Adoption

Child welfare is universally accepted as one of the important needs of society. India too has a national policy for a child which has been adopted by the Parliament. The policy lays down a 15 point programme among which the programmes of maintenance, education and training of orphan and destitute children have been accorded priority. The policy resolution also provides protection for children against neglect, cruelty, and exploitation.

Several pressures on our family life due to industrialization led to a break in the joint family system which resulted in growing destitution among children. These children are generally deprived of participation in social benefits available in a welfare state. The working group of policy and programmes for destitute children set on by the Planning Commission estimated that about 0.5 per cent of children in the age group 0 to 14 years are destitute. According to this estimation there are 1.15 million children who need homes. These children have to be provided with institutional or non-institutional care in order to protect them from exploitation by others in society. While institutional facilities would include orphanages, children’s homes and homes provided under the Juvenile Justice Act, the non-institutional alternatives would serve the interest of the child even better since they provide a family or near family atmosphere. These include adoption, foster care and sponsorship which are effective in reaching out to a child in need. Among these, adoption is undoubtedly the best non-institutional alternative available since adoption provides that most basic aspect of security which a child needs-a family. Adoption to a greater extent, satisfies the emotional needs of both the parents and the child, gives the child a separate individual entity and lays the foundation for their healthy development towards responsible adulthood.

Adoption is a legal process by which a set of parents become parents of the child of another set. Thus adoption of a child is a process of his/her rebirth in a new adoptive family and therefore, is the most complete means by which family life can be restored to a child deprived of his natural family. The motive for adoption is quite different for the developed than the developing countries. In the case of developed countries, adoptive parents can be classified under following categories.
1. Involuntarily childless couples (majority of the adoptive parents).

2. Couples with two or more children.

And their motives are normally influenced by danger of overpopulation in the world, deep sympathy for children in very difficult circumstances and compassion towards war victims. In the developing countries families with no children or only with female children are the ones who come forward for adopting a child (especially male child). Hence, old age protection, perpetuation of the family name and continuance of family lineage, security of the family property and solemnization of latest rites, are generally considered to be the motives of the adoptive parents in developing countries. In India, it has been observed that childlessness is the primary motive of parents in adopting destitute, homeless children.

The tradition of adopting children within the Indian joint families has been prevalent since ancient times. In those days, usually a child was adopted from their own extended family or at least belonging to their own caste and community. For instance, Shanta, the daughter of King Dasharatha and the elder sister of Sri Rama was adopted by Ramapada, the king of Auga, as Ramapada had no children and Dasharatha expected to have more children. Shanta was given away in adoption. It is the practice of adopting destitute a child from outside which is of recent origin. Thus this attitude of the couples to adopt a child from outside their family circle to avoid divided loyalties and possible interference in the care and upbringing of the child they adopt is a quite recent phenomenon in India.

India has no adoption law that covers the whole country. The Hindu adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956, which is existing in India, is applicable only to Hindus. Adoption according to this act takes place in civil court and is irrecoverable. For Non-Hindus, the child comes under the Guardianship and Ward Act, 1890. No adoption order is given according to this Act, but the parents are given the guardianship of the child by an order from the High court. And the child thus adopted has no right to the surname of the adoptive parents, neither has he inheritance rights.

Adoption Process

First the couple should file a petition in the appropriate court to legalize the relationship. The order issued by the court on accepting the petition gives permission to the couple to adopt the child selected by them. Following this the couples executes an Adoption Deed and register it under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. This completes the adoption process and the couple is now eligible to acquire all the rights and responsibilities in relation to their adopted child and at the same time the child can also assume their name and inherit their property. This is only the case with Hindus (while the term Hindu encompasses, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains).

In case of Non-Hindus, the antiquated Guardians and Wards Act 1890 enables a couple to apply to become ‘guardians’ of a child, thus giving them some legal status with respect to him/her however inadequate it may be.

Both the Indian citizens as well as the citizens of other nations are eligible to adopt an Indian child. It was the Supreme Court Judgment of 1981and subsequent two judgments of 1983 and 1984 that laid down norms of practice of adoptions and thus legalized the practice both of inter-country and in-country adoption.

Many parents seem to approach hospitals and private nursing homes and with the active assistance of medical and other staff, obtain unwanted children born therein. Only very few are aware of the existence of destitute children in institutions who are in need of parents love. There are competent Child Welfare Organizations in the country which can help the couples to adopt a child according to their desire. The information regarding these prevailing Child Welfare organizations are available with the state Department or Directorate of Social Welfare. Thus, the Child Welfare Organizations seems to play a major role in recent years by helping the couples to understand the procedures involved including the legal process in adoption and thereby adopt a child.

The Indian Council of Social Welfare acts as a consultant for all foreign adoption. It has the responsibility to see that the child can be adopted in the adoptive parent’s country and to ascertain if the agency involved is acceptable. It also makes recommendation to the court on the feasibility of giving the guardianship order and its representative is present at the court hearing to give his/her views.

adoption feature

The adoption figures by sex reveal that in India the male children are adopted more than their female counterparts. While the adoption of girl children has also been steadily on the increase, it seems to be quite less when compared to the increase in the adoption of male children. This can be partly attributed to the preference of a male child, to fulfill the various socio economic and psychological needs of the society. And this picture seems to be quite reverse in case of Non-Hindus, where female children are adopted more.

Further, it can be noticed from this table that Hindu parents (which include Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains) adopt children to a larger extent than Non-Hindus. This may be partly due to the non-existence o the law covering Non-Hindus for the additional purpose. To put it more clear, in the present state of affairs, even after becoming guardians of the child they adopt, no life long legal bond ties him to them, nor can they give their adopted child.

While the in-country adoptions are showing an increasing trend, there has been a decline in the inter-country adoptions, over the years. In case of sex, while the male child is adopted more in case of in-country, the inter-country adoptions are favorable towards female child. Although, reasons for the girl child outnumbering the other sex in the inter-country adoptions are plenty, the following generalizations are made about the girl child by the researchers:

1. She is a symbol of affection.

2. She stays close to the family over years.

3. She may have comparatively less difficulty in assimilating and settling down within their environment.

These reasons could motivate inter-country adopters to prefer a girl more than a boy. However, according to some authors, foreigners do not choose a child. It is chosen for them by the Indian counterpart of the adoption agency. And in this condition, the authors are not surprised with the fact that majority of the inter-country adopters choose a child, for the following reasons:

a. Anyone who has visited an orphanage knows that the majority of the children are girls.

b. Indian adoptive parents naturally (and rightly) have the first choice. Most of them choose from boys.

c. A child can go for foreign adoption only after three Indian parents had the choice to say “no”.

d. Logically, the overwhelming majority of Indian children available for foreign adoption will be girls.

These call for further investigation.

Although the abovementioned adoption figures reveal that the inter-country adoption, a question that always remains in the minds of the social researchers is that, which is preferable among the two, especially in the point of view of the adopted child. In case of adoption, the first thing to be considered is the interest and the welfare of the child. Usually it is felt that an adopted child adopts best to his own social and cultural milieu amidst a familiar environment since this will greatly reduce the likelihood of stress on the psyche of the child, which will not be the case with child adopted by the other countries. In the inter-country adoption it is often noticed that change in the environment may cause the child in general dissatisfaction with the adopted parents. Therefore the in-country adoption is usually preferable especially in the point of view of child than the inter-country adoption.