New law may rock adoption cradle

A DURBAN couple, who acquired the services of a private social worker to help them adopt a baby, prefer liaising with those in the private sector as they are “more efficient”.

The couple, who declined to be named, said they decided to go the adoption route in July last year after fertility treatment had failed.

The 40-year-old woman now feared that the proposed legislation could affect her chances of becoming a mother.

The administrator and her husband, 43, an engineer, of Avoca, had been trying to conceive for seven years.

“We tried to conceive naturally for the first four years until our doctor spoke to us about fertility treatment. After three years of tests and treatment, nothing happened,” added the woman.

She said that she had enquired about adoption via the Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal but found the staff “not efficient enough”.

“As prospective parents, we did not get the individual attention we needed. A friend told us about a private agency and we visited for a consultation.”

The experience, she said, was different.

“The professionalism and the manner in which we were treated and explained the process was completely different.”

Soon after the screening process, they met a few children, including a little girl whom they had taken a liking to.

The agency had arranged for them to spend more time with the toddler who they were intent on adopting.

She said they paid more than R10 000 in fees to the agency, but the process had been worth it and they hoped to officially adopt the child before the end of the year.

The woman added that she could not understand why the department had proposed changing the act.

Prospective parents must be given a choice, she said. “If they want to take the private route, it’s their prerogative.

“If you look at the way other government departments, like home affairs, are been run, what is going to become of the adoption process?” she asked.

The woman does not believe that the government has the capacity to handle the workload.

“The private sector of any industry lightens the load and this is what the government does not understand.”