Adoption of Children (Family Related Cases)

Per the Adoption of Children's Act (Cap 28:01):

• A prospective parent must be at least  twenty five (25) years of age in order to proceed with the adoption of a child.  In addition
• A husband and his wife jointly.
• A widower or widow or unmarried or divorced person.
• A married person who is separated from his or her spouse by judicial decree.
• A child of sixteen (16) years of age can only be adopted by parents who are at least twenty five (25) years older than that child.
• A married person whose spouse, as at the time of the adoption, has been suffering from mental illness for a continuous period of more than seven years immediately preceding that time.
• A person cannot adopt a child twenty five (25) years younger than their own selves unless the child is of the same sex as the adoptive parent.
• As an exception to the above rules:
• A widow or widower or unmarried or divorced person may adopt his/her biological child who was previously adopted by any person under the Act, whether or not he or she is under the age of twenty five (25) years or is less than twenty five (25) years older than the child.
• A married couple may adopt a biological child of one of them even though they are under the age of twenty five (25) years and the child is sixteen (16) years or more. The husband, however, must be at least  fifteen (15) years older than the child of his wife and the wife must at be at least ten (10) years older than the child of the husband.