Orphaned children can have a normal life too, if somebody adopts them and takes them away from the confines of their orphanage. And for childless couples, adoption is a way out of lack of progeny, a way in which they also ensure a meaningful life for an abandoned child. But the hurdles one faces in adopting a child are many, as one finds out at the Voluntary Adoption Homes in Tamil Nadu. When a couple comes over to adopt a child, their ordeal begins there. For them to attain the status of “parent”, they have to go through a series of rigorous test stages and processes which prompt most of the people seeking to adopt a child to call it quits somewhere in between. Interest gives way to frustration, and it results in word spreading far and wide that adoption is a burdensome process.
The government of Tamil Nadu has given the right to give away children for adoption to 18 organisations in the state - seven of which are in Chennai. These homes do not have a rigid common code or eligibility criteria, apart from the basic governmental guidelines for adoption. The process generally involves an orientation about the nature of the children, their health conditions, a home study, interviews by the board members, and a minimum of half a year’s pre-adoptive foster care. The whole process is meant to ensure that no malpractices are allowed, practices that may lead to violation and abuse of a child’s future. The authorities at any of these homes, however, deny this while insisting that whatever hurdles there are, are to ensure that the children adopted are in safe and caring environments.
The babies in most adoption homes are not in good health most of the time, as they are meant for abandonment, and in most cases, a consequence of missed abortion. These babies, brought in through the police, and from parents incapable of caring or them, are not in the best of health.
Burdened with acute problems such as gastroenteritis and physical handicaps, these babies struggle to lead a normal life. The weight of most babies here is under the normal of 2 kg, and can be as low as 1.2 kg. What prompts parents to adopt children from these homes is the cost of infertility treatment, which can go up to a lakh and a half, and even if this proves successful, there is no guarantee of a normal child.
A social worker at the administrative office in the Guild of Service, Egmore, says that all these stages in adoption are to ensure that the child that is adopted leads a happy and meaningful life. At their founding home in Anna Nagar, where the babies are kept, most of the babies are below the age of 2 years. At the Guild of service, the medical fitness of the parents, their steady and sufficient income of at least Rs.4000 p.m., own residential property and an educational qualification of 10th class for the father are the basic parameters for adoption. As a matter of principle, they like the couple to come together for all stages in the adoption process, and this is to ensure that both partners are in agreement to the idea of adoption.
The Balamandir Kamaraj Trust is another such home in Chennai. It is situated in
T. Nagar, on
G. N. Chetty Road. An employee of this home says, ”The rules are almost the same for adoption everywhere, and they help ensure that the child does not suffer”. True it seems, and very much necessary. For this home, adoption is only a small part of their activities, and hence not many children are sent or adoption from this home.
If only these organisations are to be trusted with the custody of babies - both orphaned and abandoned, then how do the other orphanages end up with so many babies? “Even the police do not know of the 18 organisations qualified to accept and give away babies,” says a worker. The situation is true, ironically. Moreover, uninformed mothers and others who have to give away these babies are forced to do so at close by and accessible places.
