Foreigners Outnumber Indians In Adopting Children With Special Needs From Uttarakhand
Foreigners Outnumber Indians In Adopting Children With Special Needs From Uttarakhand
Of the nine children with special needs adopted from Bal Grihas in the state, eight have been adopted
Representational Image (AFP)
Published : December 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM IST
3 Min Read
Dehradun: Foreigners outnumber Indians when it comes to adopting children with special needs that are lodged in various children’s care homes (Bal Grihas) in Uttarakhand. These facilities house orphan children which include those with special needs.
At present there are 929 children lodged in the facilities in the state, 250 are those with special needs. Of them, while 185 have been adopted so far, nine were those with special needs.
Uttarakhand has 15 childcare centers across the districts of which 14 are run by the government. The State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) is functioning under the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to facilitate adoption of these children by those in need fulfilling not only the needs of the families but also improving the lives of these children. The 14 state-run childcare centers in Uttarakhand are operated by the Uttarakhand Women's Empowerment and Child Development Department.
SARA sources disclosed that of the 185 children adopted till now, 29 were adopted by foreigners while 156 were adopted by the people from various states in India. Nine of those adopted were children with special needs of which eight were adopted by foreigners while one was adopted by a family from Tamil Nadu.
"When someone adopts a child, they insist that the child be normal. This is why a special campaign is being launched by SARA and CARA to raise awareness that a child is a child and children with special needs are also manifestations of God. Therefore, there should be no hesitation in adopting children with special needs," disclosed Dr. Chandresh Kumar Yadav, Secretary, Women Empowerment and Child Development Department.
The 29 children adopted by foreigners will be brought up in countries including the US, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Canada. The remaining 156 have been adopted by families from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Assam, Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
The adoption criteria has well defined rules about the age of the child to be adopted and that of the parents where the difference should be at least 25 years.
"Parents who already have children can also adopt a child and any family can adopt a maximum of four children. However, there is an age limit for the adopting parents. Under this, the combined age of the adopting couple must be less than 110 years to be eligible for adoption. There is no income requirement for the adopting family, but it is definitely considered whether they will be able to raise the child properly," disclosed Rajiv Nayan Tiwari, Deputy Chief Probation Officer at SARA.
He added that couples adopting a child must have the consent of all their family members. Furthermore, if a couple has a child of their own, it's essential to seek his or her consent to ensure the safety of the child being adopted.
He explained that these rules are designed to ensure proper upbringing of the child. Adopters must upload a photo of the child every six months for the next two years.
Officials explained that the children with special needs require more specialized support, resources and facilities due to medical, developmental, mental, hearing or visual impairment, and behavioral issues. The adoption process for these children and the others is the same.
They explained that parents wishing to adopt an orphaned child must apply through the CARA website. Thereafter, the parents are counseled at the place where they consent to adopt a child. All necessary information is also collected from them. Once all the information related to the parents and consent letters from their family members are received, a formal form is filled out and the children are then handed over for adoption.
After the adoption, while the Department doesn't directly monitor them, information about the children is collected from people in the area where they live over the next couple of years. Those who have adopted the child are asked to upload photos of the child on the website every six months for the next three years.
Officials disclosed that so far, there have been no instances where parents have refused to upload photos. They have done so voluntarily within the stipulated time.
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