University of Mumbai

(Master of Social Work department)

Student Name- Upasana Shetty
Research Proposal Topic- The study of the recent
delays in Adoptions of children in Mumbai
 THE STUDY OF THE RECENT DELAYS IN ADOPTIONS OF CHILDREN IN MUMBAI

“The world may not change If you adopt a child, but for that child their world will change”
-unknown
The happiest moment for every parent is when their child is born. Having children and letting
your legacy go on is what each individual wishes for in life. Though sometimes, having
biological children has not been easy for many in recent times. Infertility has become a
personal and public health issue in India. Infertility affects approximately 15 per cent of
Indian couples. Late marriages, stressful lifestyles, obesity, high junk food intake, and other
vices like smoking, alcoholism, and drug addiction contribute to the problem. According to All
India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 10-15 percent of the nation’s population exhibit
complications related to fertility. For a country with a 1.3 billion population, that would
account for almost one in seven people.
Adoption is the best and most effective way of letting your legacy go on achieving this joy.
Adoption is the most optimal way a childless couple could become parents. It is a bond that is
made not through blood but through law. Nurturing a child is about creating a family through
a relationship that does not necessarily come through blood. According to Richard Bach “The
bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s
life”. Earlier adoption was considered only by childless married couples who couldn’t bear
children of their own and sought it as the last means of resort. India has traditionally been
resistant to the idea of adoption. Social issues of caste, class etc have played a major role in
creating the idea of adoptions unfavourable, with families and communities looking at the
idea of adopting a child whose lineage is unknown.
Adoption is the origin of the relationship between the parent and the child who aren’t
naturally related to each other. Adoption does not just affect the adopting family but also the
child, the adoptive parents, their families, their extended families and society. Adoption
provides children with the opportunity to have a life that their birth parents wanted for them.
Adoption was earlier a means for a childless couple to complete their family, but now the
focus has moved to the concept of adoption being a way through which a child can be given a
better life. Adoption gives a child a sense of security and provides them with a stable home.
As the adoptive parent’s financial stability is also a criterion of adoption, it helps the children
benefit health wise, physically and mentally. Adopted children are more likely to gain
educational and personal success as they are brought up in a safe and secure environment of
their adoptive parents.
Statement of the Problem
The journey of orphaned or abandoned children, from the day they are found to the day they
are placed in an adoptive home, is a long and rigorous one. First, they must be brought
before the district child welfare committee and placed in a CCI under the Juvenile Justice Act
of 2015. An effort is then made to track their immediate or extended families and reunite
them; if this fails, the child welfare committee, a quasi-judicial body, has to deem the child
legally free for adoption. The district child protection unit links them to an adoption agency
and the child is registered with CARA. A medical report is prepared and the child is then
matched with a prospective parent after a home study is undertaken by CARA authorities.
There are about 29,000 prospective parents that have currently registered to adopt and less
than a tenth the number of children — 2,400 — are legally free for adoption. In theory, there
should be many more. There is, after all, a staggering number of orphaned or abandoned
children living in Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in this country, from where they can be
deemed legally free for adoption. In 2020, as many as 2,27,518 children were living in CCIs,
according to UNICEF figures. Of these, 1,45,788 were reunited with their birth families
following a directive from the Supreme Court as a precaution against the pandemic. But this
still leaves tens of thousands of children languishing in institutions, of whom only a fraction
makes it to the legal adoption pool and eventually to adoptive parents. In 2020-21, for
instance, just 3,559 children were placed for adoption with families living in India and abroad,
according to data with CARA.
Data shows that while more than 29,000 prospective parents are willing to adopt, just 2,317
children are available for adoption. This suggests a wide gap between adoptable children and
prospective parents, which may increase the length of the adoption process. The reason for
delays in adoptions are mainly due to the delay in the children being moved from to the
adoption pools by the legal body to the delays in the home study Reports. More than 4000
HSR are pending to be completed by different states across the country causing delay in the
adoption process. HSR is done by the Specialized Adoption Agency (SAA) selected by the
Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAP) to check their suitability for adoption. Maharashtra has
the highest number of pendency with 624 HSRs in-waiting, followed by Telangana 592, Delhi
421, West Bengal 322, Karnataka 318, Andhra Pradesh 271, Tamil Nadu 206, Gujarat 170,
Kerela 143, Rajasthan 139, Punjab 110, Orissa and Pondicherry 100 and Madhya Pradesh 107.

Literature Review
Based on the appeal made by a group of Prospective Adoptive Parents namely “Adoption
Action Group” which includes NRIs and Indian citizens from all over India who had written to
Minister Smriti Irani, also met the officials of CARA to fasten the adoption process.
Adoption Action Group (AAG), a PaP registered with CARA, works to bring together and unite
the adoptive community in India and provide a platform for them to voice their concerns by
highlighting the loopholes in the adoption system. A group of about 300 Prospective
Adoptive parents have signed and sent a letter to the Ministry of Women & Child
Development. There are about 29000 prospective adoptive parents willing to adopt and only
2317 children in the adoption pool. This gap is the major cause for delay in adoption which is
mainly cause due to the delay in Home Study reports from the Specialized Adoption Agencies
and the children that are still in Child Care Institutions that can be moved to the adoption
pool by the CWC. The country also has a limited number of government bodies that bring
more children into the adoption pools namely Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs), District
Child Protection Units (DCPUs), Child Care Institutions (CCIs) due to which there are less
children in the adoption pools. The delay in responses from the government bodies in turn
discourages prospective adoptive parent in adopting.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has adversely slowed down the process of adoption that has caused
a wait period of over 2-3 years for prospective adoptive parents to finally be united with a
child. Most people want to adopt children in the age group of 0-2 years so they can have a
fresh start with the child since the beginning, but if the wait period is this longer the children
group up and not many people want to adopt older children.
Conceptual Framework

Few
Adoptable
Children

Pending
Home Study
Delay in High No. of
Prospective
Reports
Adoption Parents

Huge no. of
Children
living in CCI

Research Questions
Some of the questions that arise from the literature review are as follows:
1. Why is there a Huge Gap between the Prospective Parents and Children in adoption
pool?
2. Why are children who have been living in CCI’s not moved to the Adoption pool at an
early age?
3. Why is there a delay in Home Study Reports are processing of adoptions?
Aim of Research
To study the issues and challenges faced by the prospective adoptive parents in the delay of
the adoption process. To also suggest changes that can be made to fasten the process of the
adoptions by working on the gaps caused due to the systems set by government bodies.
Objective
Following are the objectives of the research

• To study the current delay in Adoptions in Mumbai

• To study the reasons of delay in Adoption post the Covid-19 Pandemic situation
• To understand the issues faced in the Adoptions process by the prospective parents
• To analyse the delay in moving children from CCI’s to the adoptive pool
• To suggest recommendations based on the study.
Research Methodology
The purpose of this research is to analyse the problems faced by prospective adoptive
parents who wish to adopt children in Mumbai. This research will be descriptive research and
intends to state the reasons of delay caused in the process of adoption. The description shall
be made on the data collected using Survey Research method. Survey Research is a
quantitative research method used for collecting data from a set of panel or respondents. In
this case Prospective adoptive parents shall be the respondents to the questions based on a
survey of each of their experiences and challenges faced through either interviews or
surveys/questionnaires. The purpose of these surveys will be to state the delays caused in
adoption and to bridge the gap caused due to these delays.

Research Design
As the researcher shall be stating the cause of delays caused in adoption through this
research, they shall use the Survey research design method. A group of Prospective adoptive
parents shall be interviewed or asked to fill surveys/questionnaires to.
Sampling Design
The research shall be based on an identified group of Prospective Adoptive Parents shall be
interviewed and questioned; the non-probability sampling method shall be used. In this type
of sampling, items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher; his choice
concerning the items remains supreme. In other words, under non-probability sampling the
organisers of the inquiry purposively choose the particular units of the universe for
constituting a sample on the basis that the small mass that they so select out of a huge one
will be typical or representative of the whole.
Universe of the Study
The study shall be conducted in Mumbai. The study shall be done using prospective adoptive
parents from Mumbai who have been facing delays in adopting children. They will share
details based on their personal experiences and the challenges and delays faced by them in
the process.
Sample Size
About 50 Prospective Adoptive Parents shall be studied.
N=50
Tools of Data Collection
The researcher shall use Survey/Questionnaire & Interviews Method to collect quantitative
data using a set of structured questions and few unstructured questions. The researcher shall
also use observation method during the interviews to collect reactions and support in
collecting generic information about the whole process.
Ethical Consideration

• Researcher must inform the respondent with regards to why the information is being
collected and proper clarity and consent must be taken before using the information
shared
• Personal Information shared by respondents must be kept confidential and not be
made public
• Researcher must make sure the information used must in no way harm the
respondent in their process

Implications
This research will help in creating awareness of the delays caused in adoption. It will also help
bridge the gap caused due to which the delay is caused. The research shall also support the
system with measures that can be taken to decrease the turn around time taken in each case
of adoption.
Social Work intervention
To fasten the process of adoption and bridge the gap between prospective adoptive parents
and children in the adoption pool.
Timeline

Sr. No Activity Duration

1 Literature Review 2 weeks
2 Tools for Data Collection 1 week
3 Data Collection 2 weeks
4 Data Analysis 1 week
5 Finalization of Draft 2 weeks

Budget

Sr. No. Particulars Expense (Tentative)

1 Stationary & Prints 1000
2 Travel Expense 2000
3 Communication & Internet Costs 500
4 Food & other meals 1000
5 Thesis Book Expense 1000
6 Other Miscellaneous Expense 2000
TOTAL 7500
References

• https://twitter.com/AdoptionAction?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7
Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• https://mindthegapalways.in/tag/adoption-action-group/
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/250-prospective-parents-write-to-
smriti-irani-seeking-reforms-in-old-adoption-norms-101634239913104.html
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/indias-adoption-data-intriguing-disturbing-
101635601389149.html
• https://thewire.in/society/challenges-issues-child-adoption-practices-india
• https://thelawbrigade.com/adoption-law/child-adoption-in-india-a-comprehensive-
study/
• https://waic.in/
• http://cara.nic.in/