BENGALURU: According to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), there are only 40 children registered for adoption in the city, but 202 couples waiting to bring a child home. Speaking to City Express, these future parents share their tiresome journeys of waiting and hoping.
For Sheela Bhatt (name changed) and her husband, the journey to adopt a child has been long and tiresome. A business analyst by profession, Sheela decided to take a break this year and focus on her goal of legally adopting a girl child.
Unfortunately, with the delay in the procedure and legal formalities that has already taken two-and-a-half-years, Sheela is almost on the verge of giving up and going back to work. "We've had a social worker come in and file a home study report, but the wait got to us, especially when there is no support from other members of the family," she says. "We've been longing for a child forever," she adds.
With a preference for a child under the age of two, Sheela and her husband are now in a state of confusion, as the girl they had seen in pictures is now over the preferred age. A similar situation had happened with Uma Shankar (name changed), but she finally was able to adopt a child last week after two-and-a-half years of waiting, but court proceedings are yet to be completed. "Yes, the wait is a big struggle, it would be easier if the system did not push away genuine parents seeking to give a home to a child," she says, adding that this may prevent prospective adoptive parents from backing out.
Swarna Venkataraman, who had adopted her son four years back, had created a Facebook page for adoptive parents to mingle and share their stories. "I find the process to be fair enough, since there are many children who are illegally adopted. It's not about what the parents want, but about facilitating the needs of the child," she says.
Archna Tyagi, senior consultant, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), says raids are being done to ensure that children go through adoption legally. In addition, there are 20 special needs children currently registered in Bengaluru, with eight being adopted through inter-country adoptions.