Governing Laws on Adoption

The laws governing the adoption process are Republic Act 8552, known as the Domestic Adoption
Act of 1998 and Republic Act 8043, known as Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995. The former encourages
domestic adoption to preserve the child’s identity and culture and only when this is not available shall inter-
country adoption be considered as a last resort. Republic Act 8043 governs the adoption of Filipinos by
foreigners and Filipinos residing abroad. The said law is being implemented by the Inter-Country Adoption
Board.

A. WHO MAY ADOPT

In view of welfare of the adopted children, adoption statutes were formulated to provide homes,
care and education for the unfortunate ones. Thus, the law precisely sets the qualifications of the adoptive
parents, whether a Filipino citizen or an alien. Tables 1, 2 and 3 presented the evolving qualifications as to
who may and may not adopt a child, depending on the age, capacity, status and citizenship of the adopter.

Age and Capacity Required

Under the Civil Code, every person of age, who is in full possession of his civil rights may adopt.
This was amended by PD 603, which provided that the adopter must be in a position to support and care
for his children
legitimate, legitimated, acknowledged natural children or natural children by legal fiction, or other
illegitimate children in keeping with the means both material and otherwise of the family. This was retained
by the Family Code and the Domestic Adoption Act.
The age gap requirement was added under PD 603 where in all cases, the adopter must be at least
15 years older than the person to be adopted. The Family Code superseded this provision and required
instead that the adopter must be at least 16 years older than the person to be adopted unless the adopter is
the parent by nature of the adopted or is the spouse of the legitimate parent of the person to be adopted.
This was retained under the Domestic Adoption Act. However, under the Inter-Country Adoption Act, in
addition to the sixteen-year gap requirement, the adopter must also be at least 27 years of age at the time of
application for adoption.
Husband and Wife as adopters
Under the Civil Code and the Child and Youth Welfare Code, the husband and wife MAY jointly
adopt.
When the Family Code took effect, joint adoption by the husband and wife became mandatory. Two
exceptions, however, were added providing sole adoption by one spouse in case he/she seeks to adopt
his/her own illegitimate child or when he/she seeks to adopt the legitimate child of the other spouse. Under
the Domestic Adoption Act, it further added an exception wherein one spouse may not jointly adopt when
the spouses are legally separated from each other.

Guardians as adopters
There is no distinction in the requirements for guardians as adopters under the new law. Section
7(c) of RA 8552 provides that the guardian may adopt only AFTER the termination of the guardianship and
clearance of his/her financial accountabilities.

I. ALIEN AS ADOPTERS

The governing laws for aliens as adopters are RA 8552 or the Domestic Adoption Act and RA 8043
or the Inter-Country Adoption Act. Table 3 provides for the qualification of aliens as adopters from the
time of effectivity of the Civil Code until the of RA 8552 and RA 8043, where it removed the prohibition
of non-resident aliens and further expanded the qualifications before an alien can adopt a Filipino child.
Section 7 of the RA 8552 allows an alien to adopt under the domestic adoption law provided that
he/she meets the same qualifications for Filipino nationals. Insofar as alien adopter is concerned,
compliance with the residency compliance with the residency requirements can be very difficult. This is
because the law requires them to be continuously reside in the Philippines for at least three (3) years prior
to the filing of the application of adoption and maintains such residence until the adoptions decree is entered.
There are certain concerns for relocation of an alien adopter like the fact of his/her being gainfully employed
abroad and it would be impractical to relocate even temporarily. But how can they do away with the said
requirements. The said residency together with the certification requirement on the diplomatic relations, is
subject to certain exceptions. The requirements on residency and certification of the alien’s qualification to
adopt in her/her country may be waived in the following cases.:

 A former Filipino citizen who seeks to adopt a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity
or affinity;
 One who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his/her spouse; and
 One who is married to a Filipino citizen and seeks to jointly adopt with his/her spouse a relative
within the 4th degree of consanguinity or affinity of the Filipino spouse.
The Inter-Country Adoption Act governs the adoption of Filipinos by foreigners and Filipinos residing
abroad, where it provides an additional requirement for adopter to be at least 27 years old at the time of
application for adoption, in addition to the sixteen-year gap requirement, subject to the same exceptions
under the Domestic Adoption Act.