35 of 51 kids adopted from UT are girls

Naina Mishra

 Tribune News Service

 Chandigarh, July 1  

A single woman of French origin, who is a psychologist, proved to be an angel in disguise for a seven-year-old abandoned girl, who was living at a child protection unit. The woman adopted the child last year.

A district child protection unit officer, after a post-adoption follow up, claimed that the child has landed into a safe and sound environment. A post-adoption follow up is required to ascertain the progress and well-being of children in families as envisaged under Section 58 (5) of the Juvenile Justice Act.   

In Chandigarh, as many as 51 adoptions have been taken care of by the District Child Protection Unit through a web portal of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), which is a statutory body of the Ministry of Women & Child Development since 2014-15. More than 35 adoptions have been for girl children.  

At least three inter-country adoptions have been made from Chandigarh also.  

Another 10-year-old girl child, who has had a traumatic past, was recently adopted by a Maharashtra-based family. According to a local official, the girl child’s new family is wealthy and providing her with good education.   

Any orphan or abandoned or surrendered child — declared legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) — are eligible for adoption.  

Just like the French woman who adopted the girl child from the city, the trend of single women coming forward to adopt children is growing. Preference is now being given to single female Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAP) over 40 years of age, who are financially capable by giving them six months antedate seniority in waiting list after registration.  

The Director of the UT Social Welfare said: “We are doing pretty well when it comes to adoptions and the process is going on smoothly. CARA is a certified portal for adoption. Almost all our children have been adopted by good families and are leading a good life.” It functions as the nodal body for the adoption of children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. The agency primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies. 

Steps for in-country adoption 

• Step 1: Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) register online for adopting a child and upload their documents to the Child Adoption Resource Information & Guidance System (CARINGS)
• Step 2: Home study conducted by a social worker of the Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) and uploaded on CARINGS
• Step 3: PAPs based on choice and eligibility are referred profile of legally-free children
• Step 4: PAPs reserve a child within 48 hours
• Step 5: Matching PAP's with children is done by the adoption committee within 20 days
• Step 6: Acceptance of the child by PAPs and taking the child in pre- adoption foster care
• Step 7: Post-adoption follow up till 2 years from the date of placement with the adoptive family\

Dos & Don’ts

• Do not approach any nursing home, hospital, maternity home, unauthorised institution or individual for adoption
• Keep away from touts/middlemen. There is no role of touts/middlemen in adoption. They often mislead people into adopting a child illegally
• Through illegal adoption, you may unintentionally become part of child trafficking network. Save yourself from legal ramifications