Adoption Malta: Agencies, Process, and How to Adopt a Child in Malta

Adopting a child in Malta is one of the most rewarding things you can do -- and one of the most complicated. The process involves mandatory training, months of assessment, judicial proceedings, and potentially international travel. For intercountry adoption, costs can run between EUR 13,000 and EUR 40,000. But the Maltese government also provides up to EUR 12,000 in reimbursement grants, and the legal framework has been modernized significantly in recent years to make the system more transparent and child-centered.

Here's what the adoption pathway actually looks like, and which agencies can help you through it.

Why Domestic Adoption Is Rare in Malta

If you're hoping to adopt a Maltese-born infant, the reality is stark: domestic infant adoption barely exists in Malta. Only a handful of local adoptions are finalized in any given year. Malta's strong Catholic social context, extended family networks, and expanded social benefits for single mothers mean that birth mothers very rarely choose to place infants for adoption.

When domestic adoptions do happen, they almost always involve long-term foster parents who apply to adopt a child already in their care. The Minors Protection (Alternative Care) Act of 2020 made this pathway more viable by allowing the Family Court to dispense with biological parents' consent when it's in the child's best interests, and by extending open adoption to children of all ages (previously limited to children over 11).

The Three Accredited Adoption Agencies

Maltese law prohibits private, independent adoption arrangements. You must work through one of three accredited agencies licensed by the Social Care Standards Authority (SCSA):

1. FSWS Adoption Service (State-Run) The government's own adoption service, operated through the Directorate for Alternative Care. Its core services are free of charge, though you'll pay for third-party costs like medical certificates, document translations, and travel. This is the right choice if you want to minimize agency fees, but the state service handles a low volume of cases -- only 5 to 7 adoptions per year through this channel.

2. Adoption Opportunities A private non-profit accredited since June 2014, specializing in intercountry adoptions. They provide pre-adoption training, compile Home Study Reports, prepare legal and medical dossiers for sending countries, and handle post-adoption follow-ups. Adoption Opportunities charges fees for these services but offers a more hands-on experience than the state channel.

3. Agenzija Tama Another private non-profit accredited by the SCSA to facilitate intercountry adoptions. They help compile documentation, manage matching procedures, and coordinate with foreign central authorities, particularly in countries like India.

In 2022, private accredited agencies facilitated 52 adoptions compared to just 7 through the state service -- a 100% increase from 2019's numbers, driven largely by the post-pandemic reopening of international adoption pipelines.

The Adoption Process Step by Step

Regardless of which agency you choose, the process follows a similar structure:

Preparation Course. You complete a mandatory 7-week adoption preparation course covering childhood trauma, attachment, parenting strategies, and what to expect during the transition period.

Home Study Assessment. A social worker conducts multiple home and office visits, producing a comprehensive Home Study Report that evaluates your personal history, relationship stability, parenting readiness, and home environment.

Adoption Board Certification. The independent Adoption Board reviews your Home Study Report and certifies whether you're eligible and suitable to adopt.

Dossier Compilation. Your agency helps you compile and translate the legal and medical documents required by your chosen country of origin. This is where intercountry adoption gets paperwork-intensive -- every country has its own documentary requirements.

Matching. When a child match is proposed by the country of origin, the child's medical and background records are sent to the SCSA and to you. In Malta, the child's medical dossier must be reviewed and cleared by the Head Pediatrician at Mater Dei Hospital before the adoption can proceed.

Travel and Legal Finalization. You travel to the child's country of origin, meet the child, and complete the foreign court proceedings. Back in Malta, you file with the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction to formally recognize the foreign adoption decree and update the Public Registry.

Eligibility Requirements

To adopt in Malta, you must be at least 28 years old (or at least one partner in a couple must be). There must be at least a 21-year age gap between you and the child, and under modern guidelines no more than a 48-year gap (though courts can waive this for sibling groups). Adoption is open to married couples, civil partners, cohabiting couples, and single individuals.

You'll need a clean police conduct certificate, international background checks, medical clearances, and successful completion of the training course.

What It Costs and What the Government Covers

The FSWS state service is free for its own services, but intercountry adoption involves significant third-party costs: agency fees, foreign legal representation, dossier translation, document notarization, travel, and accommodation in the country of origin.

The Maltese government helps offset these costs with several grants:

• Intercountry Adoption Grant: up to EUR 12,000 (increased from EUR 10,000 in previous years) to reimburse expenses incurred in adopting from abroad
• Domestic Adoption Support: a maximum of EUR 2,000 for couples adopting Maltese children
• Child Birth and Adoption Bonus: EUR 1,000 for the first child, EUR 1,500 for the second, EUR 2,000 for the third
• Paid adoption leave and waiver of apostille and documentation fees

Active Sourcing Countries

Most Maltese families adopt from countries that are signatories to the 1993 Hague Convention. The most active pipelines include India (the most common source for Maltese families), Bulgaria, Ukraine, Portugal, and Slovakia. Each country has its own eligibility requirements and timelines -- Bulgaria, for instance, requires applicants to be at least 15 years older than the child.

If you want the full breakdown of Malta's adoption system -- including detailed cost planning, the legal framework under Chapter 495, strategies for the Home Study, and a walkthrough of the Hague Convention process for each source country -- our Foster Care and Adoption Guide for Malta covers everything in one place.

Foster Care & Adoption Guide for Malta →