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Male-child shopping spree in Delhi
Published on Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 08:27, Updated on Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 08:46 in India section
Tags: Special Investigation, Baby Snatchers , New Delhi
New Delhi: Want a child ? Buy one. Is he disabled? Buy another. Quest for a male child has turned into a shopping expedition for a family who lament having adopted a child who later was found to have disabilities.
Nirlep Singh and his wife Harpreet adopted Pushpendra from Child Welfare Home in Delhi, a private adoption agency, when he was just four months old.
A few months later, they found that Pushpendra could not walk properly or talk. Now the couple wants another child – that too a boy.
"They (adoption home authorities) never told us anything about the child having this problem. They asked us for the money. I gave a cheque of Rs15, 000 and paid Rs 45,000 by cash but, there is no record of the transaction," Nirlep says.
The family is treating Pushpendra, the two-and-half year old child who suffers from disability, like a bad pick. Nirlep complains about the child, like something he bought from a shop.
Meanwhile, the authorities at the child welfare home say they have medical records to prove that Pushpendra was a healthy child when he was adopted.
"The abnormality can't be established in infancy. There are other milestones which are seen in the babies like the social smile and handholding," paediatrician Dr Anil Bajaj, says.
Doctors diagnosed Pushpendra's condition as progressive degeneration - a mental disability that worsens with age. They say that it is difficult to diagnose such abnormality in infancy.
Pushpendra’s foster grandfather also says the couple must adopt another child as the first one is of no use to them.
"Our first baby is not normal therefore I would like to adopt another male child," Nirlep’s father Gurcharan Singh says.
Indian adoption laws do not allow a second child of the same sex to be adopted by one family. However, what is of greater concern is how a child is being regarded as a commodity.
"Its like walking into a factory picking up a defective piece and crying over it Pushpendra's family lament the expenses incurred on his treatment. But they are willing to incur the additional expense of a second male child," child psychologist, Dr Madhumita Puri says.
The family can get guardianship of a male child under the Guardian and Wards Act but they want a legal heir.
However, it is shocking to see that child adoption is like a shopping spree for the people who go to the adoption centres with preference for a male child.
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