Making adopted children loved and secure

Although there’s an urgent need to liberalise and rationalise child adoption rules and regulations, with an increasing number of enlightened couples braving the long, arduous and expensive process of child adoption, the focus of this feature is to prepare couples to successfully nurture adopted children after they have received official approval, writes Aruna Raghuram, Cynthia John & Summiya Yasmeen Through the centuries, Indian society has had a pragmatic attitude towards adoption and nurturance of adopted children. In Vedavyasa’s ancient mythological magnum opus Mahabharata which planted the seeds of Hindu dharma and philosophy, Karna, the only warrior in the Kaurava army regarded as a worthy equal to the mighty Arjuna of the rival Pandavas, was an adopted child. Similarly, Indian mythology and folklore is replete with stories of adopted children who were more loving and caring of their parents than natural progeny. Indeed in the 16-18th centuries in the Maratha kingdoms of Western and Central India founded by Chhattrapati Shivaji (1630-1680), widely regarded as India’s first successful revolutionary against foreign rule, it was quite common for adopted children to succeed kings and rajas, often in preference to dissolute natural-born offspring. In Indian society down to the present day, while there are many who believe that genes determine character — especially in industry and business — there is also strong sentiment that nurture rather than nature shapes the character and personalities of children. There is rising belief that given love and affection, adopted children can rise to highest positions in business, industry and society. In other societies around the world as well, there are numerous examples of adopted children who have not only grown into loving sons and daughters, but have reached pinnacles of success in their chosen careers and vocations. For instance, it’s not very well-known that Steve Jobs, the visionary Syria-born founder of Apple Inc, USA, currently the world’s most valuable company measured by market capitalisation ($2.77 trillion), was adopted and lovingly nurtured by an American couple. Ditto US President Bill Clinton and iconic movie star Marilyn Monroe. Likewise, Indian superstar of the 1970-1990-era Rajesh Khanna. Moreover, with increasing female participation in the labour force (FPLF) around the world and women deferring childbirth to later years as they build careers in industry and business, women’s child-bearing capability is continuously declining due to workplace and domestic stress. As a result, in several industrially developed countries, most notably in Japan, birth rates have fallen below replacement level. Therefore, it’s becoming quite common for married couples in European countries with low birth rates — though not in rapidly-ageing Japan — to adopt orphaned and unwanted children from economically under-developed countries in Asia and Africa. Against this Indian and global backdrop, it would be logical to assume given its young demographic profile — 500 million Indian citizens are aged below 24 years of age — this country would be a huge catchment area for people around the world to adopt Indian infants and children. However for fear of adopted children being used as domestic…