International Adoption Guide

The Delhi government plans to launch an awareness programme to encourage more people to adopt children.

“There is a stigma attached to adoption and we want people to change their mindset. Soon, we will reach a stage where there will be no difference between an adopted and a biological child,” said a senior Delhi government official.

Officials said more girls were being adopted and the number had increased in the past decade. This is because couples and individuals feel that a girl is more mature than a boy and also provides them emotional stability.

According to the data available with the State Adoption Resource Agency, 982 boys have been adopted in the past 10 years, against 1,486 girls in the same period.

In contrast, in the past few years, the number of girls being adopted by foreigners has come down. Between 2001 and 2003, the percentage of girls adopted by foreigners stood at 75 per cent. It came down to 59 per cent in 2009 and 2011. On the other hand, the percentage of boys being adopted by foreigners has increased from 25 per cent to 41 per cent.

“Our society has evolved in the past few years and adoption in general is no longer a taboo. Not only this, the number of people wanting to adopt a girl child has increased significantly in the last few years,” added the official.

But there are still 1,163 registered people wanting to adopt a child, who have been put on the waiting list by the government.

“A number of conditions have to be met before we can give a child up for adoption. A number of checks have to be done to ensure the child is being given to the right people,” added the official.