Adoption of children on fast track
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19 children adopted from three centres across Ernakulam district in four months
Indicating an increased demand for children from Kerala and speedy completion of adoption formalities, 19 children have been adopted from three adoption centres across the district during the four month period between June and October.
Thirteen boys and six girls were among those adopted, out of which eight were three-months-old, five were four-months-old, one was seven-months-old, one was one-year-old, two were nine-years-old, and one was three-years-old and one was 11-years-old.
‘Legally free’ children
Besides, formalities for the declaration of 25 more children as ‘legally free’ by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) – a prerequisite for making children available for adoption – are also under way.
The district has three certified adoption centres at Angamaly, Perumbavoor and Kalamassery.
New rules
“Since the passage of Adoption Regulations 2017, adoption has become more streamlined with the opportunity for adoption of children opened up to more categories of people.
“Now even single parents, unmarried and even married couples with up to two children may adopt a child,” District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) K.B. Zaina told The Hindu.
Three categories of children — orphaned, surrendered, and abandoned — are made available for adoption through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), a statutory body of Ministry of Women and Child Development, after fulfilling the requisite legal formalities.
Orphaned children
As per Adoption Regulations 2017, in the case of orphaned children, formalities similar to abandoned children have to be followed.
In the case of such children aged above two years, the DCPO concerned will have to publish the details of the children complete with their photographs and wait for a period of up to four months in an effort to trace their parents before they are declared legally free by CWC.
However, the waiting period for children less than two years of age does not exceed two months.
In the case of surrendered children, parents will have the right to reclaim children within two months of their surrendering before they are made available for adoption.
CARA website
“Details of children handed over to the adoption centre is uploaded on the CARA website straightaway and once they are declared legally free by CWC, they will be made available for adoption.
“Similarly, parents looking for adoption will also register on the website and they can choose up to three States from where they are willing to adopt. As and when three children matching the profile of their requirement become available, the parents concerned are alerted,” said Ms. Zaina.
Virtual queue
Parents will have to reserve one of those three children, failing which they will be relegated to the end of the virtual queue and they will then have to bide their time for long before their next turn.
Home study report
Parents from across the country may register on the website through a recognised agency in their State and the social worker from the agency concerned will undertake a home study to verify their credentials. Based on the report submitted by the agency, the DCPO of the district concerned will upload a report on the CARA website, thus making them eligible for adoption.
“Once the children are made legally free by CWC, the actual adoption takes place within 20 days. However, the problem is that there are far too many parents waiting for adoption while far few children were available leaving potential adopters to wait for considerably long periods,” said Ms. Zaina.
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