§ 2 — General interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“adopted child” means an individual (whether below 21 years of age or otherwise) in respect of whom an adoption order has been made;

“adoption application” means an application made under this Act for an adoption order;

“adoption order” means an order under section 23(1);

“adoption proceedings” means the proceedings in court arising from an adoption application, including any appeal against any decision made by the court on the adoption application;

“adoption-related service” means any of the following:(a)

any service provided by an adoption agency (whether directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries) in the course of making arrangements for or on behalf of any person for the adoption in Singapore by that person of a child;

(b)

the conduct of a pre-adoption briefing described in section 12;

(c)

the conduct of a disclosure of adoptive status briefing described in section 13;

(d)

the conduct of any assessment by an authorised adoption agency for the purposes of preparing an ASA;

(e)

any other service provided by an adoption agency in connection with the adoption or proposed adoption of a child that may be prescribed by the regulations;

“Adoption Suitability Assessment” or “ASA” means an Adoption Suitability Assessment issued by an authorised adoption agency under section 14;

“adoptive parent” means an individual who adopts a child under an adoption order and, in the case of an adoption order made in favour of 2 applicants jointly, means either of the applicants;

“applicant” means an individual who makes an adoption application, whether solely or jointly, and for the purposes of Part 2, includes an individual who intends to make an adoption application; and “applicants” means both applicants in the case of a joint adoption application mentioned in section 4;

“authorised adoption agency” means an adoption agency or a fostering agency that is authorised by the Minister under section 10;

“authorised officer” means an individual who is appointed under section 9 to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act;

“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;

“child before the court” means the child in respect of whom an adoption application is made;

“child in state care” means a child who is the subject of any of the following orders that is in force:(a)

an order under section 54(1)(b) or 56(2)(a) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993;

(b)

an order under section 56(2)(a) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 as applied by section 57 of that Act;

“court” means the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court, or any court hearing an appeal against an order or a decision of the Family Division of the High Court or a Family Court, except in sections 48, 51, 66, 69, 70, 72 and 73 where “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;

“Director-General” means the Director‑General of Social Welfare or any public officer or other person authorised under section 3(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 to perform any of the duties or exercise any powers of the Director‑General under that Act;

“father”, in relation to an illegitimate child, means the biological father;

“fostering agency” means a person who enters into an agreement with the Government to provide services in relation to the fostering of children, including overseeing one or more fostering arrangements;

“Guardian-in-Adoption” means the Guardian‑in‑Adoption appointed under section 8;

“Guardian-in-Adoption’s affidavit” means the affidavit required to be filed by the Guardian‑in‑Adoption under section 27;

“Home Study Report” or “HSR” means a report —(a)

applied for by 2 individuals or an individual before the date of commencement of section 11;

(b)

issued before, on or after that date by an adoption agency accredited by the Ministry of Social and Family Development for the purposes of conducting assessments as to the suitability of persons to adopt a child; and

(c)

containing an assessment as to whether the 2 individuals or individual (as the case may be) issued with the report are or is suitable to adopt a child;

“interim order” means an order under section 31;

“parent”, in relation to an illegitimate child, does not include the biological father;

“protector” means any public officer appointed or other person authorised under section 3(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 to perform any of the duties or exercise any of the powers of a protector under that Act;

“registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act 1997, and includes a dentist registered under the Dental Registration Act 1999;

“regulations” means the regulations made under section 75;

“relevant person”, in relation to a child, or a protected person mentioned in Part 5, means any person who —(a)

is a parent or guardian of the child or protected person;

(b)

has actual custody of the child or protected person; or

(c)

is liable to contribute to the support of the child or protected person;

“repealed Act” means the Adoption of Children Act 1939;

“reward” means any benefit, whether monetary or otherwise.

(2) In this Act, a reference to a valid and favourable HSR is a reference to an HSR —(a)

containing an assessment by the adoption agency that issued the HSR that the 2 individuals or individual (as the case may be) issued with the HSR are or is suitable to adopt a child, whether unequivocally or subject to the resolution of any one or more issues contained in the HSR; and

(b)

the validity period for which as stated in the HSR (subject to any extension of the period by a duly authorised officer of the Ministry of Social and Family Development) has not expired.

(3) In this Act —(a)

a reference to a medical assessment is a reference to an assessment by a registered medical practitioner; and

(b)

a reference to a psychiatric assessment is a reference to an assessment by a medical practitioner who is registered as a psychiatrist in the Register of Specialists under the Medical Registration Act 1997.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, an individual (A) is a relative of another individual (B) if A is the spouse or a former spouse, or a parent or step‑parent, father-in-law, mother‑in‑law, brother or stepbrother, sister or stepsister, child (including an adopted child), stepson, stepdaughter, grandparent or step‑grandparent, grandchild or step‑grandchild, uncle or step‑uncle, aunt or step‑aunt, nephew or step‑nephew, or niece or step‑niece, of B.

(5) For the purposes of this Act —(a)

adoption proceedings arising from an adoption application are concluded when —(i)

the court has made an order that finally disposes of the adoption application; and

(ii)

no application for an appeal against that order, or an application for permission to make such an appeal (if required under the law), has been made after the expiry of the time allowed under the law for the making of such an appeal;

(b)

adoption proceedings arising from an adoption application are pending if the adoption proceedings are not concluded; and

(c)

an interim order is not an order that finally disposes of an adoption application.

—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“adopted child” means an individual (whether below 21 years of age or otherwise) in respect of whom an adoption order has been made;

“adoption application” means an application made under this Act for an adoption order;

“adoption order” means an order under section 23(1);

“adoption proceedings” means the proceedings in court arising from an adoption application, including any appeal against any decision made by the court on the adoption application;

“adoption-related service” means any of the following:(a)

any service provided by an adoption agency (whether directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries) in the course of making arrangements for or on behalf of any person for the adoption in Singapore by that person of a child;

(b)

the conduct of a pre-adoption briefing described in section 12;

(c)

the conduct of a disclosure of adoptive status briefing described in section 13;

(d)

the conduct of any assessment by an authorised adoption agency for the purposes of preparing an ASA;

(e)

any other service provided by an adoption agency in connection with the adoption or proposed adoption of a child that may be prescribed by the regulations;

“Adoption Suitability Assessment” or “ASA” means an Adoption Suitability Assessment issued by an authorised adoption agency under section 14;

“adoptive parent” means an individual who adopts a child under an adoption order and, in the case of an adoption order made in favour of 2 applicants jointly, means either of the applicants;

“applicant” means an individual who makes an adoption application, whether solely or jointly, and for the purposes of Part 2, includes an individual who intends to make an adoption application; and “applicants” means both applicants in the case of a joint adoption application mentioned in section 4;

“authorised adoption agency” means an adoption agency or a fostering agency that is authorised by the Minister under section 10;

“authorised officer” means an individual who is appointed under section 9 to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act;

“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;

“child before the court” means the child in respect of whom an adoption application is made;

“child in state care” means a child who is the subject of any of the following orders that is in force:(a)

an order under section 54(1)(b) or 56(2)(a) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993;

(b)

an order under section 56(2)(a) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 as applied by section 57 of that Act;

“court” means the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court, or any court hearing an appeal against an order or a decision of the Family Division of the High Court or a Family Court, except in sections 48, 51, 66, 69, 70, 72 and 73 where “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;

“Director-General” means the Director‑General of Social Welfare or any public officer or other person authorised under section 3(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 to perform any of the duties or exercise any powers of the Director‑General under that Act;

“father”, in relation to an illegitimate child, means the biological father;

“fostering agency” means a person who enters into an agreement with the Government to provide services in relation to the fostering of children, including overseeing one or more fostering arrangements;

“Guardian-in-Adoption” means the Guardian‑in‑Adoption appointed under section 8;

“Guardian-in-Adoption’s affidavit” means the affidavit required to be filed by the Guardian‑in‑Adoption under section 27;

“Home Study Report” or “HSR” means a report —(a)

applied for by 2 individuals or an individual before the date of commencement of section 11;

(b)

issued before, on or after that date by an adoption agency accredited by the Ministry of Social and Family Development for the purposes of conducting assessments as to the suitability of persons to adopt a child; and

(c)

containing an assessment as to whether the 2 individuals or individual (as the case may be) issued with the report are or is suitable to adopt a child;

“interim order” means an order under section 31;

“parent”, in relation to an illegitimate child, does not include the biological father;

“protector” means any public officer appointed or other person authorised under section 3(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 to perform any of the duties or exercise any of the powers of a protector under that Act;

“registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act 1997, and includes a dentist registered under the Dental Registration Act 1999;

“regulations” means the regulations made under section 75;

“relevant person”, in relation to a child, or a protected person mentioned in Part 5, means any person who —(a)

is a parent or guardian of the child or protected person;

(b)

has actual custody of the child or protected person; or

(c)

is liable to contribute to the support of the child or protected person;

“repealed Act” means the Adoption of Children Act 1939;

“reward” means any benefit, whether monetary or otherwise.

(2) In this Act, a reference to a valid and favourable HSR is a reference to an HSR —(a)

containing an assessment by the adoption agency that issued the HSR that the 2 individuals or individual (as the case may be) issued with the HSR are or is suitable to adopt a child, whether unequivocally or subject to the resolution of any one or more issues contained in the HSR; and

(b)

the validity period for which as stated in the HSR (subject to any extension of the period by a duly authorised officer of the Ministry of Social and Family Development) has not expired.

(3) In this Act —(a)

a reference to a medical assessment is a reference to an assessment by a registered medical practitioner; and

(b)

a reference to a psychiatric assessment is a reference to an assessment by a medical practitioner who is registered as a psychiatrist in the Register of Specialists under the Medical Registration Act 1997.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, an individual (A) is a relative of another individual (B) if A is the spouse or a former spouse, or a parent or step‑parent, father-in-law, mother‑in‑law, brother or stepbrother, sister or stepsister, child (including an adopted child), stepson, stepdaughter, grandparent or step‑grandparent, grandchild or step‑grandchild, uncle or step‑uncle, aunt or step‑aunt, nephew or step‑nephew, or niece or step‑niece, of B.

(5) For the purposes of this Act —(a)

adoption proceedings arising from an adoption application are concluded when —(i)

the court has made an order that finally disposes of the adoption application; and

(ii)

no application for an appeal against that order, or an application for permission to make such an appeal (if required under the law), has been made after the expiry of the time allowed under the law for the making of such an appeal;

(b)

adoption proceedings arising from an adoption application are pending if the adoption proceedings are not concluded; and

(c)

an interim order is not an order that finally disposes of an adoption application.