Why in news?
Discussions on 17 July 2025 highlighted how India’s adoption system struggles to meet demand. Prospective parents often wait years, while many children remain in institutional care.
Background
Adoption in India is governed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and managed by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). Only children declared legally free for adoption can be placed with new families.
Challenges
- Supply–demand mismatch: For every adoptable child there are roughly 13 families waiting. Waiting times have grown from around a year in 2017 to over three and a half years in 2025.
- Procedural hurdles: The 2021 amendments require district magistrates to certify adoptions, but many lack trained staff. Poor coordination among child welfare committees, hospitals and courts delays decisions.
- Legal complications: Children often lack birth certificates or guardianship papers. This makes it difficult to declare them free for adoption.
- Mismatched preferences: Most adoptable children are above 14, whereas most prospective parents want infants under two years of age.
- High return rates: Between 2017 and 2019, a noticeable number of parents returned children. Girls and children with special needs were disproportionately affected.
- Social biases: Unmarried couples and LGBTQ+ persons face barriers, as current law does not recognise them equally.
Measures and the way forward
- The government expanded the pool of adoptable children to include more categories and upgraded the CARINGS portal to manage foster care and adoption records.
- CARA introduced mandatory counselling at pre‑adoption, during adoption and post‑adoption stages to help parents and children adjust emotionally.
- Simplify and time‑bound procedures so that courts and district authorities clear cases quickly.
- Strengthen psychosocial support for children and adoptive parents, and provide training for professionals working in adoption agencies.
- Destigmatise adoption through awareness campaigns and consider recognising diverse family structures to broaden the prospective parent base.