In Victoria, you can apply if you are an adult and normally live in Victoria.
You do not need any special qualifications to be an adoptive parent. The experiences and skills of all families are welcome.
Adoption Victoria seeks applications from families who can meet the following characteristics.
1. Readiness to adopt
You are capable of receiving a child in your home. This could happen soon after you are approved.
Making sure you are ready to adopt means considering the needs of any children already in your family, especially infants under one year old. It also means considering plans you may have for fertility treatment, surrogacy or pregnancy.
2. Capability to parent children with a range of additional needs
Children who require adoption often have additional needs that need to be supported.
These include:
- ongoing contact with their natural family
- disability or significant health issues
- vulnerability to developing health issues later in their childhood
- complex backgrounds
- developmental trauma and,
- a culturally or linguistically diverse background.
3. Commitment to open adoption
Open adoption supports ongoing contact between an adopted person and their birth and adoptive families.
It recognises that children benefit when their birth and adoptive families remain in contact after an adoption order has been made.
An open attitude to adoption means accepting that the child will have significant connections to more than one family.
It is a key part of how adoption is practiced in Victoria.
It is based on the willingness of adoptive and birth families to:
- know about each other
- exchange information
- where possible, build relationships through direct contact.
An open attitude to adoption gives children the opportunity to talk about their life story and birth family. It helps them accept their own history and experience.
4. Diversity of possible adoptive parents
When a parent consents to the adoption of their child, they are often involved in selecting the adopting family.
Birth parents may express wishes relating to:
- the background of the applicants
- location of the family home
- religion
- occupations
- values
- many other factors that may be important to them.
How to apply to adopt
To be able to apply to adopt you must first download and read the Information Kit for Families Wanting to Adopt a Child. This information kit contains a comprehensive overview of the adoption process in Victoria, including legal requirements, the stages of assessment and approval, and the role of Adoption Services Victoria and its affiliated organisations. It also addresses commonly held myths about adoption, clarifies eligibility criteria, and outlines the importance of readiness, stability, and openness in prospective adoptive families.
Once you have read the Information Kit for Families Wanting to Adopt a Child, you can then register your interest to adopt a child by completing the ASV Expression of Interest and sending the completed questionnaire to adoptionsvic@justice.vic.gov.au.
Watch the information session
Some people also find it useful to watch an information session. You can watch a recorded information session here:
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