Country by country requirements to adopt

For specific country by country guidelines of who can adopt, please see our Country Guidelines Area. 
The general criteria are as follows:

• You may be single or married (if married, most countries prefer married 2 or more years)
   
• You may be parenting other birth, step,  adopted or foster children.
   
• You may be childless.
   
• You may be of a different religion than your spouse.
   
• You may be celebrating your 25th wedding anniversary.  Older parents are considered "experienced" by many countries.
   
• You may be in your second marriage. One divorce for each parent is almost always acceptable by most counties.
   
• You may be between 25 and 55 years of age or, you may be older than 55 and considering an older school-age child.