An adopted child has several legal and monetary benefits.

Adoption is the best route for anyone who raises and cares for a child because it protects the legal interests of the child.

Legally adopting a child has benefits for both:

• You can claim benefits given to dependents (medical, government, insurance, etc.)
• You can protect your right as a parent
• You can protect the child
• Your child is entitled to your estate

These have practical and monetary effects.

Medical bills can be lower and she is covered by your company or state-provided benefits.

In addition, travel is easier. You’ll never worry that your right as a parent will be questioned.

Although it can be a tedious and time-consuming process, it has so many beneficial effects to your child’s life that it is more than worth it.

There are several requirements to adopt.

Adoption is limited to people who the state believes can care for the child.

To that end, you must fulfill the below requirements:

• Of legal age
• Possess full civil and legal rights
• Of good moral character
• Have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude
• Is physically, financially and psychologically capable of caring for children
• Are at least 16 years old than the child except if you are the biological parent or the spouse of the adoptee’s parent.

You can also adopt if you are a foreigner but you’ll need to possess all of the above and the below additional 3 requirements:

• Your country has diplomatic relations with the Philippines
• You have lived in the Philippines for 3 consecutive years and will continue to live there until the adoption decree is final
• You are capable to adopt and have been certified by your own country and that the child can enter your country

Immediately, you’ll notice the 3-year residency requirement.

This actually can be waived if you are trying to adopt someone related to you up to the or related to your Filipino spouse up to the 4th degree of consanguinity. This is also waived if you are adopted your Filipino spouse’s child.

Oh, and note that if you are married both of you must adopt the child. There are some exceptions to this but it holds true for the majority of cases.

Finding the perfect baby match takes time!

There are 2 types of adoption in the Philippines.

One is when you adopt a relative. The other is when you adopt a stranger through an agency.

There are 2 accredited Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Agencies:

1. Norfil Foundation
2. Kaisahang Buhay Foundation (KBF)

Most adoptions need to go through these agencies to start the process.

While there are several parts to this first stage, it is generally composed of an application process, matching the child to the correct family and then a transferring the child.

Below is an overview of the process:

• Call the agency to clarify the steps for your particular case
• Attend the adoption seminar
• Submit an application form with several attachments
• Be interviewed for the Home Study report
• Be matched
• Assess your match by visiting and reading the child’s information
• Prepare an acceptance letter you accept the match
• DSWD prepares the Pre-Adoption Placement Authority and the Affidavit of Consent for Adoption.
• The Childcare agency schedules the transfer of the child after these above documents are presented
• Transfer of the child
• File the petition with the court

There’s a lot of paperwork that you are going to have to do.

You’ll need to gather several documents to adopt

The application form needs to be filled up and has several attachments:

• Birth Certificate
• Marriage Contract and other documents that affect your civil status such as Annulment, Legal Separation, Divorce, etc.
• NBI/Police clearance
• Health Certificate
• Psychological Evaluation, when required
• Latest income tax return and other documents showing you can support the child
• Certificate of employment with compensation
• 3 character references from the local church, employer, or non-relative who’ve known you for at least 3 years
• Affidavit of consent of all your adopted and biological children if over 10, including illegitimate children if living with you
• Affidavit of guardianship
• 3×5 pictures of yourself, your spouse and your children taken in the last 3 months
• Certificate of attendance to pre-adoption seminars

Foreigners must complete additional adoption documents

Additional requirements for foreigners would be:

• Certificate from your country/embassy that you are qualified to adopt and that the child can migrate to your home country
• Certificate of Residence from the Bureau of Immigration or Department of Foreign Affairs
• 2 character references from non-relatives who are citizens of your previous country of residence who’ve known you for at least 2 years
• Police clearance of all places you’ve resided in for the last 2 years

SPECIAL NOTE: As of 2018, the agency I spoke with said that foreign nationals cannot go through domestic adoption. There was some difficulty with the legal requirements and her agency wanted to clear that up before processing others.

In a call to clarify this, the social worker said that the confusion was around who would be authorized to give the Certificate that the Foreign National was Qualified to Adopt.

Inter-country adoption may still be an option for foreigners.

As you go through the rest of the process, other documents may be asked.

In general, there is a lot of coordination during this phase.

This first step often takes 6 months.

It can take longer if you cannot be matched.

Court can take 2 years or more as there are several hearings.

The second part of the process is filing at court.

This is important in that it finalizes the adoption and ensures you have full parental rights over the child.

If you’ve successfully completed the first step and have all your documents, proceedings can be much faster.

Still, delays can still be caused by clogged courts, inability of witnesses to appear and additional documents/social work needed.

In a call with KBF, the social worker noted that court often more than 2 years.

She mentioned that there are frequent re-settings and that there are a lot of witnesses:

• DSWD regional officers who prepared the Pre-Adoption Placement Authority and the Affidavit of Consent for Adoption.
• DSWD Central officer who created the Declaration of Abandonment.
• Social workers who created the Child Study, the Home Study and 6-month trial period report.
• The adopter his spouse and the child must appear.

Court can also take some time since adoption cases are often the last one to be called to preserve some privacy.

Court is composed of several steps.

The process is straightforward:

• Create your Petition and attach all documents
• File at the Family Court
• Publish your Petition in a newspaper once a week for 3 consecutive weeks (additional time restrictions occur when you also want to change the child’s name)
• Court-appointed social worker will start the 6-month trial period.
• Go to court to testify.
• Wait for all other witnesses to testify.
• Receive the court decision and register it in the Civil Registry.

Several documents that are needed at court are part of the DSWD submission but I’ll reproduce all the requirements so you can have a checklist.

• Birth, baptismal or foundling certificate
• Affidavit of consent of the child you want to adopt if 10 or older
• Affidavit of biological parents
• Affidavit of your adopted and biological children if 10 or older
• Affidavit of your illegitimate children if 10 or older who live with you
• Affidavit of your spouse
• Child Study report of the child you want to adopt
• Home Study report on you. If you are foreign or live abroad, this can be done by any Inter-Country Adoption Board accredited foreign adoption agency.
• Any document that has changed your civil status such as your marriage, divorce, legal separation, annulment decree etc. This is also applicable for the biological parents of the child.
• If you are foreign, your government must certify that you can adopt based on your laws and that your adopted child can move to your home country.

Prepare financially for adoption.

You should consider the cost of obtaining the needed documents since it adds up.

In addition, the agency will often charge for some of the work done which reaches about Php 17,700.

• The Pre-Adoption Forum Cost and Application Php 1,500 for a couple
• Adoption Home Study Php 5,000
• Issuance of Pre-Adoption Placement Authority Php 7,500
• Child Case Study Php 3,700

The cost for the court process varies depending on the lawyer you engage and so are left blank.

Court fees are composed of:

• Acceptance varies
• Filing Fees Php 10,000
• Publication Requirement Php 15,000 to 30,000
• Pleadings varies
• Court Appearance varies
• Success Fee varies

In addition, some adoption cases can be quite involved. The total process can take years.

Some are particularly lucky and can go through the entire process in 3 years, but that is rare.

However, the process itself provides security of mind that is very crucial to parents and should seriously be considered.