Infant Born To Mentally-ill Mother Finds No Takers
Infant Born To Mentally-ill Mother Finds No Takers
by Kapil Datta
February 04, 2010
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Noida: An unnamed infant, known just as ‘Baby’, born on January 8 and up for adoption, had many takers.
That is, till adopting couples discovered she was born to a mentally challenged mother.
“Around 10 couples saw the child and expressed desire for adoption but nobody finalised their decision,” said a staffer at the Ghaziabad District Hospital, where the baby was born.
The Chief Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Rajrani Kansal, has now requested the District Magistrate to hand over the child to an NGO, till adoption bottlenecks are cleared.
“Seeing the mentally-retarded woman who is the mother of the baby, we changed our decision. We may face post-adoption problems. If the woman’s husband is traced later, he may claim the child back,” a Delhi based couple, who had come to adopt a child told HT at the hospital.
“Our other fear is that the child may have inherited mental retardation from the mother,” they added.
However, hospital authorities say the baby is ‘hale and hearty’. Hospital Gynaecologist and labour room in charge, Dr Rita Wadhwa told HT, “The child is well. She is being bottle fed as her mother could not feed her. We have not given any name to the child yet. As of now, we are calling her just Baby.”
The district administration too has slowed down the process of adoption as they were awaiting reports from police and hospital.
“We want to clear all formalities, to avoid any problems that may arise post-adoption,” City Magistrate Raja Ram told HT.
“We have sought a certificate from the hospital that the child’s mother is mentally-challenged and hence, unable to take care of the child,” said Ram
“Once we get police and hospital reports, only then we will initiate the adoption process,” he said.
“Though a few couples came to inquire about the girl, we have not yet received a proper written request from any
couple,” added Ram.
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Nishank
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For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred. ~~ John W. Gardner
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