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A long wait for adoptive parents
Bureaucratic delays a hurdle in adoption of orphans
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, July 3 - They're getting together in support groups. They're blogging. They're waiting.

Scan the various blogs by prospective adoptive parents in the West who want to adopt kids from Nepal, and one can sense how badly they want the adoption process to pick up pace.

But it has already been six months since the government asked prospective parents to submit their inter-country adoption papers, and not a single Nepali orphan has been handed over, because the "final decision" regarding the process has not yet been made.

"Tonight we turn our worries over to God and pray," says a blog entry by an American adoptive couple who call themselves ‘Jobon’. "We pray for our daughter, her caregiver, and the government of Nepal and all those who are in our shoes all over the world. We will trust that God has a plan and things will happen when they are meant to happen."

But that might mean quite a wait. The initial necessary paperwork for the adoption of more than 30 orphans is complete, but the process is still stuck.

So what's the holdup? "Some of the files submitted by the prospective parents have been pending, largely due to a delay in arranging a meeting of the recommendation committee," says Hari Kumar Paudyal, spokesman for the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (WCSW).

The recommendation committee, comprising representatives from Ministries of Home, Law and WCSW, will make the final decision. But sources in the WSCW say that they don't know when the committee will meet.

For the adoptive parents, who've already done the needful to get through all the preliminary processes — seeking permission from their governments to start the adoption process, getting in touch with adoption agencies back home, filing the required papers, going through the matching process (in which adoptive parents are paired with orphans in Nepal) — the final decision is out of their hands: it's the Nepali authorities' call now.

"The problem is with the ministry and orphanages," says an official at WCSW. The high-level ministry officials, he says, should take the initiative, after consulting with the Deputy Prime Minister since the ministry lacks a minister now, and because the ministry and orphanages have not been given high priority.

The process has also been delayed because most registered orphanages have not submitted their list of children available for adoption, he says. Out of the 38 registered orphanages in Kathmandu, only a few have submitted lists for a total of 250 children. The matching committee needs the list to select children in accordance with the adoptive parents' preferences.

Some officials also claim that orphanages have not cooperated with the ministry because a few are not happy with the new terms the government has set out.

The government last year created new rules for adoption after the media exposed the rampant corruption in the adoption process. The ministry had decided to put the process on hold for one-and-a-half years, until effective laws could plug the loopholes. Before the government took this step, there had been cases where agents had flouted adoption regulations to illegally procure babies for potential parents for large amounts.

But with the international community breathing down the government's neck, the government eased the ban and it came up with new rules to systematise the process. Under the new regulations, prospective parents have to deal with registered adoption agencies from their home country or Nepal-based embassies. Earlier, they directly dealt with orphanage homes. As there was no fixed adoption fee, parents often ended up paying huge amounts for the baby of their choice.

With the government enforcing the new rules, the adoption process has taken on a more formalised character now. For example, the adoption fee for each child has been fixed at $8,000 — which means that adoptive parents won't get overcharged. Furthermore, from the adoption fee, $5,000 will go to orphanages and $3,000 to the state coffers. The ministry has already collected over Rs. 15 million from the fee, some of which will be used to monitor the overall adoption process.

But unless the committee starts giving the final permission, the adoptive parents will have to continue waiting.
Posted on: 2009-07-02 21:39:53 (Server Time)