Things you need to know about children adoption in Kenya

But what exactly is adoption? The laws of Kenya describe adoption as the permanent assumption of the parental rights and responsibilities in a legal manner of a child that is not naturally yours

Here are some of the things you need to know about adoption in Kenya.

Section 2 of Part I of the Children’s Act (2022) defines adoption as the process through which a child is permanently placed with a legal parent or parents as described in the Children's Act, 

In Kenya, a child cannot be put up for adoption unless the child is at least six weeks old and has been cleared by the National Council for Children's Services indicating that the child is available for adoption.  Informal adoptions are illegal and considered an offence under the Act.

An adoption order may be made upon the application of a sole applicant or jointly by two spouses.

The applicant or at least one of the joint applicants must have attained the age of 26 years and be at least 21 years older than the child but should not have attained the age of 65 years. However, that the age requirements are not mandatory where the applicant is the mother or father of the child or is otherwise a relative of the child.

An adoption order cannot be issued in favour of a person intending to adopt unless the court is satisfied that there are special circumstances that justify making an adoption order such as a sole male applicant in respect of a female child, a sole female applicant in respect of a male child, an applicant who has attained the age of 65 years and a sole foreigner female applicant.

In order for adoption to be declared legal, here are some of the documents required by the court for an abandoned child: a certificate declaring the child free for adoption issued by Adoption society, a recommendation of the adopters by the director of children services, letter from the police stating that the child has not been claimed and committal order issued by the Magistrate Committing the child to a home.

Restrictions will not apply if the applicants or either of them is the father, mother or relative of the child to be adopted. A sole applicant shall not be considered by any children’s court to adopt a child, not unless the applicant is a relative.

Additionally, as stated in the Children's Act, adoption orders cannot be granted to anyone who is incapable of caring for and guarding a child or who has a criminal record for crimes of a sexual nature, indecent assault, human trafficking, and arms smuggling in addition to corruption.

In the case of a combined application, such couples will not be given adoption orders unless they are already married to one another. Adoption is also not permitted for a single male applicant without a relationship with the child or for a foreign applicant unless that applicant is a biological relative of the child.