if you are Indian citizens who are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, or Buddhists then you are governed by the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956.the relevant provisions of this act for you are enumerated as under:-
7 Capacity of a male Hindu to take in adoption
Any male Hindu who is sound mind and is not a minor has the capacity to take a son or a daughter in adoption:
PROVIDED that, if he has a wife living, he shall not adopt except with the consent of his wife unless the wife has completely and finally renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.
Explanation: If a person has more than one wife living at the time of adoption, the consent of all the wives is necessary unless the consent of any one of the them is unnecessary for any of the reasons specified in the preceding proviso.
11 Other conditions for a valid adoption
In every adoption, the following conditions must be complied with:
(i) if the adoption is of a son, the adoptive father or mother by whom adoption is made must not have a Hindu son, son's son or son's son's son (whether by legitimate blood relationship or by adoption) living at the time of adoption;
(ii) if the adoption is of a daughter, the adoptive father or mother by whom the adoption is made must not have a Hindu daughter or son's daughter (whether by legitimate blood relationship or by adoption)living at the time of adoption;
(iii) if the adoption is by a male and the person to be adopted is a female, the adoptive father is at least twenty one years older than the person to be adopted;
(iv) if the adoption is by a female and the person to be adopted is a male, the adoptive mother is at least twenty -one years older than the person to be adopted;
(v) the same child may not be adopted simultaneously by two or more person;
(vi) the child to be adopted must be actually given and taken in adoption by the parents or guardian concerned or under their authority with intent to transfer the child from the family of its birth [or in case of an abandoned child or child whose parentage is not known, from the place or family where it has been brought up] to the family of its adoption:
PROVIDED that the performance of datta homam shall not be essential to the validity of adoption.
so if you are a hindu you can formally adopt a male child as you do not have a biological male child but can not adopt a female child.
Foreign citizens, NRIs, and those Indian nationals who are Muslims, Parsis, Christians or Jews are subject to the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. Under this act, the adoptive parent is only the guardian of the child until she reaches 18 years of age.Foreign citizens and NRIs are supposed to formally adopt their child according to the adoption laws and procedures in the country of their residence.
