Now in India, those going for adoption will no more be permitted to “pick and choose” the child. In fact, they can only accept or reject the child which is offered to them by the national adoption body. This rule will be implemented from Monday onwards.
According to the previous norms, the parents registered with the government’s adoption portal, CARINGS, could choose from the three children referred to them. This practice, however, will not be functional. Additionally, parents can participate in maximum three rounds of reference to chose the child after which they will move to the bottom of the waiting list. In each of these referral rounds, they will be sent profiles of different children. Those failing to choose from the three children referred to them in these rounds which will be held after a gap of at least 90 days.
“The rate of adoption was very slow and the children would remain in the referral cycle for a very long time. Under the new method, we will be able to refer all children in our adoption pool to an equal number of prospective parents,” CEO, Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Lt Col Deepak Kumar said.
As per statistics, as many as 15,000 parents are registered with CARA while there are a mere 1,800-2,000 children in its adoption pool.
“We are also trying to discourage commodification of adoptable children where parents can pick and choose, ” Kumar added.
Notably, the prospective parents will have 48 hours from the time a child’s profile is handed to them, to make a decision. And it would take another 20 days to complete the formalities before an application is filed in a court to seek an adoption order.
