Introduction
Adoption means, When any child is legally transferred to the male who want to adopt that child. There are Three laws under which a male can adopt a female child.
1. The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.
2. The Guardian and Ward Act, 1890.
3. Juvenile Justice Act.
Under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956
All Hindu male including Buddhist, Jain and Sikh can adopt female child under this Act.
Capacity of Hindu Male to adopt female child
i) Male must be of major age.
ii) Male must be of sound mind.
Under Sec. 11(iii) of this act state that If male want to adopt female child than the age gap between them should be 21 years.
Adoption by Married Male
If a married male wants to adopt a female child then consent of his wife is compulsory.
The consent of wife can be avoided when
a) Wife has renounced the world.
b) wife has been declared unsound mind by court.
In case of more than one wife the consent of each wife is must. The Adoption is Void when made without consent of Wife. Married male can adopt female child when he does not have any daughter or son’s daughter. Under this act if married male wants to adopt a female child with consent of his wife, then there should be 2 year of stable marriage between them.
Adoption by Unmarried Male
If unmarried, divorce or widower want to adopt female child than age gap of 21 years is must. For single male if adopt female child then he will be treated as single parent. And after adoption if male get married than his partner will be considered as stepmother for his daughter. For Adoption of a female child or male child financial condition matters so person should be financially stable before adoption child.
Under Guardian and Ward Act, 1890
Under this act Muslim, Christian, Parsi and Jews can adopt. In this act there is no provision of adoption by a single male, but married male can adopt female child by consent of his wife. If the interested spouses adopt female child, then also they will not be complete parents. The relation between female child and spouses will be Ward and Guardian. And after female child get major the relation of Ward will be over.
Adoption Under Juvenile Justice Act
Under Juvenile Justice Act only married male can adopt female child by spouses consent only. It is not lawfully allowed to adopt female child by single male. Under this act male are not allowed to a adopt female child because to protect female child from sexual exploitation, this being the main reason where Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) does not allow single male to adopt female child.
References:
: Paras Diwan book on family law.
: Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, Guardian and Ward Act and Juvenile Justice Act.
: CARA Guidelines for adoption.