The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Adopting a different stand

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Tuesday, Jun 28, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Adopting a different stand

Deepa Kurup

People usually
prefer to adopt
girls

— FILE PHOTO: AP

ONE REASON:Families believe that deeper bonds can be forged with a girl child.

BANGALORE: A heartening twist in the sordid tale of the missing girl child, revealed in the 2011 Census data that recorded a downward slide in the child sex ratio, is the fact that in Bangalore, as in many parts of south India, adoptive parents actively seek — even insist on — girl children.

This probably is the only silver lining in an otherwise grim picture of how families in India continue to prefer boys over girls, leading to the termination of pregnancies, abandonment and rejection of several girl children.

Predictably, of the 436 children registered in adoption agencies in 2010-2011, 251 were girls. As many as 200 children were placed for adoption in Karnataka, of which 121 were girls, according to figures provided by the Adoption Coordinating Agency (ACA).

The trend

Indeed, part of this is simply because, as the numbers indicate, more girls are put up for adoption. However, those in the business confirm that the trend of parents asking for girls, some even insisting, has been recorded in recent years.

Aloma Lobo, chairperson of ACA, says she has noticed this trend in south India in the past six or seven years.

She attributes it to the preconceived notion among adoptive parents that “girls are easier to raise when they come from hurting backgrounds”. Though she may not agree with this perception, she says that families coming to them believe that deeper bonds can be forged with a girl child.

More open

Nomita Chandy, who heads the adoption agency Ashraya, agrees: “Adoption itself has grown; from people being secretive to now being open to adoption. While in north India, it may still very much be about the male heir, in the south, 7 out of 10 parents we meet want to adopt girls.”

Besides the idea that girls are likely to get more attached or are more unlikely to go out in search of their birth parents, many believe that this also has to do with the fact that the decision to adopt, in certain sections of society, is often taken by women.

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