Everyone desires the experience of parenthood — especially the joy of raising a very young child and journeying through all the highs and lows that come with it. The sleepless nights, the first words, the first steps, the emotional bonding, the struggles and celebrations — these are experiences many prospective adoptive parents long for deeply. However, in adoption, emotions alone cannot determine placement decisions. In India, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has l

One of the questions I am asked most often by prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) is: “Can I adopt a newborn child?” Before answering that question directly, I usually ask another question in return: “Why do you specifically want to adopt a newborn?” The responses vary. Some prospective parents genuinely wish to experience parenthood from the earliest stage of a child’s life. Others feel that if the child is adopted as a newborn, the child may never come to know about the ado

An affluent family walks in to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to surrender their child – Durga (name changed), for adoption and in two days, the child was transferred from the parents to the Specialized Adoption Agency (SAA) of the district. Despite they being highly educated working professionals in healthcare industry, they chose to surrender this child because the child has a medical condition that would require long term medical care but the child would live a full li

In the journey of adoption, all the prospective adoptive parents have to complete certain formalities and one such formality is called...