ADOPTION LAWS: CHALLENGES CONCERNING PROCEDURE FROM HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE
mentioned, on account of statistics provided by agencies engaged in adoptions that the
usual practice among Indian parents is not to opt for stranger child and their preference is
always a boy, therefore, leaving behind a majority of abandoned, destitute or orphan girls
and handicapped children with bleak chances of finding prospective adoptive parents
within the country. There comes in picture nasty and malicious organisations or individuals
committing the act of child trafficking in the guise of providing child in adoption to foreigners
without even considering emotional and psychological needs of child that get affected in
phase of assimilation in new culture and foreign land.28 The Hon’ble Bench also laid down
the genesis of CARA, i.e., Central Adoption Resource Agency. The Central Government was
directed to establish it along with regional branches to regulate inter-country adoptions
and to act as a nodal agency with all information concerning children, who are available for
inter-country adoption, to cross-check every application sent by the social or child welfare
agency in the foreign country for adoption of an Indian child and then to forward them to
one or the other of the recognised social or child welfare agencies in the country.29 It led to the
formulation of normative safeguards and procedures for inter-country adoptions in India.
The Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in
Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) protects children and
their families against the risks of illegal, irregular, premature or ill-prepared adoptions
abroad. This Convention, which operates through a system of national Central Authorities,
reinforces the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 21) and seeks to ensure that
inter-country adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and with respect for his
or her Fundamental Rights. It also seeks to prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in
children. India became signatory to this convention in the year 2003. The conclusions and
recommendations of the Hague Convention are promoting the private and independent
adoptions, inter-country adoptions shall take place between the competent authorities, and
prospective, eligibility and suitability of adoptive parents.30
28
29
30
Id. Para 14
supra note 26
Central Adoption Resource Authority Report: Bench Book for Adoption (2017).
79