CRYING SHAME
Adoption laws hurt babies
JOHANNESBURG mother and preschool teacher Uke Collins longed to have a second child. During one bedtime, her son, then six, suggested that she adopt a baby and Collins threw her heart into the pursuit.
Passionate about early bonding for babies, she was startled to discover a 30-day delay was required when prospective adoptive parents were not “a cultural or religious match”.
In South Africa, interracial adoptions are quite common. “Our friends are diverse and mixed race and I didn’t think this would be an issue,” said Collins.
Katinka Pieterse, director of Abba adoption services, said the principle of same culture and race placement led to additional delays in adoption procedures. “In South Africa, there are almost no potential same-race and culture matches for African children, our analysis of the RACAP [Register on Adoptable Children and Prospective Adoptive Parents] shows.”
Collins knows of prospective adoptive parents who gave up on the lengthy process but, encouraged by her son, Luca, she pushed it through in eight months.
“One day I got a call saying ‘We have a baby for you’, and I knew that this was our baby,” she said.
On November 1 last year, the family took home baby Isla, then five months old, and Luca got his wish for the cutest baby in the world, who copies every move he makes.
“She is the most beautiful baby, and I was officially declared her mom in court on May 5. We are her forever family,” said Collins.
Many babies stay longer in children’s homes following the implementation of the Children’s Act (No 38 of 2005) in 2010, which has inadvertently created delays in placements by adding 30 days to the original 90-day waiting period.
“In an ideal world we would have matched adoptions, but we have so many children needing homes. Why prejudice a child by waiting 30 more days?” said Sue Krawitz, chairperson of the National Adoption Coalition.
Pieterse said when she started at Abba, the service placed children at about four months old on average. “Now they are seven to nine months, or older. Prospective parents want children as young as possible.”
Collins agreed: “All I wanted was to get my baby early so I could give her the love she deserves. I have her now, so what I want is for other babies to have the opportunity to attach and not lie in homes, crying and learning that no one is coming.
The act has excellent intentions but there are many additional processes which have caused numbers to plummet
These babies grow up struggling to trust.
“I have seen how Isla can panic and older children in my class [two- or three-year-olds] who weren’t adopted early enough. It’s so sad and unnecessary,” she said.
Another adoptive mother, Ela Romanowska, said the older children were at the time of their adoption, the bigger the emotional impact on them.
“At about seven months, they start to experience some level of separation anxiety. Imagine the additional shock of changing homes, smells, sounds, people and primary caregiver on top of that.” She was glad her daughter was robust enough to adapt well.
Babies who go on the register are at least two months old, but the majority are three months, depending on whether the cases involve consenting adoption or abandonment.
Krawitz, who is also director of Impilo Child Protection and Adoption Services, said it finalised about 80 to 90 adoptions last year and just one of those cases involved a matched white child.
About 100 white candidates on the register would like to adopt white children. There are currently two white children on the register, along with a few Indian and mixed-race children.
About 500 African children are currently listed on the register with no immediate prospective match with African parents. But about 30 other adults are listed who are ready right now to take them home.
The Children’s Act states that any child, including those matched by culture or religion, should be placed on the register. “The list in itself creates delays. Thousands of children who are adoptable never make it on the register because those responsible do not know the process,” said Krawitz.
“The act has excellent intentions . . . but there are many additional processes which are much more onerous and have caused adoption numbers to plummet. Even now, four years later, areas are not properly implemented.”
Social development spokesperson Lumka Oliphant said the register aimed to protect children and facilitate adoption in South Africa before a child could be adopted by foreign parents.
“This [60 days] provision may be considered as an obstacle by some adoption agencies who prioritise inter-country adoption over national adoption.” Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za
WORTH THE WAIT: Uke Collins with her son, Luca, and adopted daughter Isla