Adoption Assistance: A Guide to Managing Finances for Adoption

By: Sukhada, Shrishaila

Published On: March 30, 2022

According to the Times of India, there were over 2 crore orphans in India by the year 2019. Post pandemic, there was a significant surge in this number. Who are these kids? How do they end up in orphanages? These are the kids that are born to some parents but are left to survive on their own. They could be children whose parents have either died in a natural disaster, accident or due to a disease. According to the New York Times, around 3000 Indian kids have been orphaned during the Covid pandemic. These could also be children who have been abandoned owing to poverty or any other reason. Some parents who cannot afford to take care of their child due to financial or social pressure, usually choose to abandon their children near shelters/orphanages, at hospitals or temples/churches in the hope that someone will adopt the child.

Adoption is a good choice for everyone who wishes to expand their family. According to the Indian Express, there were about 3374 domestic and 653 inter-country adoptions in the financial year 2018-19 and most of the adopted children were females. Families, nowadays, are registering for adoption and not just because of infertility or other such reasons. It’s time we liberate ourselves from the shackles of ignorance around the idea of adopting a child. It is a great idea of finding loving homes for children without families.

Who Can Adopt:

According to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) Adoption Regulations 2017, and in accordance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, one needs to meet the following criteria for adopting a child in India:

1. The parent/s should be physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable and should not have any life-threatening medical condition.

2. A person can adopt irrespective of their marital status and whether or not he or she has a biological son or daughter.

3. A single female can adopt a child of any gender but a single male shall not be eligible to adopt a girl child. In the case of a married couple, both spouses need to give their consent for adoption.

4. A couple needs to have at least two years of stable marital relationship in order to adopt a child.

5. Couples with three or more children are not considered for adoption.

6. Overseas citizens of India and foreign parents can adopt children from India.

Financial Difficulties in Parenting and How to Address them

The love that you share with your children is of course priceless. But certain financial needs have to be considered while raising a child. These include education fees, recreation and basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. Crowdfunding is a way through which one can meet their financial needs without investing a huge amount in it. There are various crowdfunding platforms in India such as ImpactGuru which help raise funds for your cause with a 0% platform fee. Now, what is crowdfunding? Put simply, it is a process of gathering funds from a group of people usually by sharing one’s story online on social media. You may be thinking: how to start a fundraiser? Well, it’s simple:

Find a crowdfunding platform: Online crowdfunding platforms in India like ImpactGuru aid thousands of people in raising funds for their causes. All you have to do is visit their site and fill in your information.
Start your fundraiser: Once you fill up your information and upload your documents, the team verifies your fundraiser to help donors know that this is a credible cause requiring urgent funds.
Share on social media: Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook can amplify the influence of your cause and help you reach the maximum number of people.

Read: Financial Help for Single Parents in India - know everything about it

Adoption is taking complete care and responsibility of a child apart from giving them a home and a family. It is a wonderful feeling of giving and receiving unconditional love and affection. The bond between a parent and a child is incredible. You have to nurture it like a plant in your garden that will grow into a beautiful tree one day. A famous saying goes like this: