When a child’s upbringing is transferred to another person permanently, the process is referred to as adoption. According to the ordinances of assuming parenting in Sri Lanka, the biological parents transfer the privileges and parenting duties to the adopting parents. The regulations have it that, the obligations of natural parents can only be terminated when the court permits the adoption process, after considering it to be for the welfare of the child. A single adoption order is only restricted to one couple whereby, the court cannot permit two or more couples to assume parenting of one child. The law requires the Registrar-General to preserve an Adoption Register where the entries on assumption orders are being made. The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the domestic legal standards that regulate the adoption of children in Sri Lanka and different revisions that have occurred.
The primary objective of this research is to explore on the domestic legal standards that govern the adoption of children in Sri Lanka and various amendments involved. With the main problem in mind, I considered different methods by which the research will be carried out to come up with the best results. To ensure that adequate data is collected, various techniques have to be used to allow a comprehensive result. The methods to use in gathering information for this research are; questionnaires, interviews, and survey approaches.
The questionnaire method involves the use of written down questions which a researcher issues to the respondents, whom after filling in the answers return them to the researcher. This method is useful as it is cheap, not biased and it is straightforward about the questions. I drafted questionnaires with the yes-or-no answer, and open-ended questions concerning the subject matter, welfare of adopted children. The issues involved were; the adoption ordinances have considered the welfare of children under adoption. Do you agree with this?
The interview method involves the interaction with the person offering information either on a one-on-one basis or through the telephone. In this case, I incorporated the face-to-face type of interview. This method is efficient because it will allow the creation of a connection with the interviewees which will help in their understanding of the subject to provide rich information. I interviewed two residents of Sri Lanka, one being a natural parent and the other an adoptive parent. The main aim was gaining knowledge on their opinions on the legal standards on adoption of children that control the age limit of foster parents. This method included visitations to their premises and engaging them in a one-on-one consultation.
The survey technique involves the collection of information through inquiries to a target population. The survey method of choice to use in this research is the public opinion poll method. The general opinion poll is a way of collecting information that allows one to weigh the views and approaches of a particular population on a specific matter. In this case, I held interviews with random people from different regions in Sri Lanka to investigate their take on the research problem. The questions to ask involved yes or no answers to precise and also the open-ended questions. The yes or no answer questions included items like; do you understand the role of the ordinances of adoption? Do you know the rules governing inter-country adoption? Should a child retain his or her identity after adoption? The open-ended questions, on the other hand, give room for the interviewees to express themselves without any limitation for instance; what are the legal impacts of adoption? What do you understand about the Tsunami Special Provisions Act 2005?
The methods used in gathering information on the research problem were useful, but they also had their flaws. Firstly, not all the respondents returned or filled in the questionnaires issued hence limiting the amount of data collected. Secondly, in the interview process, the examinees were giving answers based on their first-minute decisions since there was not enough time for them to think widely. As a result, they were not able to provide sufficient information compared to if they had more time, where they would provide ample information. Lastly, some of the candidates in the public opinion polls were giving prejudiced answers for lack of understanding of the law.
After using the above procedures for data collection, I was able to come up with various outcomes regarding the research problem. A considerable number of respondents returned their questionnaires while other did not. For those who brought them back, their way of responding to the questions was commendable since they had answered them all. On the closed questions, only a few expressed disagreement with the issue while the rest agreed to the fact that the welfare of children has been considered in the adoption law. On the open-ended query, most replies showed that most of the respondents are comfortable with the way in which the adoption ordinances consider the welfare of adoptees. On the other hand, some saw that as a debatable issue.
After the interview with an adoptive parent residing in Sri Lanka, she expressed her disagreement with the adoption law that inhibits parents of less than twenty-one years older than the adoptee, from adopting children. On the other hand, the natural parent was agreeing with the fact that adoption law controls the age limits of those assuming child-rearing. Regarding the public opinion polls, the majority of the random candidates had an understanding and positive opinions on the law that regulates the adoption of children. Similarly, the majority of the interviewees were in support of retaining a child’s identity upon adoption. A minimal number of examinees were conversant with the laws governing international adoptions. Most of the candidates were conversant with the legal impacts that result from adoption. Some examinees expressed their understanding on the Tsunami Special Provisions Act of 2005 while others were not fully aware of it.
The welfare of the children being offered for adoption has been well advocated for the law of adoption. The ordinances indicate that before giving leave to any adoption process, the wellbeing of a child should win out those of parties involved. Therefore, the welfare of a child during adoption should not be a debatable issue since adoption is a provision for the child, not the involved parties. About the greatest welfares of a child, several matters should be considered. Before a court issues authority to initiation of an adoption procedure, it should regard to requests of an adoptee. In this case, the court should consider aspects such as the prime of life of the child that will help it grant the aspirations. The court should also consider the ability of the candidates to be able to provide for the academic and psychological needs of the child. A child’s protection from ferocity and any exploitation should always come first in any matter relating to upbringing and adoption. Since adoption is a provision to the child, the court should ensure that the adoption will be of utmost benefits to the child
In Sri Lanka, the role of choosing the right adoptive parents for a child lies in the hands of the biological parent. In this case, they can also state the extent of interaction they want with their child for the court to provide the condition. The regulations under different authorities in Sri Lanka offer age limits for the adoptive parents. For an adoption order to be approved, the applicant must above twenty-five years of age. The adoptive parents must be above twenty-one years age difference with the adoptee. The issue of age is considered the principal basis for evaluating the capability of raising the adopted child.
When applications are made to adopt a child, by persons who are not residents of Sri Lanka, they can only be favored if there are no existing applications by a resident of Sri Lanka. In the case of joint foreign applicants, the court will ask for police and home study report evaluating these applicants. The home reports will give an evaluation of the applicants’ societal, mental, spiritual and monetary backgrounds to know their appropriateness on adopting the child. The police report will show how the applicants carry themselves and the kind of businesses they engage in. The child should remain under the custody of a guardian until the court permits an adoption. The rule on whether a child should retain his or her identity upon adoption significantly will depend on the on the adoption law. When the name of the child is well known to the adoptee, he or she should be consulted in the event of a change. Before it is changed the child has to approve of that. For the best interests of the child, the court has to consider explanations regarding the change of the child’s name. The main legal impact of the adoption order is that the custody of the child ceases to be under the natural parents and is taken over by the adoptive parents. The law has it that, privileges of an adopted child should be in line with those of the children of assuming parent. The adoptee is considered as a child born in lawful wedlock by the adopters. Therefore, the child should live with them as his or her parents, and they should treat the child as their own.
After Sri Lanka experienced the catastrophic tsunami in 2004, many people were left behind displaced from their homes. Children lost their parents and were left as orphans with no one to take care of them. In this regard, the legislation in Sri Lanka formulated a law that to cater for the rights of the post-tsunami victims. In this, the government put into effect the Tsunami Special Provisions Act 2005 regarding the victims and assets affected. Part II of this act has provisions on the care of kids and young persons whom in the event of the tsunami were left orphans. It also caters to children whom in the event of the disaster have one parent who cannot take care of or protect them.
A register covering the information of the orphaned children, who require foster care, is to be preserved by the National Child Protection Authority. Any custodian of the post-tsunami orphans or children who does not register within the stipulated time and goes ahead to adopt a child will be termed as guilty and imprisoned for not more than two years. In section 11 of Part II, the act provides that single parents desiring to place their children for adoption should notify the authority in six months. It gives the same duration for young person desirous of adoption. The law also states that evaluation shall be done on any person desiring to be a foster parent to assess his or her ability to care for the child. The foster parent is required to provide upkeep and safety to the child at all costs. Under provisions of this act, in Section 18, a Monitoring officer is needed to assess how foster parents perform their roles about the adopted child. The Tsunami Special Provisions Act 2005 changed the aspect of the society concerning adoption of children. This is because it has regulations in place to govern the way in which foster care is provided to the victims in need. It contains rules that ensure that the best interest of an adoptee is provided.
Conclusion
Adoption is the procedure by which the rearing of a child is assumed by another person other than the biological parents. The natural parents of the child give out the child for adoption so that he or she can be provided with an established upbringing. In Sri Lanka, some ordinances govern the adoption process to ensure proper handling of the process. Regulations on adoption provide information on, the welfare of adoptee; age limits of the adopters, and rules about the inter-country assumption of child-rearing and also preserving the identity of the child upon adoption. The consent of children during assumption should be highly valued as this is a service to them and not the adopters. Adoption should not be considered as a provision of the interests of the adoptive parents since it’s carried out to help a child acquire stable upkeep. Most of the regulations in the Tsunami Special Provisions Act 2005 regarding adoption are similar to those contained in other adoption ordinances in Sri Lanka.
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