Endless wait to bring home a bundle of joy ……Sumitra Deb Roy
Experts Blame Illegal Agencies For Queering The Pitch,Adoption Queue Now Stretches To Nearly Five Years
Experts Blame Illegal Agencies For Queering The Pitch,Adoption Queue Now Stretches To Nearly Five Years
Mumbai: With a one billion-plus population and ever-burgeoning number of street kids,one would assume adoption centres would be teeming with kids.But there is a long list of people across the country,waiting to adopt.How can India not have children available for adoption It is a paradoxical question faced by adoptive parents,agencies facilitating adoption and even the government.
In Mumbai,which sees the lions share of adoptions ni the country,most renowned agencies facilitating adoption have at least 50 couples on waiting lists,while lesser known ones have around 25 on an average.Parent(s) have to wait between 15 months to two years to adopt a child.For NRI couples,where both husband and wife are Indians,the wait can get longer and take up to twoand-half years.The longest,however,is for foreigners who have to wait for at least five years to adopt an Indian child.
The obvious question would be how,in a country with 26 million births every year,many of them to unwed mothers,can there be a dearth of children for adoption.Officially,the number of babies being abandoned in the city is coming down, said Dr Shaila Mhatre,chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC).She called the trend obviously fishy as numerous findings in the country indicated a rise in unwed mothers,who usually abandon babies.CWC figures show there were just 65 babies abandoned in 2009 as compared to 77 in 2008 and 96 in 2006,in Mumbai.
Mhatre calls it an issue of serious concern,which the state and the police need to look into urgently.The unassumingly low number of children reaching agencies only hints to the possibility of a thriving industry of illegal adoptions.The government has to get to the root of where these abandoned children are going, said managing trustee of Malads Bal Vikas Sanstha,Jayssita Panigrahi.
In fact,this is the only reason identified for the diminishing number of adoptionsboth in-country and intercountry.Within a decade,adoptions in the city have come down by 50%, said Vandana Patil,senior social worker with Adoption Coordination Agency,Mumbai.The Indian Council of Social Welfare (ICSW),which assists courts in granting final adopting rights,revealed so far there were only 146 adoptions in Mumbai and 20 in Thane this year.Inter-country adoptions took a hit as 70 Indian children were adopted by foreigners this year,as against 140 last year.
An ICSW official suggested a reason why there were few abandoned children.Procedure of surrendering babies to government agencies has been tightened following haphazard abandonment of babies, the official said.Among other documents,the biological mother is supposed to provide identity proof and hospital discharge certificate to confirm the child is not stolen or obtained by unscrupulous means.The paperwork dissuades many, he said.
Mhatre added in several cases unwed mothers return to reclaim the baby from the agency.In such cases,we suspect foul play as the mother does not have resources to raise the child, she added.Interestingly,the growing disparity between children free for adoption and number of adoptive parents has driven many Mumbaikars to approach agencies of rural Maharashtra for better chances of getting a child.
TAKING BABY STEPS
STAGE I
– Prospective adoptive parent(s) should register themselves with the local registered and licensed agencies or Adoption Coordinating Agency or the State Adoption Cell
STAGE II
– A home study report of prospective adoptive parent(s) will be prepared by the social worker of the agency
– The couples ability to parent a child will be assessed
– Documents relating to financial and health status of prospective parent(s) will be part of the report
– The Agency will make a suitable reference from amongst the admitted children legally free for adoption
STAGE III
– After the home study report has been accepted and approved,a child will be shown to the parent(s)
– The agency will take care to match a child meeting the description,if any,desired by the parent(s)
– For placement of older children (above the age of 6),both written and verbal consent of the child will be obtained
STAGE IV
– Once a successful matching has been done,the agency will file a petition in the Court/Juvenile Justice Board for obtaining the necessary orders under the relevant Act