1.1 Introduction
In every year there are cases of abandoned children born by single ladies who fell victim of unwanted pregnancy and most a times with failed attempts to terminate the pregnancy. There are also other cases of abandoned children due to death of parents. These children are being taken of at motherless baby home.
Therefore, foster care means the temporal stay of a child in a home that is not his/her for certain period of time while adoption is the permanent placement of a child in another home for care and up bringing.
Nwankwo (1979) described foster care and adoption as when a woman has an unwanted child who could abandon the child at the social welfare office for them to take care of his/her in order to avoid problems in future. But before she abandon the child she will sign an undertaken making it clear that she is handing the child over to be adopted permanently by anybody who wish to have the child. She would be required to take an oath that she would never ask for the child again in her life time.
Eze Okafor (2004) said that foster care and adoption takes place when parents who have children wanted either male or female child or feel like rendering help to humanity by adopting an abandoned child comes for adoption.
The probation officer gives them guidelines to write letter specifying the sex they want.
The application is to notify the officer of their intention. The officer will give them four forms to fill.
The probation officer will also interview the prospective parents, supervise their homes and if the condition of the home is conducive or favorable then, he will hand over the child with sex and age duly specified after approval by a medical doctor to the prospective parents. The prospective parents take care of the child for short time of about five or six months and then send the child to the probation officer who in turn will send the child for another medical check up.
The officer will also recheck the home of the prospective parents and if it is still conducive he will recommend that after careful investigation on the ability and fitness based on the application to adopt, the couple are therefore recommend fit to adopt the child permanently.
Eze Okafor (2004) said in continuation that after the recommendation by the probation officer, the prospective parents will appear in court with the approved information from the probation officer and interpret it in a lay man's language to the prospective parents.
The chief magistrate will quote Mathew 7:7 to them. If they find out that they are Christians “ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find and knock and it will open unto you.” The court will remind them about love and charity. The chief magistrate will give final order that the court is satisfied and that the application is qualified to adopt this child having fulfilled all the necessary condition in accordance with laid down law of adoption Act No 12 of Eastern Nigeria 1965.
Foster care and adoption was introduced by the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services in the year 1965 in Nigeria. This was later shifted to the state Ministry of Health when the work load was too much on them. So, foster care and adoption were said to have formally started in Nigeria in 1965 with the passing into law of Adoption Act No 12 in then Eastern Nigeria which include Abia, Imo, Cross River and Ebonyi State.
Prior to the Nigeria civil war government paid huge amount of money to foster parents for care and up bringing of children they adopted. This was because only few parents were willing to adopt motherless babies by them. The reason was that prospective parents were afraid of what their kinsmen, relations neighbor e.t.c. would say. Glory be to God that today revise is the case as a result of the light ushered in by civilization and a new dimension of reasoning.
1.2 Statement of Problems
It was being on media, television and other national dailies that some people who adopt these babies keep them under some dehumanizing treatment such as child abuse, use them for rituals, sold them into slavery, engage them into prostitution for money making, to mention but a few. The researcher was worried on the state of the abandoned babies and what happens when they leave the motherless homes.
1.3 Aim and Objective of the Study
The aims and objectives of the work include
- To examine causes of adoption of babies.
- To compare rate of babies in two age groups (1-11) months and (1-3) years.
- To know whether adoption of babies is independent of sex
- To determine the degree of relation between the number of approved application and number of motherless babies in the home.
1.4 Significance / Importance of the Study
The result obtained from the study would ginger carefulness in the part of intending couples to see that they go through medical check up before getting married to eschew childlessness in marriage.
It would also help government to see the need in training gynecologist doctors to see the problems of women, especially during pregnancy, in order to reduce the rate of miscarriages and barrenness.
It would also help government, churches and other institution to see the need of educating young girls to avoid sex promiscuity.
1.5 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study covered the period of 1991-2000 in Imo state motherless babies who were adopted by Sisters of the Needy, Nekede, Owerri and Save the Baby motherless babies home Orodo.
1.6 Research Question
- Why do some couples adopt children?
- What is the rate of adoption of female to male?
- What is the court final order to release the child?
1.7 Limitation of the Study
In carrying out the research work, there were problems and limitation encountered. These include finance, lack of time, inadequate attention from the personal in the motherless babies' homes visited and so many call backs made to the social welfare office.
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