Why adoption may become harder
Aspiring parents may soon find it tougher to adopt if a new law governing payment is passed
SHE beams with pride as she catches us looking at her pictures. There’s a whole wall of photos in her home, showing every special moment of her daughters’ lives – their shaky steps as toddlers, first milk teeth out, family holidays . . . Sharon van Wyk never tires of staring at these snaps. “I’m a mother to two sweet little girls,” she says, a note of wonder in her voice. For years the Joburg blogger feared she’d never get to experience the joy of motherhood.
“It was miscarriage after miscarriage – and miscarriage,” Sharon (46) says, snapping her fingers.
After several rounds of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and artificial insemination she felt drained – financially and emotionally. She couldn’t go through it anymore.
That’s when she and her husband, Walter (43), decided to adopt. They were worried the process might drag on for years but once they’d filed their application through a private social worker and had gone through all the required steps, they were surprised at how fast the wheels started turning.
“Literally three weeks later we got a call from the social worker,” Sharon says.
She had good news for them: there was a baby about to be born in Cape Town and the birth mother had agreed to allow them to adopt her.
That was back in 2009 before the law was changed to allow birth moms 60 days to withdraw consent for adoption. That’s why Sharon and Walter could bring baby Ava home just a week after receiving the life-changing phone call.
Four years later the couple again applied for adoption and Hannah joined the family.
They’re still amazed at how easy it was to adopt Ava (now 9) and Hannah (5) – apart from a few niggly issues with getting birth certificates, it flowed relatively smoothly.
But if they were only starting the adoption process now it might have been a different story. In fact, for Sharon motherhood might have remained an unattainable dream.
The proposed amendment to subsection 3 of clause 250 of the Children’s Act probably doesn’t seem like such a big deal to most people, but experts are warning that if it goes ahead it will make adopting a child in South Africa virtually impossible.
In a nutshell, what the clause does is make it illegal for anyone to receive fees for professional services rendered in respect of adoption. As a result, private social workers, lawyers, psychologists and all other professionals won’t be able to charge for any expert or specialist service rendered to adoptable children and/ or adoptive families – not even for reimbursement of travelling expenses.
Experts say this is a huge problem because state social workers have such heavy caseloads that performing adoptions is low on their list of priorities. That’s why most adoptions now are carried out by professionals working for accredited independent Child Protection Organisations (CPOs).
But the new law, which is expected to be tabled in parliament soon, aims to change all of this.
WHY THE NEW LAW?
Lumka Oliphant, spokesperson for the department of social development, says the new legislation wants to rule out fees because adoption shouldn’t be seen as a business opportunity but rather as a measure to protect children.
“Adoption services shouldn’t be commodified but be viewed as a means of protecting the best interests of children by placing them with permanent and suitable families.”
She says allowing fees isn’t fair to families who have a genuine interest in adopting children but can’t afford to go through private agencies, which can charge up to R30 000.
“The new legislation will accommodate those who weren’t able to afford to pay fees,” she tells YOU.
Oliphant dismisses the idea that the proposed changes will bring adoptions to a grinding halt. She says the department employs 889 trained social workers who’ll be available to render adoption services.
WHY EXPERTS ARE WORRIED
“It won’t make adoptions more accessible, rather it’ll cut out the majority of experienced adoption service providers,” says Elsabé Engelbrecht, CEO of Procare National, an association of social workers and related professionals in private practice who facilitate adoptions.
Only social workers who are accredited by the department of social development are allowed to handle adoptions, according to the Children’s Act as it currently stands.
At the moment there are 59 adoption social workers in private practice and 93 CPOs authorised to carry out adoption services nationally.
They facilitate the bulk of the adoptions that happen in South Africa every year. But if charging fees becomes illegal, it’s predicted that most – if not all – of these professionals will have to stop practising.
Which means those who want to adopt will only have one choice: to go through government channels.
Engelbrecht points out that adoption is a time-consuming and labour-intensive process and she doubts the state has the capacity to handle it all.
“In my opinion these amendments will have a devastating effect on adoptions in South Africa and in the end children in desperate need of permanent homes will suffer the most.”
The new law will definitely affect how many adoptions will take place and how long it takes for cases to be finalised, says Katinka Pieterse, chairperson of the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa (NACSA), an NGO that represents key stakeholders within the adoption community.
“Adoption is a 100% human-resource service,” she says. “It’s a highly specialist area.”
Once prospective parents file their applications they need to go through rigorous assessments and police checks. This takes a lot of time – but is essential to ensure they’re suitable candidates.
In addition to social workers, lawyers need to assist with drawing up legal documents, while psychologists, therapists and medical practitioners assist with assessing children and helping prepare them for adoption.
But if this new law comes into effect, all these experts will no longer be able to charge for their services – so unless they’re willing to work for free they’ll be forced to stop operating.
MILLIONS STILL WAITING FOR HOMES
Many are asking how the proposed law can possibly be in the best interests of all the orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa – it’s estimated there are 3,7 million who need good homes. And yet in the financial year ending March 2018 a total of only 1 186 adoptions were registered.
Once the adoption process is instigated, it might take six to 12 months for a child to be placed with a family, depending on the nature of the case, Oliphant says.
But Albert Fritz, Western Cape provincial minister of social development, says state social workers have exceedingly high caseloads – more than 100 on average, despite norms and standards recommending a maximum of 60. They’re constantly dealing with all kinds of issues relating to child welfare, such as finding foster homes for orphans and investigating cases of abuse. Adoption is just the tip of the iceberg.
Fritz believes the private sector takes a load off the department.
In addition to slowing down local adoptions, the new law will probably also bring international adoptions to a halt. At the moment about 100 of the adoptions carried out in South Africa every year involve foreign parents, but experts say these are so complicated and require so much paperwork that state social workers won’t have the time or resources to do them.
‘Allowing fees isn’t fair. The new legislation will accommodate those who weren’t able to afford to pay fees’ LUMKA OLIPHANT DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SPOKESPERSON
‘It won’t make adoptions more accessible, it will cut out the majority of experienced adoption service providers’ ELSABÉ ENGELBRECHT CEO OF PROCARE NATIONAL
‘This will have a devastating effect on adoptions – in the end, children in desperate need of permanent homes will suffer the most’ KATINKA PIETERSE CHAIRPERSON OF NATIONAL ADOPTION COALITION OF SA