Requirements

This section addresses requirements of prospective parents by China. Prospective parents of a broad age range and those with children can adopt from China.  The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) is the Chinese adoption authority and is the entity responsible for establishing these criteria.

• Applicants ages 30 - 45 can expect a referral of a child 6-18 months of age;
• Applicants ages 46 - 50 should be open to a child up to 14-36 months of age;
• Applicants ages 51 & 55 can qualify for the Special Needs Program only.

You can request a child within a certain age range, reported health, and gender. The Chinese authorities will try to assign a child based on that request.

Families adopting from China must be willing to accept a child, or children, from the age range dictated by their age, otherwise you should not begin the adoption process. If the parents fall into two different age categories, the CCAA will likely weigh more heavily the mother's age if it is the lower of the two, or they may take an average of the age of the mother an the father. However, such parents must be willing to accept a child from both age ranges.

The minimum requirements for a family are found on the China country sheet.