• Azerbaijan: no age restrictions
• Belarus: minimum +16 over child, no maximum
• Bulgaria: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Cambodia: under 55
• China: maximum 50 (55 for special needs children)
• Columbia: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Ecuador: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Ethiopia: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Georgia: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Guatemala: minimum over 25, no maximum (Although I have also heard there is no max limit, so the information seems to be inconsistent.)
• Haiti: minimum over 35, no maximum
• India between 28 and 40
• Kazakhstan: no age restrictions
• Latvia: no age restrictions
• Liberia: no age restrictions
• Mexico: minimum over 25, no maximum
• Moldova: between 25 and 50
• Nepal: between 25 and 55
• Peru: under 55
• Philippines: minimum over 27, no maximum
• Poland: under 44
• Russia: no age restrictions
• Korea: 25 to 44
• Taiwan: no maximum restriction
• Thailand: no more than 40 years older than the child
• Ukraine: no maximum restriction• Viet Nam: no maximum restriction
**Please note this list was published in 2007 and may no longer be valid.
Domestic adoption age limits vary from state to state. A few examples, in Georgia and Idaho prospective adoptive parents must be 25 years old. In Colorado, Delaware and Oklahoma, the age requirement is 21. In Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Washington adoptive parents are only required to be 18 years old. Several states require adoptive parents to be 10 to 15 years older than the adoptee.
The maximum age for prospective adoptive parents is increasing. The old rule was adoptive parents should be no more than 40 years older than the child they are adopting. This is no longer the case. More and more older adults are encouraged to adopt, especially from foster care. Adoption.com states the following reasons for people adopting in their 40's or later:
- Putting off starting a family until careers and/or financial security are established
- Many years of infertility treatments
- Creating a "second" family when children are grown
- Creating a family after remarriage
- Grandparent/kinship adoption
When are you too old to adopt? I think it depends on the individual. Personally, I would not want to be in my forties or beyond. At 33, I feel my days of being able to handle midnight feedings, keeping up with my small children, and sleepless nights coming to an end. I doubt I could keep up with a newborn past my mid to late thirties. We are however, one of the youngest couples to work with our agency. When we adopted the first time at age 29, we were the youngest. At 33 we are still much younger than most. Many adoptive parents fall into the categories listed above and do not begin their adoption journey until their 40's.
To each is own. Although, I do not understand the latest news reports of 60 and even a 70 year old becoming a first time parent. Yesterday the internet buzzed that John Travolta age 56 and his wife Kelly Preston age 47 are expecting (as we all know their oldest son Jett died last year). Kelly is reportedly pregnant. Um no thanks, not for me. I would much rather be enjoying my children as teenagers and young adults. At 56 perhaps being a grandparent, but that's just me.
1 comment:
I have to say that I understand where you're coming from. We're in the process of adopting our 3rd from Korea and we are some of the younger parents at our adoption agency as well (DH was a bit upset initially that China wasn't a possibility - as well as a few other places - because he isn't yet 30). My parents have friends (their age) who have a DD about the same age as ours and my parents can't imagine having the energy to keep up with her. But not everyone is blessed with children in earlier years, and some make the decision to wait. It's just not what is best for our family. ;)
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