Streamlining adoption in India while ensuring every child’s safety

Source: The post Streamlining adoption in India while ensuring every child’s safety has been created, based on the article “Should India relax its adoption procedures?” published in “The Hindu” on 25th July 2025

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2- mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for

the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context: India faces a deep mismatch in adoption: for every child legally available, 13 prospective parents wait. The Supreme Court has urged CARA to accelerate the process. Experts Aloma Lobo and Smriti Gupta examine if procedural reforms are needed or if deeper systemic changes are necessary for ethical, effective adoption.

For detailed information on Child Adoption laws in India read this article here

Understanding the Real Cause of Delays

1. More Demand Than Supply: The core issue is that the number of parents far exceeds the number of children available for adoption, especially infants in normal health, which causes long waiting periods.
2. Children with Special Needs Overlooked: Children who are older or have special needs are available but often not chosen, despite being ready for immediate adoption.
3. Procedures Are Not the Bottleneck: CARA’s procedures are essential to prevent trafficking. Delays arise from the lack of adoptable children, not from bureaucratic hurdles.

Gaps in Identifying Adoptable Children

1. Limited Screening of Shelter Children: Only children in adoption agencies are considered for adoption. Thousands in child shelters are never evaluated due to apathy, poor training, or lack of resources.
2. Technology-Driven Identification: Some NGOs digitise records using 22 criteria to flag potentially adoptable children. Then, social workers verify each case and forward eligible ones to the Child Welfare Committee.
3. District-Level Action Needed: Efforts to bring children into the legal adoption system must be localised at district level, where shelters operate and decisions can be made quickly.

Clarifying the Orphan Misconception

1. Overstated Orphan Statistics: While the World Orphan Report (2020) estimates 3.1 crore orphans in India, many of these children have extended families or guardians.
2. Street Children Are Not Always Orphaned: Children seen on the streets often belong to families. They can’t be adopted unless they are legally relinquished or abandoned.
3. Legal Evaluation is Crucial: Each child’s background must be carefully studied before declaring them legally free for adoption. This ensures ethical placement and avoids family separation.

Need for Strong Safeguards Against Trafficking

1. Risk of Black Markets: High demand for babies has led to cases where children are informally given away, bypassing legal adoption routes.
2. Checks and Balances Must Stay: To protect children, rigorous screening of adoptive parents and children must remain. These safeguards ensure genuine and safe placements.
3. Legal Route is the Only Safe Option: Regardless of age, all children must be routed through the legal adoption system to prevent trafficking and unethical placements.

Challenges in Special Needs and Older Child Adoption

1. Unprepared Parents Returning Children: Some parents choose from the immediate placement list, often including special needs children, but lack preparedness, leading to child returns.
2. Shifting Attitudes Among Parents: There is growing acceptance of older and differently-abled children, but many adoptive parents still need proper support and understanding.
3. Training and Counseling Are Lacking: Unlike international practices, India lacks mandatory training. Home studies are often basic intake forms, not deep assessments of motivation or readiness.

Reforms for an Ethical and Inclusive Adoption System

1. Retain Essential Safeguards: Experts agree that procedures must not be diluted. They are vital to protect children and ensure ethical adoption.
2. Widen the Adoption Pool: Focus must shift to identifying more adoptable children, especially in shelters, through structured screening at local levels.
3. Strengthen Parent Preparedness: Mandatory training and motivation checks for prospective parents are crucial to ensure committed, long-term care for adopted children.

Question for practice:

Examine the reasons behind delays in India’s adoption process despite high demand from prospective parents.