15 ‘difficult-to-adopt’ babies finally get parentsc

“Some children get easily adopted. For some who are dark complexioned or have a physical deformity,it is a long wait,” says director,social services,SOFOSH,Madhuri Abhyankar.

Take Devashree for instance. For two years,no parent was willing to adopt her as she had dystonia syndrome. While symptoms like twisting and repetitive movement or abnormal postures are still not evident in her,it was a stroke of luck when US-based writer of children’s books Sarah Thomson decided to adopt her. Thomson,when contacted via email,said,“If she has health problems in future,then I will deal with it. I am lucky to have her in my family.”

Another baby,Aishwarya,had given the social workers sleepless nights. Says Urmila Gatne,social worker at Shreevatsa,“She was sent to the childcare centre when she was six months old and suffered from hydrocephalus. A shunt has been placed inside her body to drain excess fluid from the brain into her stomach. Otherwise,the condition leads to progressive enlargement of the head and mental disability.”

The search for parents for Aishwarya was futile until US-based couple Donna and David Casavant decided to adopt her. When contacted,Donna told The Indian Express,“I have two boys and a girl and a fourth child completes my family… Everyone has problems and as a teacher dealing with children with special needs it was not too difficult accepting her.”

It took six years for Suvarna to get new parents as she was dark. She was recently ‘handed over’ to John and Eva Olesen from Sweden.

Santosh and Shruti Bondre of Alibaug in Raigad district did not hesitate in adopting six-month-old Samant from Shreevatsa. He had a deformity because of breech delivery. “His arm does not move beyond a point,” says Santosh,a teacher. But that did not matter for the couple waiting to adopt since four years now.

In last two years,at least 15 children with special needs were adopted from Shreevatsa,says Abhyankar.