It is one thing to love a child you have given birth to or adopted, and quite another to love and care for someone who may be with you for only a few months or years. This Mother’s Day, three foster carers talk to Neha Bhayana about why it’s important to take in children who would otherwise languish in a shelter or orphanage.

‘His parents are missing but till then I get the joy of raising him’ Leela Jedia | Has one foster child. This Mother’s Day is special for Leela Jedia. The Chittorgarh-based government school teacher had yearned to be a mother for years. Her wish came true on January 10 when she got six-year-old Rihaan* home from a local institution through a foster-care scheme. Rihaan’s biological parents have gone missing, so the district authorities had decided to place him with a foster family. States are slowly trying to deinstitutionalize care for children who are not eligible for adoption as it is considered better for the child’s development to live in a family set-up.

Leela knows Rihaan may be taken away from her someday, but she is happy to be his mom till then. “If he is reunited with his parents, it will be good. But till then, I feel blessed to experience the joy of raising a child. He has completed our family. Hear him say ‘mamma’ is a beautiful feeling,” says the 55-yearold, adding that they will be happy to have him forever if his parents are not found. The Jedias had applied to adopt a child but they have been on the wait-list for years. When they learnt about kids who spend years in shelters because they are not eligible for adoption or are not getting adopted, they approached the Foster Care Society, Udaipur, for support.Now, when Leela returns from work every evening, Rihaan runs to open the door and the duo then spends the evening playing and doing homework. Rihaan knew very little compared to most six-year-olds, so Leela has been teaching him colours, the names of fruits and vegetables as well as basic manners like not making noise while chewing food. “I cook different subzis daily as I want him to develop a taste for all vegetables. He is not fond of sweets though, unless we get his favourite gulaab jamun,” she says.

They have enrolled Rihaan in a reputed English-medium school and engaged a tuition teacher as well to help him reach on par with other kids in his class. Leela hopes to bring home one more child, ideally a girl, via adoption or foster care. “All couples who are financially stable should foster a child, even if they have biological children. Children who stay in orphanages have to move out when they turn 18. At that point, they have to suddenly face the world outside. When they are with a family, we educate them, teach them good values, and make them competent enough to live in the world,” she says. “Hum ek bache ki life bana sakte hai and khud bhi maa baap hone ka sukh pa sakte hai (we can make a child’s life better and also experience the joy of being parents.)”

‘We have raised five children. We can love one more’ Liji Thomas | Has 5 biological children and 1 foster child Most couples feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of even one or two children. But Kozhikode residents Liji and Bijo Thomas felt blessed to have five kids. In fact, when their eldest daughter — she is 25 and their youngest is 13 — got married and moved to Kanpur last year, Liji felt a void. Since they are not eligible to adopt as they already have biological children, they applied for foster care via the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and brought a 12-year-old boy home in January after due procedures. Seventeen children have been placed in long-term foster care in Kozhikode so far. Sahil’s* parents were unable to care for him due to confidential reasons and had voluntarily put him in a government-run children’s home four years ago. They gave consent for placing him in foster care too. Liji is happy they got the opportunity to look after Sahil. “We have the experience and the resources which come from parenting five children so we thought why not take in one more child and let him also benefit from what we had learned over the years. A child growing up in an institution has very little chance of understanding how society or family functions. If you do not experience love when you are growing up, you will never be able to give love,” she says.

The hidden history of the Cold War adoption complex.

In 1986, when David Whelan was just a baby, his mother Joan had her first psychotic break. Throughout David’s childhood, Joan spent time in institutions and eventually was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. David always wondered whether something in her past had triggered it; all he knew was that his mother had been adopted from Greece when she was young, and that something tragic had happened to her parents.

As a kid, David never dared to broach the subject. But in 2013, when he was 26 and back home visiting from grad school, he worked up the nerve to talk to his father. “Did something happen to mom when she was young?”

“She said it’s OK for me to tell you,” his dad finally explained one evening after David had been asking for months. “Her father was executed in Greece by firing squad. He was something political.”

A few days later, David’s father passed him copies of his mother’s birth parents’ death certificates. David typed his grandfather’s name, Elias Argyriadis, into Google. He read that Joan’s father had been a communist leader who had been accused of espionage and sentenced to death in Athens in 1952.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-20/tas-hold-forced-adoptions-tasmania-compensation-push/104489306?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1gK3fCKLkwlIuiDOZg3orM8fbDnfkr9LU0XldALbqN1JoBUzJd_V-3Q-o_aem_4Zdw5Y2v85ZD_mtXDxAfFg

In short:

A group of Tasmanian mothers who had their babies forcibly removed are continuing their push for compensation.

Forced adoption of the children of unwed mothers occurred in Australia up until the 1980s.

What's next?

Sambalpur: A 17-day-old baby boy from Khoirpali village in Bargarh district’s Sohela Block, who was allegedly sold to a family in a neighbouring village, was rescued by an official of the district’s child welfare committee on Saturday.

The illegal adoption was arranged using a notary and stamp paper, which is illegal. The district administration is investigating whether the adoption involved a monetary transaction.

The baby’s parents, who already have five children, were unable to raise another child and allegedly facilitated the transfer using notary documents.

The baby boy was allegedly handed over shortly after birth to a family seeking a son, as they only had daughters.

The boy’s father said, “I already have children aged 8, 6, 3, 2, and 1, and this baby was our sixth. Since I was unable to raise another child, I gave him away. I didn’t even have money to buy medicines for my children, so I gave the baby to a family in the neighbouring district to secure a better future for him. They do not have any boys. We did not take any money from them.

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FERMETURE DU SERVICE ADOPTION

Médecins du Monde a définitivement fermé son service adoption depuis le 31 décembre 2019. C'est en juillet 2015 que le Conseil d’Administration a décidé l’arrêt de ce programme et l’accompagnement de la décroissance progressive de nos activités d’adoption.

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Dossier – L’adoption internationale en pleine mutation

Une mission particulière au sein d'une association de solidarité internationale : l’adoption à Médecins du Monde

Geneviève André-Trévennec et Luc Jarrige

Résumé | Index | Plan | Texte | Notes | Citation | Auteur

Résumé

Adoption :
un enfant à tout prix
Jean-Michel Maire
18/09/2008 | Mise à jour : 15:34 | Commentaires 1
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Depuis deux ans, le nombre d'adoptions internationales a chuté de 20 % en France.
« Envoyé spécial » - Un document édifiant sur le parcours du combattant que représente l'adoption d'un enfant à l'étranger.

Seuls ceux qui se sont prêtés à l'exercice peuvent véritablement savoir à quel point l'adoption d'un enfant est devenue difficile en France. Le reportage de Jérôme Soulard et Jean-François Monier, Un si long chemin, illustre les très nombreux obstacles qui sont, volontairement ou non, mis sur la route de ces futurs parents. Un an d'enquête au cours de laquelle l'équipe d'« Envoyé spécial » a principalement suivi le parcours de deux familles, l'une en Russie, l'autre au Vietnam. Et si les démarches sont aujourd'hui très réglementées dans ce dernier pays, les choses semblent beaucoup plus complexes du côté de la Sibérie. La caméra suit en effet Frédéric et Patricia, engagés depuis le printemps 2006 dans une adoption en individuel avec de curieux intermédiaires. C'est leur 5e séjour et l'affaire semble au point mort malgré les quelque 15 000 euros déjà dépensés en séjour et en salaires versés à une « facilitatrice » officielle mais pour le moins évasive quant à ses capacités de résultat. Une intermédiaire qui avoue sans détour que les juges et les autres responsables en charge des dossiers ont l'habitude « qu'on leur souhaite de bonnes fêtes de Noël », et autres, avec de substantiels cadeaux…
« Le risque zéro n'existe pas, souligne Jérôme Soulard, mais le Vietnam, tout comme d'autres pays, a pris un certain nombre de mesures pour que l'argent donné par les adoptants ne soit pas détourné par des gens sans scrupule, mais soit utilisé de manière transparente pour la construction d'orphelinats, de dispensaires et autres microprojets. Cela a permis de régler environ 90 % des problèmes. » L'une des principales préoccupations des autorités, rappelée par Françoise Joly et Guilaine Chenu qui coprésentent l'émission : que l'enfant soit réellement orphelin ou abandonné, et pas la victime d'une sordide transaction financière. Les Américains, souvent habitués à forcer toutes les portes à coup de dollars, ont d'ailleurs été interdits dans certains pays.
Un système lourd et procédurier
Depuis deux ans, les adoptions internationales enregistrent une baisse importante en France : 20 %, alors qu'elles augmentent en Italie ou en Espagne. Le système français serait « trop lourd, trop procédurier, il manquerait d'efficacité ». C'est en tout cas ce qu'a révélé le rapport Colombani remis au printemps dernier au président de la République. Le gouvernement vient donc de présenter son plan de relance de l'adoption. Un espoir pour les 28 000 familles françaises qui attendent actuellement de pouvoir accueillir un enfant. Moins de 4 000 y parviendront cette année. Au bout du chemin le reportage débute par cette image , l'immense émotion à la découverte du visage de l'enfant dont on se voit confier la vie.
France 2 - Ce soir à 20 h 50.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/programmes-tele/2008/09/18/03012-20080918ARTFIG00567-adoption-un-enfant-a-tout-prix-.php