STI: Adoption rules get the thumbs up

Mar 7, 2004

Adoption rules get the thumbs up
by Theresa Tan and Vivi Zainol

THE 49-year-old corporate secretarial executive recalled her shock when an adoption agent phoned her and said: 'I have a baby boy. It's $30,000, do you want?'

She told The Straits Times: 'We are talking about human beings here, not goods.'

Finally, she paid an agency $23,000 to adopt a 15-month old baby from Indonesia.

'I feel the house is too quiet without kids and I have a reliable maid to care of them. We did try to have children, but I didn't get pregnant,' she said.

To her, an accreditation scheme makes sense as it means the Government is watching the whole industry very closely and two agents have guidelines to follow.

The people who turn to adoption are usually married couples, say adoption agencies, who had tried and failed to have a baby. Doctors estimate one in five couples here have fertility problems.

Mrs Jane Tay was 27 when she turned to relatives in China for a child in 1995. With the help of a lawyer, she adopted a baby boy who is now nine years old.

'We had some problems conceiving and I went to try for test-tube babies. I spent more than $20,000 and lots of time, but no baby still. So I gave up hope and thought about adopting.

'I feel my marriage wouldn't last if there are no kids. It's better to have kids around or the house will be so very quiet.'

Touch Community Services and Fei Yue Community Services were picked as agents because, among other things, they fulfilled a key requirement of the Chinese government - they operate as not-for-profit organisations.

Also, both have experience investigating the backgrounds of those who want to adopt children.

In 2001, they were appointed by the ministry to do Home Study Reports required by some foreign governments for prospective adopters.

India, Thailand and Vietnam are among the countries that stipulate the need for such checks.

There is no ballpark figure of how many people are in the queue at adoption agencies. But in the last four years, Singaporeans have adopted an average of 700 children a year - 62 per cent of whom are foreign-born.

Kids and Tots brought in 13 babies from China last year, despite the outbreak of Sars. The usual number is 18 a year.

A partner in the adoption agency, who wanted to be known only as Mr Koh, said he believed his record would convince the Government he could continue bringing in babies from China.

But the channel prescribed by the two governments is 'the only way to process an adoption from China', the ministry spokesman reiterated.

'Any person wishing to adopt a child from China should not approach any individual or any agency, whether in Singapore or in the China, other than the two accredited voluntary welfare organisations for the selection of children to be adopted,' the ministry said in a statement.

Lawyer Amolat Singh thinks accreditation should be extended to adoption of all children from other countries.

'Having the government-accredited agencies will mean there will be proper procedures, control and auditing.'

Asked if the ministry would conclude adoption agreements with other countries, its spokesman it was 'open to working with all countries' which are keen.