Same sex adoption was always possible

Even before the Mumbai High Court's landmark judgment, couples could adopt another child of the same sex under the Juvenile Justice Act. But not many knew that

Same sex adoption was always possible

Even before the Mumbai High Court's landmark judgment, couples could adopt another child of the same sex under the Juvenile Justice Act. But not many knew that

Mary Paul, director of Vathsalya Charitable Trust, an adoption agency, said, "In Karnataka, it is not possible to adopt a child of the same sex since the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) doesn't allow it. But such an adoption can be done under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) and Guardian and Ward Act (GWA)."

But not many know that such an adoption is possible. Nagendra Kumar, who already has a biological daughter, wanted to adopt another girl a year-and-a-half back.

"But it was not possible due to HAMA. Now that I know that I can adopt a child of anyu00a0 sex, I will think about adopting a girl child soon. I was unaware of the JJA and GWA."

In the case of C B Ramkumar, it really made no difference. "I adopted a boy 10 years ago. I had a biological daughter earlier. I was unaware of this rule maybe it didn't matter because I was adopting a child of the opposite sex," he said.

Though the general opinion is that the recent judgment will spur adoptions, Mary doesn't think so.

"It's not like before. Many more people are coming forward to adopt children but there are no children to adopt.

In a year, we do around 75 adoptions through our trust," she says.

Lalita Ramkumar agrees. "Those days are past we should be proud to say that we have adopted a kid. We should not make them feel insecure. Many of my friends who have a biological kid have adopted child of opposite sex. We should encourage adoption," she says.

The judgment says
The Mumbai High Court recently allowed an actor-couple to adopt a daughter even though they already have one.
u00a0
The recent judgment by Justice D Y Chandrachud changed the face of adoption for Hindus, making the Juvenile Justice Act prevail over the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) which does not allow same-sex adoptions.

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