Adoption system in crisis

Bureaucracy, missing documents make process a nightmare

THE adoption system in South Africa is in a state of crisis.

Hamstrung by bureaucracy, missing documents and inefficient court processes, the system is working against matching children with suitable parents and has resulted in fewer children being adopted year on year.

Since 2004, when 136 adoptions took place through Joburg Child Welfare, the number has dropped to only 50 adoptions taking place last year.

“[This is] a really big decrease,” adoption supervisor at Joburg Child Welfare, Pam Wilson, said.

Nationally, according to a report by the National Adoption Coalition South Africa, adoptions saw a decrease of about 50% from 2 840 in 2004 to 1 448 last year.

The implementation of the Consolidated Children’s Act in 2010 is partly to blame, social workers and prospective parents contend.

Dee Blackie, consultant to the National Adoption Coalition South Africa, said while considered a good piece of legislation, implementation had caused a number of challenges. These include: ý Illegal immigrants are unable to legally place their children in the formal child protection system in South Africa, and face deportation should they try;

ý Relinquishing one’s parental rights so a child can be adopted can only be done without a legal guardian’s consent from the age of 18, making this option inaccessible to teenage mothers.

However, a child of any age can request an abortion in South Africa, sending mixed messages about the option of adoption;

ý Anonymous child abandonment has been criminalised, with mothers facing a range of charges such as concealment of birth and attempted murder; and

ý Baby safes, dropoff points where mothers can leave their babies anonymously, legally, and safely, are considered illegal in terms of the Children’s Act.

Hopeful parents who spoke up highlighted Form 30 and unabridged birth certificates as hindrances to their adoption process.