Couples may have to wait less for adoption

The Times of India 12 Jul 2007, 0016 hrs IST,TNN NEW DELHI: There is good news for couples hoping toadopt a child. A fresh set of guidelines on adoptionare likely to ensure stringent provisions againstillegal trafficking of children under the guise ofadoption besides reducing the waiting time for genuineparents-to-be. The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) hasproposed changes in adoption guidelines under the'Guidelines on Adoption of Indian Children Without Parental Care - 2007'. Among the major amendments to the existing guidelines are compulsory registration of all child care institutions out of which some could be recognised as special adoption agencies. The practise of foreign agencies contacting Indian placement agencies will also be discontinued.According to CARA chairperson J K Mittal, all applications for inter-country adoptions will now besent to CARA. "We will examine each case before forwarding it to the placement agency depending on the requirements, " Mittal said. While the waiting time will be reduced to a maximum of three months, in case of inter-country adoption, the children will get automatic citizenship of the countryof the parents and enjoy more safeguards. The new guidelines, submitted to minister of state for women and child development Renuka Chowdhury on Wednesday, also makes HIV test mandatory for all children admitted by the adoption agencies. CARA will also create a central database of children so that information is available for adoption. As perthe new guidelines, there has to be single window system for sourcing of children who can be put up for adoption. Legal restrictions on adoption of abandoned, deserted children and those belonging to different caste and religion has also been done away with. "There will be uniform guidelines for all children under the Juvenile Justice Act," Mittal added. In-country adoption will still be preferred over inter-country adoption, that in turn would be considered a better option than institutionalisation.In case of inter-country adoption, the adoption fee would be kept at a maximum of US $3,500 and all foreign agencies would have to inform CARA about any additional money paid to an Indian agency. No donation would be permitted from adoptive parents till one year to bring in more transparency and reduce chances of irregularities in cases of inter-countryadoption.http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/India/ Couples_may_ have_to_wait_ less_for_ adoption/ articleshow/ 2195967.cms