A couple in Lahore has been raising their nephew since his parents died. Five years in, someone tells them adoption is not legal in Pakistan. They panic. What happens to the boy's papers? His school? His future?
Here is the real position. Full adoption, the way it works in the West, does not exist in Pakistan. What exists is something close but different. The law calls it guardianship. In Islamic terms it is kafala. Here is what you can do and what you cannot expect.
What is the short answer?
Pakistan has no law that creates a full parent child relationship between you and a child who is not your blood. No adoption statute exists. The legal system follows shariah on this point, and shariah does not permit changing a child's lineage.
What the law does allow is guardianship. The court appoints you as the child's guardian. You raise the child, you feed them, you pay for school. But the child's identity stays with their own parents. They keep their biological father's name. That arrangement is kafala, and it is the recognized way to care for an orphan or abandoned child in Pakistan.
What the law actually says
The main law is the Guardians and Wards Act 1890. Section 7 gives the court the power to appoint a guardian for a minor where the child's welfare requires it. Section 8 says who can apply: the person who wants to be the guardian, or a relative or friend of the child. Section 9 says the application goes to the District Court where the child ordinarily lives.
The court does not hand children out. Section 17 says the court must be guided by the welfare of the minor. It looks at the child's age, sex and religion, the character and capacity of the proposed guardian, how close the guardian is to the child, the wishes of a deceased parent, and the child's own preference if the child is old enough to form one. Section 19 adds a bar: the court will not appoint a guardian for a child whose father is alive and fit. The father keeps that position.
The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 is the main family law for Muslims in Pakistan. It covers marriage, divorce, maintenance and dower. It has no adoption provision. Adoption is simply not part of the statutory scheme. Guardianship is the only door.
What is kafala?
Kafala is the Islamic name for taking in an orphan or abandoned child. It means a pledge to support and care for the child until they grow up. It is not adoption, because the child's parentage does not move to you.
Pakistan's own government told the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 1994 how this works. Children in special circumstances are placed under the guardianship of relatives or a suitable person appointed by the court. The children do not take the guardian's parentage. They enjoy all social and economic rights, except inheritance of property from the guardian. That statement is in the official country advice on adoption in Pakistan.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Pakistan ratified on 12 November 1990, lists kafalah of Islamic law as a recognized form of alternative care. That is Article 20.
Can the child inherit from you?
No, not automatically. Because the child's lineage stays with the biological father, an adopted child is not an heir of the guardian. This surprises many families.
You can still provide. You can give the child property as a gift during your lifetime. And you can leave up to one third of your estate to the child through a will. Muslim succession law caps a will at one third for someone who is not an heir, and that is the usual route guardians take. For the paperwork, see our guide on how to make a will in Pakistan.
How does it actually happen?
Families take two routes. The child comes either from the biological parents directly, or from a recognized institution. The steps are the same.
- Consent on paper. If the child comes from the biological parents, the arrangement starts with a written deed that records their consent. Verbal promises are not enough. Courts have seen parents come back years later to reclaim a child.
- Petition. Your lawyer files a guardianship petition in the District Court where the child lives.
- Notice. The court sends notice to the biological parents or the child's relatives.
- Welfare check. The court checks your background and your means. The welfare of the child is the only thing that matters.
- Guardianship order. If the court is satisfied, it appoints you guardian and issues a guardianship certificate.
- NADRA registration. The child is registered with NADRA and gets a B-Form. At eighteen, a CNIC follows.
Where does the child come from?
If the child is a foundling or an orphan, the route goes through a child protection body. Punjab has the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau under the Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004. Sindh has the Sindh Child Protection Authority. Registered bodies like the Edhi Foundation and SOS Children's Villages also place children in family care. Only registered bodies count. Unregistered centres have no legal standing with the court.
Can you take the child abroad?
Only with the court's leave. Section 26 of the Guardians and Wards Act bars a guardian from removing the ward from the court's jurisdiction without permission. Pakistani courts have allowed children to go abroad to families who will raise them as Muslims.
One caution. Pakistan is not a party to the Hague Adoption Convention. An adoption finalized abroad may not be recognized here, and a Pakistani guardianship order may not satisfy another country's immigration rules. Check before you rely on it.
When things go wrong
Most disputes come from informal arrangements. A child is taken in on a handshake. Later the biological parents reappear and want the child back. Without a court order the guardian's position is weak. With one, the guardian has the law on their side. If money is the problem, free legal aid in Pakistan exists, and the office in your district will tell you whether your case qualifies.
The bottom line
Full adoption does not exist in Pakistan. Kafala and guardianship do. The child you raise stays the child of their own parents on paper, but you are their guardian under the law. Get the court order before you take the child in, not after. If you want to leave the child something, use a gift or a will. The full process is in our guide on guardianship of a minor child in Pakistan.
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