Despite a favourable law, why do single women and men struggle to adopt a child in India

Although the law no longer discriminates against them, the agencies involved sometimes

do.

In January, Disha Parekh, a 31-year-old

single woman from Bengaluru, decided to

take a big baby step — adopt a child. The

tech professional registered online with the

Central Adoption Resource Authority

(CARA), the nodal body that regulates all

adoptions in India.

While registering, she chose the gender and

age group of the child and picked three

states from where she could adopt,

depending on availability. Additionally, she

chose one of CARA’s affiliated adoption

agencies in her city to conduct a Home

Study Report (HSR).

This would determine her suitability as an adoptive parent. Once her HSR was approved,

Parekh would be on a waitlist. The moment a child was available in any of the three states

she had picked, she would be notified and given a 48-hour window to meet the child and

make her decision. If she decided not to proceed, she would lose her spot in the waitlist

and go right to the bottom of the queue.