Govt mulls extending age restriction to married adopters

Married adopters should be at least 40 years older than the foster child of the opposite sex, legislators proposed on Tuesday in the review of the draft civil code.

The current draft has the age limit only on single adopters.

The proposed revision of the marriage section of the civil code is set to expand the restriction to married adopters whose spouses are either missing or have no capacity for civil acts.

The age gap aims to better protect adoptees’ interest, according to a report submitted by lawmakers.

Other proposed revisions include barring people with records that could hurt the child growth from adopting.

The proposal was made at the bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress, the top legislature, which kicked off on Tuesday.

At the session, the draft civil code will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the NPC for a second review.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a total of 97,819 adoptions were registered in China during the five-year period that ended in 2018.