HYDERABAD: As a couple of swings rock gently outside Shishu Vihar waiting for tiny tots to come test its bearings, little girls aged between 8-16 run around playing games of their own, shouting out in crisp English. As you enter the building, the heady smell of disinfectant hits you strongly, only to be replaced by infant sounds, of cooing and gurgling of babies in cradles, housed within dormitories here.
An ayyah comes holding a tiny bundle of cloth, and within it wrapped snugly, a baby named Mounika. The child has a name, but no parents to call her own. But outside, stand a couple, beaming with excitement at the prospect of holding the girl child. Their wait for a child of their own has lasted two years, having applied for adoption in 2009.
But the moment of joy is worth it. While most delays by government bodies cause undue frustration, this one comes with a different sweetness altogether. After all, with 886 couples waiting in line to adopt a child (121 applications this year alone) in Hyderabad, it’s indeed a moment to treasure when your turn finally arrives.
“We take care of children aged between one to six at Shishu Vihar and then transfer them to the adjacent building when it’s time for their education. They are then provided all facilities till the age of 21 after which they are encouraged to stand on their own feet. The adoptions take place while the children are still young. The older ones do not want to get adopted. But the interest for adopting infants is very huge in Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad alone accounting for atleast a quarter of the adoptions taking place in the state every year,” says KB Aruna, Assistant Director, Adoption Section at the Directorate of Women’s Development and Child Welfare.
The state has twenty three such Shishu Vihars, one for each district, and over the past three years, corresponding to the increase in number of children in the homes, the number of applications too have shot up.
The Shishu Vihar in Hyderabad houses at any point of time, close to 130 children, most of them found abandoned in hospitals, roadsides or in some cases, in dustbins, explains NK Swaroop Rani, in-charge of the home.
“Once we receive them, we put up an advertisement in the paper for the biological parents to claim the child. If even after two months no response is received, the child is declared an orphan and put up for adoption. Prospective Adoption Parents (PAPs), as they are called, are then considered following certain procedural priorities. Childless couples are given first preference, while those wanting a second child are given secondary preference,” says Rani.
Within a week after the declaration, the formalities are completed for the child to be taken home by the prospective parents. “We do a background check on the couples and also monitor them for two years after adoption to ensure the child is well taken care of,” adds Aruna. The combined age of the couples should be less than 90 for them to adopt a child less than three years. “We also give them counselling asking them to reveal the truth to the child about the adoption at a suitable time in the child’s growth,” she says.
So which gender do most couples prefer to adopt? “It’s the girl child that is most preferred. Firstly, the chances of a male child being abandoned are very less (only 1/4th of the total orphans in the home are males), and secondly, people want to give a girl child a new lease of life,” explains Rani.
And for certain couples, there are personal reasons as well. “It was my father’s last wish that he have a granddaughter. So this has been on my mind for a long time now. Even if my father is no more, I want to fulfill his wish,” says Someshwer, an event manager, and the PAP of Mounika.
“I plan to change her name and we have even thought of one. But for now, I am basking in the thrill of being a father,” he smiles as his wife cuddled the baby.
Comments
0 comment