The orphanages we work with in India set the eligibility requirements for adoptive families. To adopt a healthy infant with no special needs, both parents must be 55 years of age or younger, have no more than three children living in their home and have been married at least three years. The combined age of both parents must be no greater than 90.

If you're interested in an older child or a child of any age (including infants) with special needs, these requirements don't apply—except that couples wishing to adopt must still have been married at least three years. WACAP handles these adoptions through our Family Finders program. Single applicants, families with more than one child (we have placed children in homes with up to nine children) and couples up to age 50 can apply to adopt through Family Finders.

The agencies in India will evaluate such applications on a case-by-case basis. Your homestudy must be complete and approved, and you must pay the first set of fees, before WACAP can obtain India’s acceptance of your application.

International adoption is a complex process. If one or more of the steps run into complications, delays happen. We can estimate timelines based on other families’ experiences from the past year or so.

Waiting time for a referral can take from six to 12 months. Once a child is referred, the adoption process through Indian courts takes five to seven months. The last step is immigration, which takes from four to eight weeks. Most children come home in eight to 18 months from the time the family accepted the match or referral. The average time is one year. Family Finders adoptions usually take 12 to 18 months.

These timelines can change at any time. Any family entering into international adoption must be open to flexible timelines.

It is usually only what has been collected since the child entered the orphanage. Medical staff there follow the children closely and send medical reports to WACAP. These reports usually include the results of routine HIV and hepatitis B testing, as well as records of immunizations given at the orphanage.

Other information is often available, including basic social and developmental updates, at least one photo, and sometimes a video. In rare cases, there may be some information about a child’s biological parents or history. However, most children available for adoption have been abandoned, and nothing is known about their family background.

If you want to learn more about a specific child, you and/or your doctor can prepare a list of questions, which WACAP will send to India for a response. Our India adoption coordinator travels to India once or twice a year to obtain updates on each child referred to WACAP.

If you want to adopt a child as young as possible, you'll usually be matched with a infant nine to 18 months old. Children with special needs are infants to 15 years of age. Children up to 5 years or older without special needs are available, but you may have to wait longer for a referral.

"Special needs" is a broad term that encompasses very mild to severe medical and/or developmental concerns. A child with mild special needs might:

Moderate special needs might include:

Severe special needs might include:

Chronic upper respiratory and ear infections, mild premature birth weight, lice, scabies, anemia and delays related to institutional living are common to children referred from India and are not considered special needs.

Most families specify whether they're interested in a boy or a girl. Although more girls are given up for adoption in India, many more American families want to adopt girls. Therefore the waiting time for a boy can actually be less than for a girl. Twins are rarely ever available. Sibling groups of two or three are sometimes available, but the children are usually between the ages of 6 and 14 years.

Abandoned or relinquished children in India are most often cared for in an orphanage. They are rarely placed in foster care. The management of these institutions varies, but the few that we work with (considering the inherent limitations of institutional care) provide an appropriate environment for a child’s good nutrition, growth and development. They are relatively clean and have adequate space and access to resources. The medical services provided to the children are excellent. Children receive affection and social interaction as a basic part of daily living. They also receive informal education for living and academic skills.

The WACAP adoption fee is $12,000. Additional fees include application, homestudy, USCIS pre-filing, postplacement and finalization fees that are not paid to WACAP. One or both parents may choose to travel. You're responsible for paying for the cost of your travel and your child's.

International adoption from India is currently regulated by a 1984 ruling from the Supreme Court of India. Very specific documents are required for the legal court processing that matches a particular child with a particular family. At the end of this process, legal guardianship is granted to the adoptive parents.

Once your child joins you in the United States, a postplacement supervision period goes into effect. A social worker must visit with you until the adoption is finalized according to the laws of the state where you live (one to three visits in six months). WACAP’s India adoption coordinator will review the social worker's reports and send them to India. After the social worker and WACAP recommend finalization, you may retain a lawyer to begin the process. You'll need to write reports on a quarterly basis for five years to update WACAP and India on your child’s status.