ROOT SEARCH BY ADOPTED CHILDREN: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES by Dr. Jagannath Pati, Deputy Director, CARA (Indian Central Authority)
Many people think of the issues that take place before and during an adoption, but fail to realize that it is important to anticipate and understand the issues that may come up after you have brought a child into your family. Adoption is an emotional experience. It is also a physical experience, a biological, and a psychological experience. Post Adoption Services shall refer to psycho-social and support services provided to the adoptee, adopter and the biological parents, popularly known as the adoption triangle, by a professionally trained social worker and/or other discipline e.g., psychiatrist/psychologist, etc., after the adoption is legally completed.
Children need some knowledge of their heritage to foster self-esteem later on in life. Long-term studies have shown that children whose heritage was celebrated in their adoptive families by and large grew up to be healthy, self-respecting adults.The Case for Transracial Adoption International adoptions presents unique challenges in securing accurate and truthful background information and history on individual children. Differences in culture, language, terminology, and the competence of medical resources all profoundly affect this process.
The access to information and the quality and reliability of information varies widely country by country. From countries where programs are well established and sophisticated, child information can be very complete and available. Routinely orphanages, institutions or hospitals that are all under the authority of appointed government ministries hold this information. The range of cooperation on the part of these authorities is often irregular and inconsistent (http://www.holtintl.org/ethics.shtml).
Guiding principles/Policies