Orphanage only home for special kids

SunitaThere are many children with special needs like Sunita, who are awaiting adoption. Though the number of couples wanting to adopt kids has been increasing over the years, there are very few who want to take care of a child with special needs.At present, there are 16 such children staying in different homes of the city. Of them, only two children have been adopted till date. Programme officer of state child protection society, Archana Shanti, said, "There are about 16 children in the city homes who need special care. No couple has come forward to adopt them. Indian couples do not prefer to adopt a child with special needs as it involves spending a lot of money for his or her treatment. They would rather remain childless. However, foreign couples have no such issues and even go for inter-country adoption. They are broad-minded and usually do not care about money.""However, now both the state and central governments have started focusing on the adoption of children with special needs. Several meetings and awareness programmes have been organized by adoption agencies to create awareness about adopting children with special needs," Shanti added. She said the adoption agencies have to take care of these children, but funds provided by the Centre is too less. Moreover, the funds are not released on time. "These children need a lot of care. As they are born with deformities, we have to take these children to doctor frequently. We have to take care of everything with the limited funds available. During crisis hours, we have to manage with our own funds," she added.The society is now discussing with the government if homes exclusively for children with special needs could be opened. The adoption agencies can keep children only till the age of six. After that they are sent to children homes.