Under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, a female Hindu of sound mind who is not a minor…

Under Section 8 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (as substituted by the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2010), any female Hindu who is of sound mind and is not a minor has the capacity to take a son or daughter in adoption; however, under the proviso to Section 8, if she has a husband living, she shall not adopt a son or daughter except with the consent of her husband (unless the husband has completely and finally renounced the world, ceased to be a Hindu, or been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind). Furthermore, under Section 11(i) of the Act, if the adoption is of a son, the adoptive mother must not have a Hindu son, son's son, or son's son's son living at the time of adoption.