Who Can Adopt from China?

This will assist you in determining if you are eligible to adopt a child from China.

The China Center for Adoption Affairs, the central authority overseeing all China adoptions, sets eligibility requirements for all foreign adoptive parents. The Chinese government and the CCAA do not allow for any exceptions to their requirements. Potential parents who meet the CCAA's requirements are matched with children.

Until December of 2006 the CCAA allowed singles to adopt and couples up to the age of 60 to adopt. These and other requirements changed as of December 21, 2006, when the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) officially notified the U.S. Embassy in Beijing of new rules for intercountry adoption from China. This preliminary version is subject to change.

Prospective adoptive parents must be married for at least two years (marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman). If either the husband or wife has been divorced (no more than two divorces), the prospective adoptive parents must be married for at least five years.

Both the husband and wife must be at least 30 years old and under age 50. If adopting a special needs child, both must be between the ages of 30 and 55.

Both the husband and wife must be physically and mentally fit and must not have any of the following conditions:

a. AIDS;

b. Mental disability;

c. Infectious disease that is actively contagious;

d. Blind in one or both eyes or wearing a prosthetic eye;

e. Hearing loss in both ears or loss of language function; those adopting children with hearing or language function loss are exempt if they have the same conditions;

f. Non-function or dysfunction of limbs or trunk caused by impairment, incomplete limb, paralysis or deformation;

g. Severe facial deformation;

h. Severe diseases that require long-term treatment and that affect life expectancy, including malignant tumors, lupus, nephrosis, epilepsy, etc;

i. Major organ transplant within ten years;

j. Schizophrenia;

k. On medication for more than two years for severe mental disorders, such as depression, mania, or anxiety neurosis;

l. Body Mass Index (BMI) (BMI=weight (kg)/height2 (m2) =40.

Either the husband or wife must have stable employment. The

family’s annual income must be $10,000 for each family member in the household (including the child to be adopted); the value of family assets must be $80,000. The computation of the family’s annual income excludes welfare income, pensions, unemployment insurance, or government subsidies, etc.

Both prospective adoptive parents must be high school graduates or have vocational training equivalent to that of a high school graduate.

They must have fewer than five children in the family under the age of 18 years, and the youngest one should be at least one year old. (Those adopting special needs children will be exempt.)

Neither prospective adoptive parents may have a criminal history; they must behave honorably, with good moral character, and be law-abiding. Neither should have any of the following histories:

a. Domestic violence, sex abuse, abandonment or abuse of children (even if they are not consequently arrested or convicted);

b. Use of narcotics, use of opium, morphine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, etc., or any medication for mental illness that can cause addiction;

c. If they have a history of alcohol abuse they must show they have been sober for at least ten years.

Adoption applications from persons with past criminal violations will be considered on a case-by-case basis when either the husband or the wife has fewer than three minor criminal convictions and it has been ten or more years since the last conviction, or has fewer than 5 records of minor traffic law violation.

The prospective adoptive parents must have an understanding of what adoption is and the expectations to provide a warm family for the orphaned children (or children with handicap or disability) via adoption and to meet the needs of the children for their proper development. Prospective adoptive parents must have an understanding of intercountry adoption as well, and be fully prepared for the potential risks associated with intercountry adoption such as potential diseases, developmental delays, post-placement maladjustment, etc.

The prospective adoptive parents make clear in their adoption application letter their willingness to allow post-placement follow-ups and provide post-placement reports as required.

The fixed number of years or age requirements that prospective adopting parents must meet that appears in this letter shall be dated from the day when the adoption application documents are logged in at the CCAA.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS: Prospective adoptive families must not only meet the eligibility requirements of China, but also of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), their respective state of residence laws, and the requirements of the agency they have selected to work with in the U.S.