“I don’t have children, but I have 17 nieces and nephews, and they do more than makeup for anything that I can do. I have a stepdaughter, and I adore her to pieces, and I think about adoption. There are so many kids at different ages and stages that need families.”
~ Lauren Velez
Not many people know that November is also recognized as the Adoption Month. Adoption month is dedicated to bringing awareness to people about adoption and the need of homes and families for the children. It aims to bring in the goodness of putting children in homes and trying to bring families together.
In India, adoption falls under the ambit of personal laws, and due to the incidence of diverse religions practiced in our country, mainly two different laws operate. Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews are governed by the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, as formal adoption is not allowed in these religions. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains on the other hand follow the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.
- Almas Shaikh, National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
Adoption in India – past and present:
- Adoption within a family is quite common in India since ancient times especially when the couples could not have children and they adopted a relative’s baby.
- For information about the adoption policies and legalities you can check out the link: http://cara.nic.in/Parents/Eg_incountry_relative_adoption.html
- Adopti0n is easy but there are stringent procedures to be followed. This is because there are over 60,000 children being abandoned per year in India. In some cases, these children become victims of human trafficking and sexual violence. In fortunate cases, the abandoned children are taken to any adoption agencies.
- Desire for male children, children with anomalies or teenage pregnancy leads to abandonment of babies in orphanage and adoption centers.
- Parents who are economically unable to support the babies too enter into adoptive instances.
- It is a crime however to buy babies / kids. If you are interested in adopting and someone mentions financial aspects without any documentation or adoptive agency’s intervention, don’t go in for such an interaction. It is not only illegal but you will be penalised and jailed.
- In case of educating a child of a servant or a downtrodden family, you can apply for guardianship rights.
- Totally legal way of adoption is the right way ahead to secure the future of the child too. Then a child is emotionally forced back by the biological parent(s) ; it can be traumatic for all.
Adopt and help a child get a family and be a source of support to the child. However, the most important aspect as we mentioned here is to take the legal route, even if it tries your patience and is a bit of a slow process. You will be able to enjoy the relationship with the adopted child in a much better way.
