Child Adoption

The three-member bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud said that the issue was 'very seminal' and must be decided by a Constitution bench

There is no waiting period for those who desire to adopt a child having special needs and also from the immediate placement category which includes mostly older children, the government said on Wednesday. The immediate placement category includes children who have been referred several times to prospective adoptive parents (PAP's) through Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System, but have not found a family. These children are mostly above the age of five. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said while there is a long queue to adopt a normal child up to six years of age, there is no waiting period for PAPs who desire to adopt a child having special needs and a child from immediate placement category(mostly older children). According to the data shared by her, 2,991 children, including 1,698 girls, were adopted in 2021-22 while 3,142 children, including 1,856 girls, were adopted in-country in 2020-21 and

Hindu and Christian personal law treat adopted child on a par with natural-born ones

The Supreme Court on Friday emphasised that the child adoption process in India needs to be streamlined as there are three-to-four years waiting period under the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to adopt a single child while there are "lakhs and lakhs of orphan children waiting to be adopted". The top court had earlier also termed the process as "very tedious" and said that there is an urgent need for the procedures to be "streamlined". A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Pardiwala told Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, "There are a lot of young couples waiting to adopt the child but the process is so tedious that it takes three to four years to get a single child to be adopted through the CARA. Can you imagine a three to four years period to adopt a child in India? It should be made simpler. There are lakhs and lakhs of orphan children waiting to be adopted". Nataraj said that the government is seized of the issue and ..

Over 2,000 children have died in specialised adoption agencies since 2014, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Friday.

Smriti Irani said 1,030 foreign applicants (including Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizen of India) are registered with the Central Adoption Resource Authority for adoption.

Law in India, however, does not provide for paternity leave

The pandemic has exacerbated the crisis for the most vulnerable sections, and children who have lost a parent or have been orphaned are among the worst hit

They need the support of their extended family, say state and NGO welfare workers.

According to information accessed by PTI through an RTI, the highest number of children were returned in 2014-15.

We have to make the state regulation authorities, which keep a check on adoption activity, more responsible, said Lt Col Deepak Kumar, CEO, CARA