The "Child Adoption Act" of 1979 regulates all foreign adoptions in Thailand. The responsible government agency is the Department of Social Development and Welfare (DSDW) of  Department of Children and Youth (DCY) which also supervises licensed but non-governmental agencies. An independent body made up of members from various ministries and departments, known as Child Adoption Board, must review and approve all inter-country adoptions. Parent-Child-Bridge works with two government-approved organisations in Thailand: DCY and Pattaya Orphanage.

Guidelines and requirements for adoption

• Adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old.
• Adoptive parents must be at least 15 years older than the child they wish to adopt.
• Adoptive parents have to be legally married.
• Adoptive parents must have the right to adopt children in accordance with the laws of the country in which they are resident.

Applications for healthy children up to 4.5 years of age can only be accepted to a limited extent (max. 12/year), as the Thai organizations allocate quotas. Last year, however, we remained well below our quota. In addition, applications can be submitted for "special needs" children or older children (from 4.6)

The waiting period from registration of the documents on site is approx. 2 - 4 years, depending on the position, age and profile. The duration of the procedure on site or the duration of the stay is approx. three weeks. The children then enter adoptive care. After approx. 1 to 1.5 years and 3 positive integration reports, the weak adoption, pronounced in Thailand, is registered by the families at the respective Thai embassy in Germany.

As the adoption is a weak adoption under Thai law, the new parents must apply for a declaration of recognition and effectiveness and conversion under German law on their own initiative after the adoption has become legally effective under Thai law.

Please note that currently only applications for children with special needs can be submitted to the DCY. This group includes children from the age of 4, siblings and children with health impairments. These restrictions do not apply to children from the Pattaya Orphanage.