Parenthood by adoption is not a second choice

Adoption Week for many countries including India has just ended. It’s a particularly poignant time for my family as we celebrate on November 28 a year since our adopted daughter came home.

The past two years has seen both Deepak Kumar, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) secretary/CEO, and Maneka Gandhi, minster for women and child development, demand that adoptions of Indian children be increased. There are currently 10,000 registered PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) with only 1,500 children available for adoption. At least 2,000 are waiting to be declared by CWCs (child welfare committees) eligible for adoption.

Adoption is still a sensitive subject in India. For many it is the last option to have a child after fertility treatment has failed, and those choosing it can face opposition from family, friends and society – after all, aren’t blood ties the strongest and most important in terms of a family? In India, culture and tradition also give a great deal of importance to blood lines. But to give a child a home, a life and love is the greatest gift of all and for which the giver is rewarded many times over.

A recent meeting in Pune brought together professionals, adoptive parents, adoptive children and birth parents to participate in a conference, Understanding Adopted Children.

Eminent professor Nilima Mehta, author of Ours by choice, spoke on the importance of support and counselling for all involved in adoption. Effective pre-adoption counseling is essential to help people make an informed choice. Her lecture resonated on many levels, but the two phrases that have stayed with me? “Adoption is a relationship of choice, just like marriage” and “Parenthood by adoption is not a second choice”.

For me adopting my daughter was not a second choice, and I had always wanted to add to our family in this way, but for our wider families, it was a challenge to accept this. Now a year on, our daughter’s journey to us is part of our family story. I am often contacted by friends of friends to ask about the process and how we did.

A couple at the conference who had given up their daughter for adoption spoke and I found it an eye-opener to listen to their story. It is all too easy to condemn such people as irresponsible but that is a simplistic response. Somewhere there is a couple that gave my daughter her birth, just as we now give her life. They should not be judged by different yardsticks to the ones applied to parents who go in for adoption as a choice.

I am often asked what I will tell our daughter about her adoption. The answer is I need to tell her very little as we are bringing her up to know she is adopted. Adoption is not an easy choice, but it has to be done out of love for it is a connection as strong as any made by blood.

Annie Natarajan is an education consultant

source: Hindustan Times, 25-11-2016

Girls emerge as preferred choice for adoption

NEW DELHI PTI





Girls are the preferred choice for people opting for adoption in comparison to male children in the country, even as the government struggles to improve skewed sex-ratio.In the past three years, 7,439 girls were taken up for adoption as against 5,167 boys. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2,846 girls were adopted in 2012-13 against 1,848 boys. In 2013-14, it was 2,293 girls and 1,631 boys. Year 2014-15 saw 2,300 girls finding home, while 1,688 boys were adopted. “There has been an increase in the demand for girl child for adoptions. It is very encouraging to know that more and more people are coming to adopt girls,” a senior official of Central Adoption Resource Authority said.
The number of children with disabilities or special needs placed in inter-country adoption was 170, 242 and 214 during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.
According to the revised adoption guidelines that came into effect from August 1, 2015, the process was brought under a new system called `CARINGS', bringing all child-care institutions of the country on one platform.
The Ministry also recently relaxed rules for adoption for certain categories of parents including those who have lost their child to sickness or accident and those want to adopt children with special needs.
However, child sex ratio, which shows the number of girls per 1000 boys between the ages 0-6, is 918 according to 2011 census. Officials said the Centre's Beti Bacho Beti Padhao initiative has shown significant improvement in many states.

Source: Mumbai Mirror, 11-01-2016

When it comes to adoptions, Indians prefer the girl child

Himanshi Dhawan

New Delhi:





The famed Indian preference for boys is turned on its head when it comes o adoption. It appears that when Indian parents, deprived of a child by nature, go seeking an offspring -it's usually for a girl. Data for the ast three years reveals that a significantly higher number of girls are adopted than boys.According to Central Adoption Resource Author ty (CARA) records, 1,848 boys were adopted in 20122013 as compared to 2,846 girls. Total adoptions in the year were 4,694. Since then, adoptions declined in 2013 but he preference for girls has persisted. In 2013-2014, prospective parents adopted 2,293 girls as compared to 1,631 boys while in 2014-2015, 2,300 girls were adopted as compared to 1,688 boys. While total domestic adoptions have come down from 4,694 to 3,924 in 2013-2014, it has increased marginally to 3,988 this year.
While lesser availability of boys for adoption is a factor which could be driving this trend, it is also true that couples who have given up hope of having a child of their own do not mull too much over gender since adoption in India continues to be a long-drawn process.
However, the number of adoptions is still way below the demand. There are about 9,000 prospective parents registered with CARA. Adoption data however paints a dismal picture so far. The highest number of children adopted was 6,593 in 2011-2012. Since then, the numbers have steadily declined till this year. There are an estimated 50,000 children in need for a secure home and care and protection. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi has set an ambitious target of 15,000 adoptions for this year.
Gandhi has in recent times been severely critical of the functioning of adoption agencies. In fact, the ministry introduced fresh guidelines for adoption in August this year. The norms mandate all agencies involved to be registered online with a central database of children.
According to experts, one of the reasons why girls may be preferred for adoption could be the increasing number of single women keen to complete their family . “In case a single woman adopts, the preference is for a girl child,“ an NGO representative said.

Source: Times of India, 4-12-2015

Adoptions in India finally see a rise

Himanshi Dhawan

New Delhi:





`Thanks To Awareness Campaigns'

For the first time in three years, adoption of children has seen a slight increase with 1,368 children finding new homes in the quarter between JanuaryMarch 2015. This is significant as adoptions have been declining every year since 2012-2013, despite the fact that India has one of the largest population of children who are abandoned, deserted or in institutional care.The number is still a fraction, admit child rights activists, considering that there are an estimated 50,000 orphan children who require homes.
According to the latest data available with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) 1,410 children were adopted in April-June 2012. However, the numbers have continued to dip since then hitting an all-time low of 946 children adopted between July-Sept 2014.
CARA faces a peculiar situation. Despite the high number of children who need care and protection, it has currently only about 1,200 children available for adoption as against a demand of nearly 10,000 parents. Of this 9,000 are Indian, while the rest are non-resident Indians or foreigners.
An awareness campaign and a concerted effort to cut down red-tape in the process of adoption can be credited for the recent spike in numbers. “We have been working with state adoption agencies to match children with the parents. We have also managed to now put 95% of our database online which has also helped,“ said CARA secretary Veerendra Mishra.
In February this year, WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had pulled up adoption agencies for the “idleness and deliberate lying“ and said the adoption rate of 800 to 1,000 per year in India was “shameful.“
She added that she wanted 15,000 children to be adopted per year failing which the worst performing adoption agencies will be shut down immediately .
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