The Philippines is one of the many countries with child abandonment cases. These angels are intentionally or unintentionally left by their guardians.  Well, the good news is that, the government in general and the government agencies in particular are taking care of them.  However, there are so many of them that they can’t be handle by the personnel and even volunteer individuals.  Also, they can’t commit to a long-term custody for the children.   The children needs to be in a place they can truly call home.  So, they negotiate with some couples or individual who are willing to have a child of their own.  Now, to avoid possible problems and to ensure the child’s welfare, some steps have to be followed in order to make the adoption process possible and legal.

Although there are various criteria set by some countries regarding the adoption of a child, the Philippine government takes the following into consideration in order to consider a child a candidate for adoption:

1. The child must be a minor. If he/she is already 18, adoption is only granted if the adopters are his/her natural parents.

2. A foreign child cannot be adopted by a Filipino, unless his country has diplomatic ties with the Phippine government.

3. A child who was once adopted is no longer available for adoption, unless his first adoption was repealed or rescinded.

Possible adopters should be:

1.    A Filipino citizen of legal age, emotionally and psychologically capable of caring for the child, has good moral character, has not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude, and has the capacity to support the child’s basic needs. An age gap is also observed between the adoptee and the adopter. The adopter must be 16 years older than the adoptee. An exemption to the rule is considered when the adopter is the natural parent or a spouse of the adoptee’s parent.

2.   Any alien who has the qualifications mentioned above provided that:

a) His country has diplomatic ties with the Philippine government.

b) He’s been living in the Philippines for three consecutive years prior to the filing of the petition for adoption.

c) He has been certified by his diplomatic or consular office or any appropriate government agency to have the legal capacity to adopt in his country.

d) The adopter’s government allows the adoptee to enter his country as his adopted child.

This said criteria may be waived for some reasons.

The Philippine government is also passing laws regarding adoption. Some of the said laws are:

RA 9523

AN ACT REQUIRING CERTIFICATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT (DSWD) TO DECLARE A “CHILD LEGALLY AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION” AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8552, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE DOMESTIC ADOPTION ACT OF 1998, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8043, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF 1995, PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 603, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

RA 8043

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE RULES TO GOVERN INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION OF FILIPINO CHILDREN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

PD 603

THE CHILD AND WELFARE CODE

The government fully understands the child’s need of belonging to a certain family. But they see to it that these kids will be in good hands.   So, they pass on criteria for possible adopters.   They are also after the harmonious relationship between adopter and the adoptee and tries to make every adoption process run smooth.

The thought of becoming a mother for the first or second or nth time leaves the a woman feeling scared, excited, or confused.  Well, who wouldn’t be?  That means changing few routines, adding more responsibilities, and resetting priorities.  Pregnancy and motherhood is something that every woman should be prepared of.  But suppose, the mother-to-be is not expecting it or doesn’t want it?  Some might consider abortion.  However, there’s another good option or solution.  That includes having the child adopted.  Now, there are also mothers who wanted to parent their child but were not given the capability or chance to do so.

Here are some of the cases that pushes a mother to consider adoption:

CASE 1: Teenage Pregnancy

The mother is yet in her teenage years and is definitely not prepared to parent a child.  This scenario is very common nowadays.   Lots of teenage girls get involved romantically and when they got pregnant, they easily get confused and afraid.  Usually, they’d think of having the baby aborted.  But then, she’d might be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and would just think of some other better option.  It might come up to her mind that she can bore the baby for nine months and look for a foster family.  She is still dependent on her family and obviously cannot raise a child on her own.  That would mean additional expenses that can’t be supported by her family or the birth father.  So she thinks that the least that she could do for her baby is to consider adoption.  Some couples would be very willing to have the baby for them.  They could raise him well and give him a better future.

CASE 2: Mothers Who Are Not Ready To Be Mother Again

There are women who discovered about their pregnancy but are not prepared for it.  The birth father is irresponsible while the mother, herself, finds it difficult to raise the child.  She has other children who needs her attention and support.  Having another individual might even ruin the hard-to-come-up budget.  The mother may be forced to let go of her child even if she has to go through a lot of heartaches.

CASE 3: Incapability To Raise The Child

The family has many members and father’s income is not enough to support another child.  The couple may then think having another family, couple, or a relative take care of the child.  Some couples or mothers believe that they could bear the pain of giving the child to someone else than seeing the child suffer and deprived of his needs.  There’s also a case wherein the mother is physically hindered to take good care of the baby.  She may be a handicapped so someone volunteer to adopt the child.

CASE 4: Absence Of Parents Or Concern Relatives

The birth parents may be away or no longer alive and no relative is around to adopt him.  Also, it could be that none of the child’s relative can promise to have him so they send him to an orphanage.

A child may be separated from his mother due to the mother’s negligence or the mother’s love.  A baby bore for nine months is not something easy to give and forget.  It’s a blessing every mother should treasure more than anything.  Who knows what irresponsible mothers would feel after abandoning their baby?  But any loving mother who decided to give out the baby for the his welfare is not subject to harsh judgments because it’s harder, if not hard, on her part to stay away from her child.

Suppose a baby is being adopted.  Probably he’d not be so much bothered with his origin as he grows old.  He’s still innocent when his mother negotiated with the stepparent and have him adopted.  Perhaps, the child wouldn’t even suspect.

How about being adopted on one’s toddler years, in his first two years on earth?  If the foster family is indeed responsible and good in treating him, then most probably, less or no problems are to be encountered.  And if problems really come, it is most likely manageable.

No matter at what age one was given to other person’s care, an individual would definitely search for his birth family.  It’s not that he doesn’t like the adoptive family even if they treated him well.  It’s just that he feels a need of knowing the people who are biological related to him.  His responsible foster family might have given him a name,  answer to his basic needs, and companionship.  However, it is but normal to feel the need of knowing his birth family.  He might experience fear, insecurity, or guilt.  But any loving foster family would be willing to be with him at this tough time in his life.  They proved to be supportive to him by doing the obligations that should have been done by his birth family.  There is a great possibility that they can assist him in his journey to discovering his “true” family.

The adopted individual would surely face a seemingly insurmountable fear.  He might be afraid of letting his foster family know his plan of wanting to meet his birth family.  He’s afraid in disappointing or hurting them, which is not always true.  It could be that the foster family has
prepared themselves about the matter or they’re open-minded enough to let him go and meet his long-lost kin.  Foster families take a significant role in this phase of the adoptee’s life.

The adoptee might have thought all this time that he’s been abandoned, unwanted, and rejected.  He may fear meeting his birth family and be rejected again.  But this fear shouldn’t and couldn’t stop the adoptee from searching them.  Time after time, he’d feel the same need of having answer to his questions.   He might also feel guilty of planning to pursue the search.  He might even find it awkward to ask his foster family.

In this quest, an adoptee needs a great amount of courage to face whatever has to be faced.  He needs the support, understanding, and unconditional love of his foster family to sustain him all throughout the entire search.