Child welfare committee in Kerala orders baby under pre-adoption foster care to be returned to adoption agency

The Thiruvananthapuram district child welfare committee has ordered that a child that was already declared legally free for adoption and handed over to adoptive parents under pre-adoption foster care shall be returned to the adoption agency.

The order was issued in view of the claim by a woman that it was her child and her parents and relatives gave the child for adoption without her consent.

Anupama Chandran, a 22-year-old woman hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, had also moved legally against her parents in this regard. Subsequently, the family court in Thiruvananthapuram stalled the adoption procedures. The child was reportedly handed over to pre-adoption foster care of a couple outside Kerala by following the due procedures for adoption.

The Child Welfare Committee on Thursday ordered the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare in Thiruvananthapuram, which carried out the adoption procedures, to take steps to get back the child and subject it to conduct a DNA test.

The child was reportedly born out of Anupama's unwedded relationship with a man married to another woman in October 2020. The child was subsequently surrendered at the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare and the adoption procedures were initiated.

Around six months later, Anupama approached the authorities seeking the child. But Anupama's father Jayachandran, who is a local CPM leader, allegedly used his political influence to suppress the complaints. By that time, the child was handed over to a couple who had applied for adoption. But as Anupama's demand for the child triggered a row, the state government also initiated steps to stall the adoption and informed the family court about Anupama's claim. Hence, the adoption process was stalled.

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