Walking parents through adoption

This is a first-time initiative in the city by Padme, a meeting ground and support system for adoptive and potential adoptive parents, adoptees and other stakeholders in the system.
Walking parents through adoption

CHENNAI: Parenting, psychological preparedness, social readiness, homecoming and disclosure. Adoption comes with a lot of baggage, emotions and responsibilities, at both the pre- and post-adoption phase. To ease the process, right from understanding adoption procedures to having appropriate conversations with the child at later stages, Bengaluru-based Padme will be conducting a one-day workshop this weekend in the city.

This is a first-time initiative in the city by Padme, a meeting ground and support system for adoptive and potential adoptive parents, adoptees and other stakeholders in the system. The idea is to reach out to couples or parents interested in adoption and adoptive parents. The session will be hosted by Saras Bhaskar, a counselling psychologist, and Gayatri Abraham, founder, Padme.

“We’ve had a couple of sessions in Bengaluru, and the response was overwhelming. Parents from Chennai also suggested that we have one here. The first objective is to bridge the gap in addressing issues around the pre- and post-adoption phase. We will also be shedding light on the process and documentation, since not everybody is adept in technology, considering the changes post-digitisation. Most of the couples attending the workshop have already registered with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA),” said Gayatri.

The workshop will be a platform for an intimate discussion on the various aspects of adoption. “Understanding the nuances of parenting, distinguishing child-related problems and age-related concerns, bringing the birth parent into focus and disseminating the information to the children are some of the areas to be touched upon. Each family is different. By sharing and listening to perspectives, the fellow parents will get an idea to approach things in several ways. It will be a non-judgemental platform for parents to get their doubts clarified openly,” said Gayatri.One of the important areas to be addressed will be psychological readiness.

“Parents sometimes fail to weigh the consequences of the choices they make. The dilemma they have is on when and how to tell the child that she or he has been adopted. Cases that I often come across are of children learning about their adoption elsewhere and it leading to a break in trust with parents. The most important is when the child wants to find the birth parent, the process is called the search for root. Making home a comfortable space for children to adapt faster, dealing with the intense fear of whether the birth parents will come and take the child, and worrying about what would happen if the mother becomes pregnant after adoption are some of the psychological areas I will focus on,” said Saras Bhaskar, counselling psychologist.

The hands-on workshop will also have quizzes, case studies, sessions of sharing stories, situational analyses and giving insight into the probabilities, to give parents a theoretical and practical approach.
The registration fee is `950. The workshop will be held on November 17 from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm at Bloom Fertility and Healthcare Centre, Velachery. For details, call: 7619229888 or mail adoptpadme@gmail.com

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