Gone are the days when adoption was a cumbersome process. Now with adoptions on the rise, couples find it difficult to find children at adoption
centres.
The data on petitions filed for adoption with Ernakulam District Court reveals that girls are preferred to boys.
Seventy four petitions for adoption were filed by couples from January to November 1 this year in the district. The same was 204 in 2012. According to Meena Kuruvilla, chairperson, Voluntary Coordinating Agencies for Adoption at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, there is a decrease in the number of children with adoption agencies due to the increasing number of adoptions in the district as well as the state.
In the state, more than 500 couples are waiting to adopt children but there are not more than 100 children at adoption centres.
“One of the reasons for the high number of petitions in the district court is that before 2006, children were adopted under the guardianship law. After 2006 it is being done under Juvenile Justice Act and under the guidelines recommended by the Central Adoption Resource Authority.
So, the majority of the couples who adopted children under the guardianship law is filing petitions to convert the adoption to Juvenile Justice Act,” Meena Kuruvilla said.
However, a high number of adoption is taking place. On an average, around 50 to 60 children are adopted each year from the district while around 300 to 400 children are adopted in the state,” she said.
According to her, most of the couples prefer girls because couples are under the notion that girls are more close to parents and more affectionate. Girls can easily adjust with the adopted family than the boys. However, some of the communities prefer boys.
As per records, during 2009 to 2010, 128 of 242 adopted children in the state were girls.
In 2010-2011, among the 228 adoptions, 118 were girls. From 2011 to 2012, 106 girls were adopted as against the 94 boys.
There are 20 adoption centres existing in the state among which three are in the district.