During the proceedings, the Attorney-General will usually be appointed by the Court to be the guardian ad litem for the child. The Attorney-General will appoint a welfare officer from the Children & Young Persons Service, to conduct the necessary investigations concerning the proposed adoption. After such investigation, the officer will give an affidavit stating his findings of the investigation.

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You should engage a Lawyer to prepare all relevant documents and file a petition in the prescribed format. Some of the documents which will be filed together with the petition are:-

(1) an affidavit verifying the contents of the petition,
(2) the child's birth certificate,
(3) the marriage certificate of the adoptive parents if the petition is jointly made by the spouses,
(4) the consent of the natural parent(s) or guardian(s),
(5) the consent of the other spouse if one of them is the applicant.

Upon the order being made, all rights, duties, obligations and liabilities of the parent(s) or guardian(s) in relation to the future custody, maintenance and education of the child shall be extinguished and the adoptive parent(s) shall stand in the position of the parent(s) or guardian(s).

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The Court must be satisfied that:-

(1) the parent or guardian who has consented to the adoption understands the nature and effect of an adoption order, i.e. that the order will permanently deprive him/her of his/her parental rights over the child;
 
(2) the order will be for the welfare of the child, and if the Court is satisfied that the child is of an age to have sufficient understanding, due consideration will be given to his/her wishes;

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Yes, the Court can make an order for adoption in exceptional circumstances such as:-

(1) the Applicant is below 25 years of age and not more than 21 years older than the child, if:-

(a) the Applicant and the child are related, or 
(b) they are not related but there are special circumstances.

(2) no consent from the parent or guardian is provided, the Court is satisfied that the parent or guardian:-

(a) neglected or abandoned the child,
(b) cannot be found, or

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Applications are to be made in accordance with the provisions of the Adoption of Children Act.

In general, an adoption order is not made when the sole Applicant is a male and the child is a female unless the Court is satisfied that there are special circumstances which justify making such an exceptional order.

To make an application, the following must be satisfied:-

(1) the Applicant must be at least 25 years of age;
(2) the Applicant must be at least 21 years older than the child whom he/she is seeking to adopt;

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