Thinking of adoption? Gear up for extreme vetting as WCD ministry revamps rules

Come November, the method to adopt a child from India is set to get stringent. A revamped method has been designed by the Women and Child Development Ministry to conduct a home study report of the prospective parents.

As opposed to the current method, the social workers will be asked to judge the conditions of the house in a subjective manner and submit a detailed report. Further, the social workers will asses with different parameters to see if the house deems fit for the child. Home study report, at present, includes questions such as "What is your motivation behind adopting a child", "Who will be responsible for caring for the child when you are at work", "if parents require any counselling in supporting the child", among others.

"So far, the questions had direct answers in yes or no. Our social workers will now be asked to observe the surroundings of the parents' house and submit a report based on their findings," said Col. Deepak Kumar, CEO of Central Adoption Resource Authority, a statutory body for adoption process in India.

Another significant revision by CARA is that it will now ask the adoption agencies to include reports of all prescribed test of the child with details of the results. Additionally, the medical examination report will include registration number and signature of the physician who has examined the child and in case of any medical negligence will be made to pay for the losses incurred by parents. According to officials, the move was under review by the ministry from September and was not influenced by the death of three-year-old Sherin Mathews