Visakhapatnam: Several districts of the state, particularly the newly constituted ones, do not have functional specialised adoption agencies (SAAs). The agencies are tasked with the care and well-being of every orphan, abandoned, and surrendered child and aid in the process of adoption.

Even though structures/buildings for these agencies were developed long ago, delays in recruitment have made them non-operational. For example, staff recruitment at Paderu centre has been delayed due to local demands for allocating all posts to a particular community. Similarly, all 12 posts remain vacant in Nandyal, and 11 out of 12 posts are yet to be filled in Konaseema district. Of the 156 posts sanctioned for the 13 newly formed districts, 72 posts are currently vacant.

Guatemala's president on Friday offered an official apology to one of the many families whose children were taken away and adopted abroad in a multimillion-dollar black market.

Osmin Tobar and his brother J.R. were seven and two years old when they were picked up by officials in a poor district of Guatemala City in 1997, ostensibly for having being abandoned.

Tobar was adopted by a family in the US city of Pittsburgh. His brother suffered a similar fate, although his whereabouts are unknown.

"On behalf of the state... I apologize publicly for the events of which you were victims," President Bernardo Arevalo said at an event in Guatemala City.

The state's role in the incident "has no justification," he added.

Patna: The state’s first kinship adoption order was issued on Friday, with Patna district magistrate (DM) Chandrashekhar Singh granting adoption orders for three children under the new guidelines based on the Union ministry of women and child development’s 2022 recommendations.Previously, adoption procedures were handled by family courts, but the new laws now authorise the DM to issue final adoption orders. This change is aimed at reducing procedural delays and expedite adoption processes. “The fresh arrangement under the new adoption system has been made to ensure the kids and children get new families and homes at the earliest. The district administration will provide all possible help to the families who want to adopt orphaned children,” the DM said.Singh cautioned that adopting children without following the procedures outlined in the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, amended in 2021, and the Adoption Regulations 2022, is illegal and punishable. “Anyone found doing so could attract a jail term of three years or a fine of Rs 1 lakh or both,” Singh said, adding indulging in the sale or purchase of children is a serious crime that could lead to rigorous imprisonment for five years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.The DM said any information regarding orphaned or lost children should be reported immediately to the child line service at emergency helpline number 1098 or 112, the nearest police station, the child welfare committee, or the district child protection unit. “Failing to do so may attract a fine of Rs 10,000 or a jail term of six months or both,” Singh added.On the same day, adoption orders were issued for three children – two girls and one boy. “The first girl, rescued from Khagaul (Danapur) when she was just 15 days old, was adopted by a couple from Telangana. The second girl, also rescued from Khagaul (Danapur) at just three days old, was adopted by a couple from Bangalore.

‘People Say, You Sold Your Baby’

How Utah became the most exploitative state in private adoption.

By Gabrielle Glaser

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer

Intercountry Adoption: Regulatory Changes to Accreditation and Approval Regulations in Intercountry Adoption

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate allowed a federal agency to search the office of Sarim Burney Welfare Trust International in a case pertaining to “child trafficking by way of illegal adoption”.

Social worker Mr Burney appeared before the court via video link from the central prison.

During the hearing on Thursday, the investigating officer (IO) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bilal Ahmed, requested additional time to complete the probe in the ‘child trafficking case’.

He submitted two applications before Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq, seeking the issuance of a search warrant and permission to record statements from trustees and a prosecution witness.

In his applications, the IO stated that the trust had not provided the remaining records.

CHENNAI: Mary was one-year-old when she was adopted from India and taken to Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1973. The memories of her initial days in Sweden are hazy, but she remembers her parents telling her that she was a difficult child. Her white mother’s blonde hair and blue eyes never appealed to young Mary, and her immediate response to seeing her near her was fear, which grew as aversion. Mary says, “I was longing for my mother. I was screaming all the time, I was terrified. I would dream about my biological parents, especially my mother.” Tormented by estrangement at a very nascent phase of childhood and growing up in an unpleasant environment, aloof from her native, she had a very lonely life.

This adoptee in Sweden grew up hearing that her mother had died during child birth, her grandmother was unfit to take care of her, and thus she was adopted. A compelling truth as it sounds, and it became her reality. But as she grew older, her reality was upended when people started saying that she did not look like her white parents. She says, “People would ask me where I am from and say that I did not look like them.” Her adoptive mother’s thoughtless comments about her brown skin bespoke her ignorance and little knowledge on various skin colours, but were excruciating memories for her. They were reminders ingrained in the mind of the little girl that she did not belong in Sweden. They grew like monsters in her head.

Left hanging between two countries: with biological roots in India and her cultural baggage entrenched in Sweden, the now 52-year-old Mary Rhedin scrambled to lead a peaceful life in an adopted country, amid discreet racism.

Coping mechanism

Well, narratives of inequality, discrimination, and oppression have been an integral part of our discussions, in personal spaces, academia, and extensively in public spaces. Stories are ways of immortalising people, their experiences, and their memories. They are important, they need to be passed on and spread across, and they need to hold more space, after all, they are as powerful as mass protests, slogans, and revolutions. Traumatised and crushed by the weight of her life with the whites, she also sought respite in writing as she did not think there was a space she could have for an honest discussion. She set her sights on a journey: a search for her roots.

This whole-of-government, multisectoral “Thrive” Strategy, which is mandated by the Global Child Thrive Act, aims to build strong beginnings for children, help families thrive, and prevent violence against children.

The U.S. Congress directs USAID to elevate child development, care, and protection needs within its foreign assistance. A whole-of-government, multisectoral strategy is mandated by both The Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children In Developing Countries Act (PL 109-95) and the more recent Global Child Thrive Act.

Background

Strengthening the capacities of children, adolescents, and the families who care for them are some of the best investments a country can make to eliminate extreme poverty, boost economic growth, and promote a peaceful society. The U.S. Government Strategy for Children to Thrive 2024-2029 (Thrive Strategy) is a whole-of-government, multi-sectoral effort that aims to build strong beginnings for children, help families to thrive, and prevent violence against children. On July 11, 2024, USAID will host an event to publicly launch the updated Thrive Strategy to guide the interagency effort.

The Thrive Strategy builds on the previous strategy, Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity: A U.S. Government Strategy for International Assistance (APCCA Strategy), which ran from 2019–2023. While maintaining core elements of the previous action plan and strategy, the revised Thrive Strategy incorporates updated evidence related to children in adversity and their needs and considers the ongoing impact of global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, spotlighting the complex issues that children in adversity and their families are experiencing. 

Activists and disabled parents have called for clarity and guidelines on adoption by persons with disabilities. “Every disabled couple has faced a problem at some stage of the adoption process,” said Bhagyam A., a polio-affected disabled mother who has undergone the process twice.

The call for guidelines and clarity has come in the wake of a couple in Thoothukudi having initially been denied a baby on July 5, and subsequently deemed eligible for adoption following a fitness test. S. Velmayil, 34, has a locomotor disability that affects both lower limbs (90% disability), and his wife Baby, 36, has a locomotor disability affecting her right hand and right leg (80% disability). Mr. Velmayil works at a fuel station, and Ms. Baby is an organiser at a noon meal centre.

The couple had registered for adoption in 2020, and renewed it in 2024. A baby was reserved for them in June. “Nobody said during the registration that we would be ineligible to adopt [an infant],” Ms. Baby said, adding that they had to run from pillar to post to get a medical certificate for adoption.

However, an adoption committee in Dindigul reportedly denied them the baby, as it felt that the couple would be unable to take care of the child, especially in the first two years, owing to their disability. After the incident was reported, a fitness test was conducted for the couple at the Thoothukudi Government Hospital. The result, released on Tuesday, deemed the couple eligible to adopt a baby. “There would have been no need for the test had the committee done its work with due diligence in the first place,” said Ms. Baby. The couple is now going through the entire adoption process again, and would next be meeting with the District Child Protection Officer as part of the process.

Recalling her experience during her first adoption in 2021, Ms. Bhagyam said: “It wasn’t until 2019 that I found out about the stand of [Central Adoption Research Authority] CARA on adoption by disabled couple. The adoption agency was extremely supportive in my case. However, It was during the final hearing that I faced discrimination. The judge did not want to sign the papers as he wasn’t confident. But the agency stood their ground, and I was able to adopt a baby. A basic guideline on adoption is required...”

In the financial year 2021-22, 29,331 children were covered by non-institutional care. This number increased to 62,675 in 2022-23 and to 1,21,861 in 2023-24, it stated

The number of children in non-institutional care, including those in foster care, has increased fourfold between 2021-22 and 2023-24, according to government data.

In the financial year 2021-22, 29,331 children were covered by non-institutional care. This number increased to 62,675 in 2022-23 and to 1,21,861 in 2023-24, it stated.

In a recent letter to states and Union Territories (UTs), the women and child development (WCD) ministry said this rise may be because of the government's initiatives in strengthening family-based care to all children in difficult circumstances.