Mumbai: Adoption cases across the country have broken the record of the last decade this year, with Maharashtra taking the top spot. As many as 4,515 children, both domestic and international, found new parents in the financial year 2024-25, according to the Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA). Maharashtra adopted the maximum number of 790 children in domestic adoption cases. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (438) and West Bengal (297). Maharashtra also leads in international adoption cases, with 59 children finding parents from abroad. Punjab (41) and West Bengal (31) follow.
According to the ‘CARA’ data, adoptive parents most often prefer young and healthy children. Girls are also preferred. Out of the adoption cases this year, 56 percent of girls were adopted. A former member of CARA said that there is a special affection among parents who are looking to adopt girls and there is also a perception among parents that girls are easier to take care of, which is why girls are in high demand. Currently, more than 36,000 couples are waiting for adoption across the country.
Also Watch
However, at the same time, 2,749 children are available for adoption, of which 1,808 are children with special needs. But very few parents show a desire to adopt such children. As a result, older children or children with special needs continue to grow up in institutions.
Due to legal and emotional obstacles, the adoption process takes a long time and an average wait of 3.5 years is required. Also, the Child Welfare Committee and court process often get delayed. Another important issue is that often the adoption process stops if the grandparents do not get permission. Also, it is difficult to adopt children above the age of seven, because those children are not emotionally ready. It seems that many parents are not ready to take on the responsibility of the health and care of children with special needs. As a result, it becomes a little difficult for such children to be adopted, according to report by Lokmat.
According to experts, some concrete measures are needed to remove obstacles in the adoption process, which include conducting a national campaign to create awareness about adoption, making counseling and training mandatory for parents, setting up a system to support families after adoption, removing misconceptions about older children and children with special needs, and increasing acceptance in society through education and policy changes.
Although there has been a new enthusiasm in the adoption process last year, children with older children and children with special needs still face difficulties in finding parents. Very few people come forward to adopt children with special needs. In 2024, only 364 such children were registered for adoption, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Child Development. For this, changing the mindset of the society and making policy reforms can give these children a bright future, said a senior child development official.
