Many special children in TN find homes ab .. Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/81692070.cms?utm_sour

Chennai: Children with special needs have not found favour with childless parents looking to adopt kids. Most children from

adoption centres in Tamil Nadu have found homes abroad, but not within the country, as per data from the department of social

defence.

The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which India ratified in 1992, insists on paying due regard to a

child’s ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds while giving them for adoption. This aspect is largely achieved when it comes

to finding homes for a regular child, but the ones with special needs are left with no takers as they hardly find parents willing to

adopt them in the state or the country. Most of them are usually adopted by families living abroad.

Data received from the department of social defence states that 35 children with special needs from the state were adopted in

the last three years, and only three found homes in India. Thirty two of them were adopted by parents living in other countries

such as the US and Italy.

“There is medical advancement, but no social acceptance for special children,” said Maya Gaitonde, general secretary and

trustee of Balamandir Kamaraj Trust, an adoption agency in Tamil Nadu. Maya explained that there are three areas of rejection

which children usually face gender, colour, and disability. “We still have people who feel these kids have a disability,” she said.

There are currently 39 children with special needs in the state waiting to be adopted. They have conditions such as locomotor

disabilities, developmental delays, low birth weight, microcephaly. Two of them are HIV reactive, while one has ambiguous

genitalia.

While there are around 2,000 prospective parents waiting in line to adopt a child, a majority of them only want children with no disability, and preferably within the age of five.

Dr T S Chandrasekar of MedIndia hospital said that there are several treatments, therapies and antiviral agents available to

improve the conditions of special children. “All it needs is a right attitude and determination of parents... the child will drastically

improve.” Dr Chandrasekar said that the government must orient prospective parents on the various treatments available.

A senior official from the social defence department said that they have started linking all prospective parents to medical

institutes and hospitals, where they can find the right treatment for a special child after adoption. “We want as many children to

find loving homes in our own country.”

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