New Delhi, Sept. 6: Fifty-five is not too old to raise a very young child, the government has decided.

The Centre proposes to simplify the age limits for prospective adoptive parents (PAPs), with a lower limit of 25 and upper limit of 55, irrespective of whether they are a couple or single, and irrespective of the age of the child to be adopted.

Further, the proposed rules — if passed in their present form by Parliament — will do away with the additional upper limit now imposed on couples in terms of their combined age. (See chart)

If the draft proposal’s key feature is the way it cuts through the jungle of clauses and sub-clauses that vitiate the current age rules, of 2011 vintage, its highlight is the raising of the ceiling to 55 years for all PAPs.

Upper age limits in adoption are a shield against the adoptive parents being too old for efficient childcare or dying before the child grows up. Currently, the cut-off in India is 50 in most cases — with a five-year relaxation for only one member of a couple provided the child is over three years old.

If carried out, the planned reforms will bring the Indian rules a step closer to international practice, with the exception of China’s conservative system. However, India would still remain at odds with the developed world’s trend of not having upper age limits for adoptive parents at all.

The idea behind the move is “mainly to allow older couples and individuals to adopt children without problems”, said a senior official with the women and child development ministry, which has prepared the draft.

“Nowadays, life expectancy has increased and people are up and about at 50-55 years. Many of the older people want young children and if they are healthy enough and financially stable, there should be no reason why they cannot adopt.”

The official added: “More and more people are marrying late and having children later. Among them, many would also want to adopt. Why deny them the opportunity?”

For now, the draft has been sent to various ministries for consultations. If the law ministry clears the final draft and the cabinet approves it, a bill will be brought in Parliament.

China’s age restrictions for PAPs are stricter than India’s. In China, only people older than 30 can adopt, and only those below 44 can adopt children younger than one year.

If a PAP is older than 50, they can only adopt children with special needs in China. Even this option gets closed at 55.