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Is there a way to adopt a child above the age of 2 with them being mahram to both parents

Q:

Salaamunaylaykum, inshAllah you are well.

We are considering adopting a child for the pleasure of Allah (swt) and would like to ensure the child is mahram to both parents so they have full physical and emotional support from both parents growing up as all children need. Please can you advise:

  1. Is there a way to adopt a child above the age of 2 with them being mahram to both parents?
  2. Per ruling 2492 part 3, is it possible to feed a child under 2 breastmilk from the bottle to make them mahram if there is any medical risk or if there is unwillingness from the child to feed from the adopted mother’s breasts?
  3. Per ruling 2492 part 6, what would happen if the child throws up some milk but not all (as normally happens with most babies)? Does this invalidate the mahram process?
  4. Per ruling 2493, is it correct to interpret that these are not all necessary criteria (i.e. breastfeeding to make mahram does not need all three criteria to be met, but only one of the three)?
  5. Per ruling 2493 part 2 and part 3, how do you know when a baby is ‘completely full’ (i.e. is this simply when they choose to stop feeding, even if they just want to play instead of eating)?
  6. Is it forbidden to change an adopted child’s name (in three scenarios: 1) if the last name is not known can we add one?, and 2) if the last name is known, can we add the family name to theirs by hyphenating their last name? OR 3) keeping it as a middle name so that the child feels part of the family?)?

With duas

A:

Salaamun alaykum
Thank you for your email.

– there are two ways of mahramiyya, marriage and through breastfeeding which has to be a baby under the age of two. There is no other way.

– Per ruling 2492, a child only becomes mahram if he/she suckled from the breasts of the woman, otherwise the child does not become mahram to anyone.

3. the child suckles the milk from the breasts of the woman. Therefore, if the milk is poured into the child’s mouth, it has no effect;

https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2338/

– Per ruling 2492, if a child does not suckle from the mother’s breasts, he/she does not become mahram to the parents.
And throwing up a little bit of milk is normal in babies, and that does not invalidate the mahramiyya process.

– Per ruling 2493, oneof the three have to be met.

– Normally when a child is full, it stops feeding and the mother can tell that the child is full and that is enough.

– 1
Question: Are we allowed to adopt children and consider them as our own children?
Answer: It is permissible for a person to adopt a child and taking care of a deserving child on its own earns is a rewarding deed, but the child legally (Islamic Shariah) is not considered his son or daughter; i.e. the child remains non-mahram to him or his wife and he or she does not inherit from the ones who has adopted him or her.
Adoption in the sense to change a child’s surname and register him in the official documents as the parents own child is not permissible.
https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01122/

Zahra Davdani

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