We’ve heard a lot about adoptions by Angelina Jolie and Madonna recently, but you may be interested to know that a “famous” LDS couple welcomed a new addition into their family just last week. Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye, met their new one-year-old daughter Asha, in India on December 19th. The Huntsmans now have seven children, including Gracie Mei whom they previously adopted from China. You can read more about their adoption here.

Adoptions from India have slowed considerably over the past year or so. During our homestudy update visit a couple of weeks ago, our social worker (who has a daughter from New Delhi) mentioned that there has been a big push with the Indian adoption authorities to place children domestically and to get away from international adoption except as a last resort. Several agencies, such as Commonwealth and Alliance for Children, with previously active India programs, are no longer accepting applications and are focusing on helping clients already in the process. Other agencies such as WACAP and Children’s Home Society appear to have open programs, but Dillon, for example, is currently pursuing licensing renewal and is warning families there may be an extended wait.

India’s Central Adoption Resource Agency instituted new adoption guidelines in April 2006. In general, India prefers to place children domestically, or with couples in which at least one parent is a nonresident Indian (NRI), and some programs are only open to couples in which at least one parent is of Indian descent. In other cases, they prefer small families, and most agencies indicate there may be no more than 3 children in the home at the time of adoption (although exceptions, as in the case of the Huntsmans, are occasionally made). Single women are accepted within a narrow age window of 28-33, and couples must be no older than 55 at the time of adoption and must have been married for at least 2 years (3 if it’s a second marriage.) Because children leave India under legal guardianship only, families must finalize adoptions in their home country and provide post placement reports two times per year over the course of two years.

*Photo source - ksl.com