to adopt a child of the opposit gender of the child currently in their home. For example, if the family has a boy and is adopting a boy, they cannot complete a Hindu adoption; they must go through the guardianship procedure. This same rule applies if the family has a girl and is adopting another girl. In Mumbai, for a Hindu adoption, a family is required to take custody of their child prior to the court hearing and the father would most likely be required to appear at the court hearing.
A guardianship adoption is one in which the adoptive family is granted guardianship of the child and the adoption is finalized in the US after you have traveled to pick up your child. Hindu adoptions are explained above. If you do not meet the requirements for a Hindu adoption, you will complete a Guardianship adoption.
Our first preference is to use a home study agency that is Hague accredited or is going through the Hague accreditation process. Any home study agency that we work with must have a Supervised Provider Agreement in place with FTIA. India accepts any home study that complies with international adoption guidelines. In addition, if the family had a Hindu wedding, we need that information stated in the home study. Also, if the family is considering a Hindu adoption, the guardian they designate as part of the documents collected for their dossier must be Hindu.
There are several different timeframes during the adoption process:
How long you wait for your referral is the first time frame. We expect approximately 9-19 months (sometimes longer) after FTIA sends your file to India.
After a referral is accepted and your complete dossier is with the Indian Organization, you may wait from 4-9 months for all legal processes to be completed.
As with any other international adoption process, please remember that time frames are subject to change at any time.
Infants are typically from 9-15 months at time of referral. If you are open to a little bit older child, your process may move a little more quickly.
Yes, boys and girls are referred.
Yes, but FTIA does not receive many sibling or twin referrals from India. The wait time for a sibling group can be much longer than standard referral time frames.
Yes, you may request a specific age range and gender, however referrals may come more quickly if couples are open to either gender.
Generally, it is not appropriate and may offend our Indian Partner Organizations. If you talk with an organization regarding a visit or a particular child prior to being assigned a referral, please talk with FTIA before making any official agreement or arrangements. The referral of the child must be done through the placing agency. If you engage in any activity that is not legally appropriate, it could delay your process and create legal issues for you and for the orphanage.
Usually the Indian Organization will match the child with the family. Occasionally we receive referral(s) from India, in which case we contact families in order on our waiting list.
No, except in very limited circumstances. The US government will not permit adoption of a relative (nephew or niece) to circumvent immigration regulations. Basically, the only time the adoption of a relative is permissible is if both biological parents are deceased. If you want to adopt a relative, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application.
When your child is assigned (referred) to you, you will receive his/her picture and all available health information including a child study. FTIA will give you all the information and pictures received from India regarding your child.
You can request additional information and/or testing but we cannot guarantee the information requested will be available or the tests will be performed. We will make every effort to obtain the information requested. The ability to obtain the requested information depends upon the cooperation of the orphanage and/or the complexity of the information requested. Our Indian Partner Organizations (orphanages) have doctors on staff or established relationships with hospitals/clinics. When a family is matched to a baby the family must accept the referral based on medical information given. Exceptions can be made only when there are outstanding circumstances. Requests for visits by extended family or additional medical tests or updates will not be accepted unless the Indian Organization feels there is a valid medical concern.
No, the orphanages have doctors on staff or established relationships with hospitals/clinics and the orphanages. Some orphanages will allow you to choose from a panel of doctors for an independent exam and some will allow you to choose a doctor. You will be responsible for the associated expenses. Some orphanages will require that the doctor come to the orphanage. If the orphanage will allow for the child to be taken out to the doctor, you will be responsible for taking the child to the doctor. A family mamber in India may be allowed to take the child if the orphanage agrees.
If you decline the referral you will have to wait until another child is referred. This could add additional weeks or months of wait time. Please note that when a referral is declined for valid medical concerns, the adopting family will receive the next available referral.
FTIA does not do “Assisted Adoptions” or work with families who are in the process of an “Independent Adoption.” Our India adoption program is full-service and our Indian Partner Organizations prefer to communicate with FTIA India Staff and not directly with adopting parents or extended family. FTIA India staff works closely with our adoptive families from start to finish and beyond.
This depends on the orphanage, and the final decision is always made by the orphanage.
Although we understand the desire, it is not encouraged as it is not fair to the other children at the home. However, we do encourage parents to write letters and send photos.
CARA allows parents to foster their own child after the No Objection Certificate has been received. It is then up to the individual orphanages as to whether or not they will allow fostering and what parameters fostering families will need to comply with. At the present time, the organizations we work with in Delhi and Mumbai are allowing fostering by parents, but this is always subject to change.
FTIA India staff will work with you throughout your travel planning, however most parents make their own flight arrangements once FTIA gives a travel approval date. If interested, we can have staff assist you when you are in India, but many adopting parents of Indian descent do not request or need assistance. If assistance is requested, there is an additional charge.
You will be in India approximately 6-10 days. While there you will pick up your child, complete the CIS process, and finally obtain a VISA for your child and travel home.
Yes, India requires at least one parent to travel to India to bring their child home.
India and FTIA require each adoptive family to complete post-placement/post-adoption reports after the child has been brought home. Reports need to be submitted according to the specifications outlined in the Indian legal documents (guardianship or Hindu adoption documents). These documents typically request post-placement/post-adoption reports every 3 months the first two years and every six months for the next three years. The first 3 reports must be completed by your home study agency. The remaining reports may be adopting parent self-reports if permitted by the Indian Organization. FTIA will need a copy of the adoption decree once the adoption is finalized in the U.S. for those children who come home under Guardianship Orders. Please note that if your child returns to the U.S. on a guardianship (i.e., it is not a Hindu adoption completed in India), your state may have additional post-placement requirements.
