Single Parent Adoption - Success story

This news proves that "single parents cannot adopt in India" is a myth. I'm reprinting the news story as it appeared in Oct 10 edition of TimesOfIndia newspaper.

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Publication:Times Of India Bangalore;
Date:Oct 10, 2007;
Section:Times Nation;
Page Number:15
Single, male & an adoptive dad
Swati Deshpande TNN Mumbai:

It was his impish smile that drew them together. That was about three months ago. On October 4, little Arjun, all of two-and-a-half years, got a new father. And Sandeep Soparrkar, who brought Arjun home, might well have become the city’s first single adoptive father.

For the 33-year-old unmarried Soparrkar, better known for his Salsa dance moves, it was the culmination of four years of perseverance in the face of uncertainty, including an year-long process of detailed scrutiny and evaluation of whether or not he was fit to be a father. “I had to give certificates for everything, from my bank balance to my physical health. I was told to take an AIDS test. Besides, I had to give letters to state how the child would be taken care of if something happened to me, how I would spend time with the child and so on,’’ said Soparrkar in an interview with TOI.

The adoption agency visited his house and those of his friends. His parents had to vouch for Soparrkar’s good conduct— “separate letters from my father and mother to get a fix on my character and other attributes’’. The agency he chose was Bal Anand. He is all praise for the thoroughness of their investigation. Although the same agency had discouraged him from going ahead, the social workers, once convinced of his bona fides, were happy to help. Soparrkar says he understands their qualms: “They did not have any single male approaching them for adoption before me.’’ Sulochana Carlos of Bal Anand said, “We felt positive about handing over the child in adoption to Sandip. This was our first case of an adoptive father. In India, given the father’s role of being a bread-winner they are often a little hesitant to singly go in for adoption.’’
Arjun, who now has picked up a few words in Hindi, was found abandoned by the police in the city some 18 months ago.

“I grew up in a family where there have been some adoptions and I thought it is a beautiful thing. When I was financially capable of looking after a child, I decided to go ahead,’’ Soparrkar said. He wanted to adopt a girl child but learnt that Indian law does not allow a single male to adopt a girl. “For single women, the age bar is 20, for a single man it is 30 before he can adopt. A woman can adopt both girls and boys, not so for men.”


FATHER AND SON
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May God bless Sandeep and Arjun!