Process of Child Adoption in Nigeria will be exhaustively explained in this article. This will guide you on the right process of child adoption.
How long does it take to adopt a child in Nigeria
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Child Adoption is the process of legally assuming the responsibility to parent a child who either has no parents or has been deserted by the same.
Child Adoption legally terminates every right the original parents of a child have had and transfers the responsibility to the new legal/ new parent.
Most times, for a couple who have no children, adoption is often the best answer to their childlessness.
You can imagine the humiliation that a woman especially goes through at the hands of the supposed in-laws when she is unable to bear children due to one thing or the other.
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Process of Child Adoption in Nigeria
Why People Adopt children
Adoption is done majorly because of the following reasons:
1. Childlessness
When a couple has been together for s number of years without any issues, they often resolve to adopt a child or children.
2. To relieve parents of too many responsibilities
Most parents are still ignorant of the fact that they shouldn’t birth children that they can’t cater to. Parents who have too many children but lack the means of taking care of them sometimes are aided by people who want to adopt their children.
3. To help a child
In Nigeria, it is common things to find children who are abandoned by their parents at tender ages. This sometimes causes sympathy and leads to a concerned person adopting the child.
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4. For Compensation
Most couples may not want to go through the pains of pregnancy after losing a child of theirs, but because of the need to show love to another child, they often would proceed to adopt another child.
5. Sustenance of lineage
When there is a danger that leads to the death of a particular group of people, to sustain their lineage, people often adopt children to sustain that lineage.
6. To assist teenagers
Teenage pregnancy often brings about a stigma upon the victims and in a bid to assist them, most people help them cater to the child all the rest of their lives.
Those Eligible to Adopt
The law guiding adoption in Nigeria does not give everyone the right to adopt children. Adoption eligibility includes:
1. The person who wants to adopt must be a Nigerian citizen
If it is a couple, they must both be citizens of Nigeria with proof (National Identity Card). Foreigners who want to adopt must first become a citizen.
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2. Must not be less than 25 years of age
Anyone that wants to adopt a child must at least be 21 years older than the child to be adopted.
3. Where the adopter is single (not married) he or she must be at least 35 years of age.
4. Those who have a convincing source of income in which they will be able to cater to the adopted child.
5. A person with an unquestionable character; someone with a good reputation.
Other requirements can be found in the child acts right of 2003.
However, in Nigeria, the court will hardly give a child to a single parent for adoption. It happens only in rare cases. It is also very important to note that in Nigeria, only a child who has not come to full maturity is considered adoptable.
Once the child is 17 or 18 years of age (depending on the state where the adoption is to take place) such a child is already an adult and is not worthy of adoption.
Process of Child Adoption in Nigeria
To adopt a child in Nigeria, follow these simple steps:
- Submit an application to the court (or ministry for youth and social development who will then further it to court) for adoption with the following documents attached to it.
- Birth Certificate of both couples (If you’re single, just yours) or sworn age declaration
- Marriage certificate (For a married couple)
- Two passports of the adopter(s)
- Medical report from a government hospital
- A national ID card or international passport (for verification that you’re a Nigerian citizen)
- Evidence that you reside in the same state where the child to be adopted is residing.
- Those who are unmarried will always show evidence to prove that the child is of the same gender as them.
- Evidence of your financial ability to cater to the child.
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Should the court be pleased with the application, it will order for adoption to continue but this usually happens when the court has carried out some background checks on the adopters. Should they be dissatisfied, they usually revoke the adoption request.
After the adoption has taken place, if the court thinks that the adopted child is not well taken care of, they usually revoke the adoption and reclaim the child from the possession of its foster parents.
There you have the Process of Child Adoption in Nigeria!
