THE TIMES OF INDIA
April 2008
With Long Waiting Periods For Adoption At City Centres, People Are Looking At Non-Metro Destinations To Bring Home Kids
Mumbai: Wardha, a small town with a predominantly rural population, would normally have been nowhere on the radar of a ubercool Mumbai couple. But it turned out to be a wish-fulfilling destination for Shirley and Shivkumar Menon who went there and returned with Jiya, a 13-month-old baby from adoption agency Takshashila.
In what is turning out to be a heartwarming trend, city couples and even single women are turning towards smaller towns and rural adoption centres to avoid the long waiting period at city centres. The efficiency of the agencies there ensures the added advantage of a fast-track adoption.
When Shirley, in her late 30s, was advised by her gynaecologist to opt for adoption, she and her husband approached several agencies in Mumbai right after their marriage. Everywhere, they were politely informed that there was a waiting list for infants. “We were told it could take up to two and a half years, and that we were not married long enough,’’ says Shirley. In Thane, another young couple, software professional Rajendra (35) and Mita (33) Rane, though married for six years, were also put on a year-long waiting list when they expressed their desire to adopt from agencies in Mumbai or even Pune.
Both couples were disheartened till they met the Pune-based Bharti Das Gupta who in 2002 had founded a voluntary body called Catalysts for Social Action (CSA). This proved to be the turning point for them, as it did for 48 other adoptive parents from cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, in the last 15 months.
“CSA put us in touch with Wardha last August. They did a thorough check on us. The paperwork went smoothly, and Jiya came home with us in February. We were overjoyed when we found the smaller city option. They were meticulous and excellent in every way,’’ say Shirley and Shivkumar almost in unison, adding that their desire was so great that they didn’t think twice when told of the Wardha option. “In any case it doesn’t matter where you adopt the child from,” they say. The only hitch, they say, is that the judicial paperwork has to be done in a court there, and this is likely to necessitate several trips to Wardha till the court passes an order.
The Ranes wanted a baby girl and adopted six month old Rajita from Latur’s Bal Vikas. “We tried several agencies in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and were told there would be a long waiting period,’’ they say. A chance reference to Dasgupta set things rolling. “She told us it might be faster if we went to a remote place. It was. We did a lot of documentation over the internet, but the agency was thorough. In less than six months, our daughter was home. We adopted under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act. Once every month we have to send a report on the baby’s health and well being. Our life has completely changed and has a new, more beautiful, purpose now.’’
According to statistics put out by CARA (Central Adoption Resource Agency), the nodal agency for adoptions in India, adoptions have dropped from 3,831 in 2001 to 3,148 in 2007 across India (including both domestic and international adoptions). True, these figures reflect only the CARA agencies; however, the overall adoption figures could be only marginally more. Meanwhile, India has over 12 million orphans who have nowhere to go.
Bharti Dasgupta, who began CSA, says the idea was to create awareness and facilitate and promote adoption. “Several parents who want to adopt wait for years in metro agencies for their baby to arrive,’’ she says. “On the other hand, larger numbers of children wait endlessly for a home in non-metro agencies, finding their way finally into an orphanage/institution where the rehabilitation outcome is marginal.’’ (According to guidelines, orphans in adoption agencies who don’t get adopted by the age of six can be transferred to orphanages.) “We at CSA would like to believe that if we focus on older children and try to get them an adoptive parent, it may just be possible,’’ Dasgupta told TOI. A grandmother in her mid-60s, Dasgupta has the zest for change and the energy of a 16-year-old. The NGO began when her daughter and son-in-law Vipul Jain, a senior corporate executive, adopted two children.
CSA works with a cluster of 19 government-registered agencies in rural Maharashtra and Orissa.
“The success is encouraging,’’ smiles Dasgupta. But the battle has been uphill. “City parents are usually reluctant to go to non-city agencies and express concerns about health and background.’’ She noted this when in August 2006 she began with a pilot project for adoption in the Latur and Marathwada areas. Hoardings on the expressway gave results, and parents from not just Mumbai, but even Pune, Delhi and Bangalore lined up willing to adopt from smaller centres.
Suja Warrier, a single IT professional, adopted a four-and-half year-old from Latur. Both adoptive mother and child are extremely happy now. The little girl then used to speak only Marathi but now speaks rapid-fire Malayalam. Now Kolkata couples are expressing an interest in adopting from semi-urban centres.
For metro couples, going to smaller centres may mean more effort, but the returns more than make up.
Advice for potential adoptive parents
Be meticulous about handing over the necessary papers for processing. It may be tedious but it is in the interest of the baby.
Adoptive agencies advise you to wait till your marriage completes five years, so present your case properly if it’s different, especially when it is a second marriage for both. Waiting for five years is unrealistic.
Prepare for the baby’s arrival in terms of clothes, toiletries etc. Be prepared to travel four to five times to the place you are adopting from to complete preand post-adoption formalities. This can be timeconsuming, expensive and very inconvenient for the baby but will have to be done.
Catalysts for Social Action (CSA)
Website www.csa.org.in
Phone: 020-66083777
CSA provides information on the agency as well as the number of waiting children and their age and sex. A prospective parent can contact an agency directly or seek CSA facilitation. Fifty placements have been facilitated in a span of 15 months with parents from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi going to Latur, Udgir Nanded, Wardha and even Kalahandi. CSA has also been working with four government destitute homes in Maharashtra and an orphanage in Orissa, assisting them in building better vocational training facilities with funds from corporate houses and funding from Give India.
The laws that govern adoption THE HINDU ADOPTION AND MAINTENANCE ACT (HAMA)
The only codified law available for adoption in India for Hindus, is THE HINDU ADOPTION AND MAINTENANCE ACT (HAMA)
This Act came into force in 1956 and is applicable to: Any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or development. Any person who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh. Any person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew. Any child, legitimate or illegitimate, whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs. Any child, legitimate or illegitimate, one of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs and has been so brought up. Any abandoned child, legitimate or illegitimate of unknown parentage brought up as a Hindu, Buddhist etc. Any person who is a convert to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion.
YOU CAN ADOPT IF You are a Hindu male, over 21 years, single and of sound mind. You are a married Hindu male, but only with the consent of the wife. You are a female Hindu of sound mind and single, viz either unmarried, widowed or divorced.
WHO YOU CAN ADOPT A son—if you do not have a biological son, grandson or great-grandson. A daughter—if you do not have a biological daughter or a son’s daughter. The adopted child enjoys all the rights of the biological child.
THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) AMENDMENT ACT, 2006 Allows for adoption of children who are orphaned, abandoned or surrendered Allows adults, irrespective of their marital status and irrespective of the number of living biological children they have, from any community to adopt; Doesn’t restrict it to Hindus. However, the Act has yet to be used widely. Children will be given in adoption by a court after the latter is satisfied that all investigations have been carried out as required
A WISH FULFILLED: The Ranes adopted sixmonth-old Rajita from Latur
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