Illegal adoptions on the rise in Telangana

HYDERABAD:  The alleged case of illegal adoption by cine actor Karate Kalyani has exposed the deep-rooted issue of illegal adoption. The issue, in fact, is neither new nor uncommon for Telangana as the State has seen nine such cases in the last six months. However, on the positive side, the Women Development and Child Welfare Department rescued all the nine children who had been adopted illegally during this period and rehabilitated them at Shishu Vihar, which is one of the nodal child care institutes run by the State government.

All the nine children, who were rescued from different parts of the State, are under the age of five.  However, it may be mentioned here that there are other such government centres in different districts so the actual number of children rescued after illegal adoption may be higher. In 2020, the State also saw a total of 127 legal adoptions both within the country and from abroad. 

Detrimental to children
Meanwhile, experts stressed the need for a focussed communication from the government to convey that adoptions done out of sympathy hold no legal sanctity and are, in fact, detrimental to the adopted children.
“The issue is that many people out of sympathy take small children to their homes to support them and give them a better life. But do not realise that such practices are illegal. Just giving children food and shelter does not mean they will have any kind of legal and financial rights under the Juvenile Justice Act on inheritance of the adoptive parents in future.

In fact, if not adopted legally, then there is a huge possibility that once they grow older, the adoptive parents abandon them due to some issue or the other,” explained Philip Isidore of Divya Disha, which manages 1098 Childline for various districts.

He said that awareness should also be created among the parents.  “All that the guardians need to do is call 1098 and surrender the child so that there is no possibility of the child’s future getting disrupted. If given for adoption informally and illegally, there is a high risk for the child’s welfare,” he added.