Why Are Indian Families Against Adopting Children?

This week, The Swaddle team explores the history of adoption practices, and why adopting a child is often a 'last resort' for families in India.

Edited by: Neha Shekhawat
Scripted by: Anushka Dias
Presented by: Anahita Sachdev
Visual research: Samiksha Mathur
Produced by: Shrishti Malhotra
Creative Supervisor: Karla Bookman

Want to learn more about the research in this video? Check out these readings:

-Macchiwalla, Ashraf I. "Inter-country adoption of related children of Indian origin." International Social Work 24, no. 3 (1981): 8-13.
-Pande, Amrita. "“It may be her eggs but it’s my blood”: Surrogates and everyday forms of kinship in India." Qualitative sociology 32, no. 4 (2009): 379-397.
-Bharadwaj, Aditya. "Why adoption is not an option in India: the visibility of infertility, the secrecy of donor insemination, and other cultural complexities." Social science & medicine 56, no. 9 (2003): 1867-1880.
-Riley, Nancy E., and Krista E. Van Vleet. Making families through adoption. Sage Publications, 2011.

[sohinib]

i can’t explain how they pick up topics that are considered a taboo and explain the stigma around them so beautifully. they’re not just. wing vocal but can we have one moment to appreciate thr digital art skills? like it’s so spot on !!

[shrishtimalhotra]

The weird thing is this shows in our attitude towards adopting animals as well. Instead of adopting Indian breeds that need homes and more suitable to this climate, people pay huge sums of money to buy 'pure bred' exotic dogs. It's awful.

[nehadutt]

I hate the weird mentality of people "blood is thicker than water"

[PlatePrintsOnTable]

when I say "I don't like kids" I often get misunderstood. I want to be a mother but I don't want to give birth biologically and the idea doesn't sit right with my mother. She says she would love grandchildren but doesn't like this idea of adopting a child. If you love children so much, u would love any child that exists. I can't selectively love for being "apna-paraya". I would love to be a source of joy to a motherless child. And adoption is always my first preference ♥️

Also adoption has been observed in predator-prey relationships too. so sad that humans behave worse than wild animals.

[hckqhpq]

Famous Actress Shobhana adopted a girl child as her daughter and raising her beautifully.. She never got married.
Whenever she is giving an interview, people always ask: why did you not marry?

[karishmadeori]

I'm an adopted child and I love my parents to death.
They gave me a life full of happiness, care and opportunities.
Who knows how my life would've been if I wasn't adopted?
I consider myself lucky.

[anupamaMall]

In the film Good Newwz Kiara's character says that "Apna khoon toh apna hi hota hai" so she was okay with multiple miscarriages and deteriorating her own health but not adoption 😑

[ananyabanerjee]

I don't wanna sound like a bummer..
But commercial mainstream movies like Good newz are actually reinforcing the "khoon to khoon hota hai" notion in our minds and it's truely awful.

[anahita_sachdev]

"Apna khoon" is overrated. Wish we can all adopt this change in mindset.

[charuyadav]

Parenting is not about giving birth to a child, it's about raising them....
Indian society have to accept this fact

[onThatBitch]

Daughters in their own home is called as " PARAYA DHAAN". No wonder why people in India don't adopt children.

[mahimabose]

There are many studies done to ask the "nature Vs nurture" question. It is proven now that no matter where the child came from, he/she can be nurtured/trained to be anything and that training by parents/teachers is what makes the child's personality.

[dreamer]

I plan on adopting in the future. If my partner doesn't favour it, I guess I'll do it alone.
Edit: I did not expect so many replies on this matter. Thank you for the support and suggestions, you guys.

[januari]

Dear current generation promise with me that at least we would be a better parent to our future kids. By always supporting them while they are doing good deeds and don't drag them into these 'so called culture'.

[iseedarksideofeverything]

I prefer to remain childfree all my life

[aishikamitra]

As a teen I was baffled to know that people buy babies from orphanages and they go to the length of ticking off boxes according to how the child looks. This somewhat gave rise to the centralized adoption laws that took away powers from individual orphanages, which has somehow made the system even worse than before. Also, in India, people prefer to adopt young so that relatives and neighbours can be easily fed with a lie. No one adopts a child that is 1 or 2, and children who are over that age often have to fend for themselves in toxic orphanages or end up with bad lives. India also needs to rectify the adoption rules which prefers a heteronormative couple as the basis of adoption. As many parents fail to recognize the adopted child as a 'real child', they often end up expressing the fact of bettering their lives by picking them up from dustbins. This is especially true when the child reaches teenage or at a point of their life when they may not agree with the decisions made by the parents. Physical, sexual and mental abuse is also predominant in case of children that have been adopted.

[kok-fhxm]

This reminds me of Good Newwz movie, so shocked at that part where we find out Kiara's character actually had multiple miscarriages and this pregnancy was dangerous for her health but instead of adopting they went for IVF because they wanted a "real own child". This was shown as a noble thing, because somehow risking her life was the noble option since an adopted child is "never your own" 🙄

[anamikapathak]

I'll give you another reason. Whenever I tell my family I will adopt a child, they say you won't know the caste of the baby, what if its from a lower caste, and this mindset just breaks my heart.

[speechsound]

When the biological daughter is a burden and paraya dhan, can't expect better treatment for adopted children

[chhavi]

can you make a video about-
'Why Indians crave for western validation?'