Couples prefer to adopt baby girls as they feel that daughters, more than sons, are capable of emotional attachment and adapting themselves to new environs.
The girl child in India might be in distress what with feticide, infanticide and malnourishment stalking her. But when it comes to adoption, it is the girls who are in huge demand.
Of the 251 adoptions formalised by the Adoption Co-ordinating Agency (ACA) in the state between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009, an overwhelming 160 were girl children. In fact, eight of the 10 requests are for girl children, according to records available with licensed adoption agencies in the city.
Of the 34 couples who have freshly applied for adoptions this year, 25 have said they prefer girls. “The first obvious reason why girl children are the most preferred could be the fact that they are the ones who are mostly available for adoption. Aspiring parents might also be thinking girls are easily amenable when it comes to bringing them up,” said Dr Aloma Lobo, chairperson, ACA.
According to Rashmi GG, a social worker with ACA, most couples looking to adopt children, are of the opinion that daughters are more capable of understanding their emotions than sons and also girls adapt to new environments faster than boys.
Another major trend is that most couples seeking adoption are techies. “Forty per cent of the couples have an engineering degree and are working in software companies,” Rashmi said.
Besides, the number of children below one year and available for adoption is far too less. Yet couples, both Indian and NRI, are particular on adopting infants less than a year old.
According to the agencies, Indian couples prefer to bring up a child right from his/her infancy so that the infant easily accepts them as parents and gets used to the household without much difficulty.
But such is the paucity of infants in the market that 105 couples have been waiting since 2006 to adopt children below one year. “There is a huge supply-demand gap but the agencies can’t do anything. Those wanting to adopt infants must wait. If they are ready to accept older children, we can oblige them. Else, they will have to wait,” Rashmi said.
There are also couples who are particular on adopting children of their own caste. “We don’t accept parents who insist on getting babies from a particular caste. If the couples say the caste of the child is no bar, we tell them of the children’s background, if we know it. In case of abandoned children, we ourselves would not know the background of the kid,” said Shanthi Chacko, founder of Ashraya Children’s Home, a prominent adoption agency in the city.
Another thing that the agencies are keen on is the complexion. “We see to it that a child of dark complexion is not given to a couple having fair skin. The child should not stand out. We look for similar complexion in adoption,” Shanthi Chacko added.
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