India Supreme Court Asked to Suspend IA

From FirstPost.India, under the headline, Baby Business?:

Pune based NGOs ‘Sakhi’ and ‘Advait Foundation’ had moved the apex court saying that inter- country adoption has turned into a lucrative business, as adoption agencies are giving undue preference to prospective adoptive parents in foreign countries over Indian couples in need of children.

The petition has sought a detailed investigation into the procurement of children through extortion, blackmail, threats and through bribery of government officials. It also asks the court to look into what it is calling the inhuman condition of children in various agencies.

“At present there are 5000 Indian families on the waiting list for adopting a child, whereas 600- 800 children are annually sent abroad by way of inter- country adoption from India. It is significant to note that though we have a population of 110 crore, we send these children abroad keeping our families without babies to nurture,” said Anjali Pawar of Sakhi.

The petition also alleges that many “missing” children reach adoption agencies from where they are shipped out to foreign destinations. “The CBI should probe the link between missing children and children going in inter- country adoption”, they said.