Canadian wanting to adopt a child from Pakistan or Morocco while living in Singapore

Please remember that both Morocco and Pakistan are Muslim countries. While they interpret Shaaria a bit more liberally than some Muslim countries, Islamic law is still the foundation of the legal system. Islamic law does not accept the Western definition of adoption. Under Western law, adoption severs the legal relationship between the birthparents and child completely, and then creates a new parental relationship between the child and the adoptive family. The child is considered to have the same relationship to the adoptive family as if he/she had been born to the family. Under Shaaria, however, adoption is more like foster care or guardianship. The birth family remains the legal family of the child; the child retains the surname of the birth family, the right to inherit from that family, etc. The adoptive family is expected to involve the birth family, if at all possible, when making important decisions about the child in areas such as religious education. If birthparents overcome issues that led them to make an adoption plan, the child may return to them if he/she so desires and if the authorities determine that it is in the best interest of the child. As a result, if you are allowed to adopt from a Muslim country, you will actually receive a decree of guardianship, and not a decree of adoption. In Morocco, it is called a "kafala adoption". You will have to see whether the country in which you are living permits you to immigrate a child if you are not the legal parent. You will also have to adopt the child under the laws of Canada or some other Western country in order to become the parent of the child as defined in the West. You should also be aware that most Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Morocco, do not allow non-Muslims to adopt Muslim children. Most Muslim countries will want proof that a prospective adoptive parent is Muslim. Some more strict Muslim countries do not consider Muslims living outside the Arab world to be sufficiently observant to raise a Muslim child and do not consider non-Muslim countries to be suitable environments for a Muslim child. In those cases, adoption by even Muslim foreigners is impossible. In some Muslim countries, Christians may adopt Christian children, living in Christian orphanages. Unfortunately, in Morocco, some non-Muslim Western families have gone through a sham conversion to Islam, while in the country, in order to adopt, since the conversion process is relatively easy there and families need only to swear to accept relatively universal principles, such as the belief in one God. It is extremely improper to undertake a sham conversion, however, because such behavior shows extreme disrespect for the country's laws, for Islam, and for your child and his/her birth culture. Please do not adopt from Morocco unless you are already Muslim or seriously in the process of becoming Muslim. Sharon