In 2025, there were 527 families who requested authorization for the entry and residence in Italy of foreign minorsthe minors for whom authorization was issued were 664 (with a slight decrease compared to the 691 in 2024) and, of these, minors with special needs represent 70%. The average age of adopted minors? 6.8 years. This was stated by the Commission for International Adoptions, the Italian central authority on the matter, provided for by the Hague Convention, in the recently published Report on the files from 1 January to 31 December 2025. And while the General Prosecutor’s Office of Milan has activated investigations to verify the regularity of the adoption of a child in Uruguay by Nicole Minetti and Giuseppe Cipriani, the Commission’s data confirm a phase of equilibrium in the system, despite the global geopolitical criticalities.
But how do international adoptions work in Italy? In our country, international adoption is regulated by Law 184/1983 and by the Hague Convention. It is a rigorous process: «Adopting a child is not a right, but an opportunity», reminds the Commission for International Adoptions on its portal, from which we also draw the following information.
THE ITER
The process consists of seven different phases. From the declaration of availability to the stage of post adoption in fact, we pass through theinvestigation of local services (to acquire information on the spouses and their ability to take charge of an adoption), the search for the authorized body (to be appointed to be followed in the process and choose the country to which to apply for the adoption), therouting (i.e. the phase in which to prepare the documents to be presented to the authorities of the foreign state), thepairing (the procedure in which the State identifies the couple theoretically most responsive to the specific needs of a child awaiting adoption) and the return to Italy. In this last phase, the child who has entered Italy is waiting for the adoption or the transcription of the foreign adoption, until the foreign adoption provision is transcribed in the civil status registers upon order of the juvenile court. With the transcription your child definitively becomes an Italian citizen. The post-adoption phase, which ends with the child reaching adulthood, finally includes a series of meetings in which the parents report on the child’s life, the information of which flows into the report drawn up by the accredited body.
COUPLE REQUIREMENTS
To declare your availability for an international adoption, a couple must have been married for at least three years (if the marriage was more recent, it is necessary to demonstrate that you have lived together stably for a minimum overall period of 3 years). The declaration must be filed with the adoption registry, at the Courtattaching the requested documents. In the presence of the requirements established by law, the Juvenile Court transmits, within 15 days, the declaration of availability for social services in the area of residencewho will have the task of activating the investigation and writing a psycho-social report on the couple to provide the judge with the elements of knowledge essential for the declaration of suitability for international adoption.
THE TIMES
In 2025 the overall average duration of the adoption process stands at 50 months, just over 4 years, a slight decrease compared to the 53 months recorded in 2024. Among the different phases that mark the adoption process, the one that has the greatest impact on the overall time is the wait between the assignment of the assignment to an Authorized Body and the matching. This is the phase in which the competent authorities of the minor’s country of origin identify a specific parental unit – among those declared suitable – deemed most suitable to respond to the needs of that particular minor.
THE COSTS
International adoption involves significant costs, which vary depending on the country chosen and the institution. To the expenses to be incurred in Italy to assign the task to the authorized body, are added the travel and stays abroad, which can last weeks or months. The Decree of the Minister for the family, birth rate and equal opportunities of 5 September 2025 introduces four types of extraordinary economic support for adoptive parents, each with specific requirements. You can get up to 3,500 euros in the case of adopting children with special needs.
