THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 23 children under the care of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare were adopted by foreign nationals in the past three years. Of these, seven children were adopted by families in Italy and others by those in Denmark, the USA, Spain, Sweden, and the UAE.
The adopted children, all under the age of four, were received by the council at their ‘Ammathottil’ facilities in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod.
While 10 overseas adoptions were recorded in 2023, five were adopted in 2024 and eight in 2025. According to officials, this is the child welfare council’s highest figure after the Union government introduced new adoption norms.
The general secretary of the council, G L Arun Gopi, said they have been able to facilitate adoption by foreign nationals at the earliest, strictly adhering to the legal formalities laid down by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).
“Many of these adoptions include children with disabilities and special needs, like those with autism spectrum disorder. Through this, they are getting a secure life with proper facilities for their medical conditions,” Arun said.
He also pointed out that adoptions by foreign nationals is becoming a trend when most Indian parents refrain from adopting a child with special needs.
The overseas adoption agencies, through which the process takes place, regularly update the children’s status to the child welfare council, thereby ensuring their safe growth.
A senior official working with the council said that though inter-country adoptions were barred by the Centre in 1998, the laws became more liberal in 2017.
“Though overseas adoptions were active from our early days, the current figure stands out as the biggest. Even parents with children have adopted children from here,” the official said.
The child welfare council also pointed out that over 170 children were adopted by people from different Indian states during the same period.