Laws
- The International Convention on the Rights of Children of 1989 (coming into force in 1990). In 1991, the Dominican Republic joined the ratification of this agreement. Thus, Law 14-94 is promulgated, which is later modified to Law 136-03.
- Law 136-03 from article (111 to 169) effective (August 7, 2003).
- Hague Convention – Relating to Child Protection and Cooperation in Intercountry Adoption (entered into force 2009)
Adoption definition:
- Law 136-03, in its article 11, defines the nature of adoption as “a legal institution of public order and social interest that allows creating, by means of a judgment rendered for this purpose, a voluntary bond between people who do not have it for nature”.
- In simple terms, it is simply the voluntary decision of a couple to receive a child that is not biologically so.
Social/human nature of the adoption:
Adoption is a measure of family integration, which is sought is to provide and guarantee to Boys, Girls and Adolescents the right to live as a family, to this child who has been denied this right, and it is through the figure of the adoption that the state guarantees the right to live as a family.
What is adoption: Adoption is an act of love, parents who may not have had the happiness of being able to conceive can, through adoption, perhaps not only fill a void that exists in their relationship but also the opportunity to fill the life of that Boy, Girl and Adolescent, whose existence has been disadvantageous since, many times, their birth.
Method of adoption:
- The adoption is privileged and irrevocable.
(Privileged means that the adoptee ceases to have a bond with her blood family, only matrimonial impediments subsist. The adoptee will have the same rights and obligations as the biological children of the adopters: successor, personal and patrimonial).
Who can adopt
- People over 30 and under 60, regardless of their marital status.
(A person after 60 may adopt when he/she has had the upbringing, care and protection of the minor prior to the adoption request.
In cases of relatives who want to adopt a minor when the parents or guardians have been judicially stripped of the guardianship).
- Dominican spouses married for 3 years, foreigners 5 years.
- Dominican couple formed by a man and a woman who demonstrate uninterrupted coexistence for more than 5 years.
- Single people may adopt if it is shown that they have had the upbringing, care and protection of the minor.
- The widower or widower, if during the life of the spouse, both had begun the adoption procedure.
- The divorced or separated spouse when the adoption procedure already existed at the time of the divorce or separation.
- The married spouse or the consensually united couple may formalize the adoption of the child of the other spouse.
- Grandparents, uncles and siblings of legal age, when the father or mother or both have died and the adopters can guarantee the integral well-being of their relatives.
Who can be adopted:
- Children orphaned of father and mother.
- Children who have been voluntarily surrendered to the state.
- Children whose parents have lost parental authority.
- Children who have been abandoned by their parents. (Unknown parents).
Age difference between adoptee and adopter
- 15 years
Phases of adoption
- Administrative phases (Conani)
- Judicial phase (the interested party or your legal representative) the Judge is the one who approves the entire process carried out by Conani, who in turn sends it to the opinion of the public prosecutor to verify that the regulations established in the Law have been met.
Nullity of the adoption judgment
The nullity of the adoption decision may be requested when substantive irregularity or the procedure established in the Code is proven.