Traffickers exploit kid adoption rules to entice couples

Mumbai: The legal procedures associated with adoption of children are elaborate, with an aim to ensuring the safety of the child and ascertaining the background of potential parents.

With the Wadala Truck Terminus police’s recent bust of a baby-selling racket, wherein the arrested traffickers sold newborn babies to childless couples for Rs 4 to Rs 4.5 lakh each, parents and experts have said child traffickers exploit the fact that it takes time.

Subarna Ghosh, a parent who has adopted a child, said it’s a wonderful experience of being a mother but for the lengthy and painful procedure that could take up to a year.

Legal adoption can only be done through Specialised Adoption agencies (SAAs) that are recognised by state governments. Talking to The Asian Age, advocate M. Kanchan, said, “Directly adopting baby from nursing, maternity or hospitals or any poor couple who wants to sell their babies, it is an offence, and it is not possible.”

“There are many touts/ or middleman in adoption who might mislead, take emotional advantage of childless couples that are badly in need of a baby that leads to an illegal adoption, which may make you a part of the child trafficking network, “ she said.

While Ms Ghosh said, “After the mutual decision of my husband and me we adopted a baby but the trauma which we went through can’t be expressed, the NGO through which we adopted was supportive but the government authorities made us struggle. I don’t understand when some want to do a good deed, why they are being harassed in this way, the procedure itself is tedious, and frustrated couple has no option but to through that extensive procedures,” she said.

A senior police official told The Asian Age, “Accused Julia Fernandez (29) (of the Wadala baby-selling racket) a child trafficker and kingpin of baby-selling racket, was running ‘Ahum Consultancy’ through which she would recruit nursing staff and trained them for assisting her.” The police said she ran a consultancy as a ploy to track those willing to sell children as well as those willing to buy them for a price.

In the Wadala case, the buyers of the three newborns were a Worli doctor, a Bengaluru software engineer and a Thane gynaecologist-paediatrician couple.