Discuss in detail the Legal Provision for the Maintenance rights of women.

The action of adopting anything as your own is known as adoption. Adoption is the judicial
process of a being a parent to a child who is not biologically related to you. Adoption is not a
charitable act. It’s about providing a child with the same quality of care and responsibility as
a biological child when you offer them a stable family life. Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act of 1956 enshrines the provisions in relation to Hindu adoption. The Hindu
Adoption and Maintenance Act, in addition to adoption, addresses the subject of child,
parent, and dependent maintenance. This act is divided into four sections, each dealing with a
different aspect of adoption and maintenance. Today, a large number of families are enrolling
for adoption, and it’s not just because they can’t have children. In the fiscal year 2018-19,
there were approximately 3374 domestic and 653 international adoptions and it’s astounding
to know that a greater number of female children are being adopted. Although there has been
a shift in cultural understanding, we still have a long way to go.

Under Hindu Law, there is a major concern about women’s rights when it comes to adoption.
Chapter 2 of Hindu Adoption and Maintanance Act covers the matter of adoption under the
ambit of section 5 to 17. A Hindu woman’s capacity to adopt a child is one such provision.
The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956, Section 8, governs a Hindu woman’s
ability to adopt a child. It lays down three requirements for a Hindu woman to be able to
adopt a kid. She should be in good mental health, she must have the prospects to be a major,
she should not marry, or if she is married, she should not marry someone whose marriage has
been dissolved, whose spouse is deceased, or who has immediately and totally abandoned the
world, or who has ceased to be a Hindu, or who is of unsound mind. Under the Hindu
Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, a Hindu female can adopt a son or daughter if either of
the aforementioned qualifications is met.

Condition for valid adoption by a female

Adoption by a female is subject to certain conditions.Adoption of a boy child by a woman is

a common occurrence.If a Hindu woman wishes to adopt a malechild, she first must meet the
standards set forth in Section 8 of the Hindu and Maintenance act and demonstrate that she is
capable of doing so.She must also be 21 years old or older than the kid she desires to raise.
When a son has been adopted, the adoptive mother must not already have another Hindu son,
grandson, or great-grandson. Likewise for daughter under the provision of Section 11 of the
Act.

If the Hindu woman is currently in a wed-lock, one of the following conditions must be met
in order for her to be eligible to adopt: Either- A divorcee or widower, or whose spouse has
given up the world, or whose husband has stopped being a Hindu, or whose husband is
mentally ill.

It was stated in the case of Lalitha V. Union of India, A.I.R 1991 Karnataka, that Section 8
of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 exclusively protects the ability to adopt
women who are single. Beyond that category, a married woman stands. She cannot complain
of discrimination or a breach of Art. 14 of the Constitution because a woman in marital status
falls into a separate class i.e., Section 7 of the act According to Section 7, a male Hindu of
sound mind who is not a minor may adopt a son or daughter, provided that if he has a living
wife, he must adopt only with her consent unless the wife has completely and permanently
disavowed the world, has stopped to be a Hindu, or has been suffering from mental illness.

ShrinivasKrishnarao Kango v. Narayan Devji Kango, 1954 AIR 379 In this case, an
adopted child filed a petition

for a piece of his father’s joint undivided property. The respondents maintained that the
adopted kid was only entitled to property that was ancestral in character, not self-acquired
wealth. When a Hindu former wife or widow makes an adoption, the impact of the adoption
is that it links back by making him suitable for all of the privileges of a son from the day of
the dad’sdeath. The court determined that in circumstances when a kid is adopted, the effect
of adoption creates a legal doctrine, and the child becomes the natural heir.

Another case, if the spouse agreed to his wife’s adoption of a son, it was held in the case
of DashrathRamchandraKhairnar, 1976 that such adoption would be invalid because it
would be in violation of section 8 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.

Can a Single woman adopt a kid?

The answer to this question is YES.

Adoption is often misunderstood to imply that you must be married to adopt. If a single
person wishes to add a baby to her life, she can adopt. A single woman can adopt kids of any
sexual identity, but a single guy cannot adopt a daughter. In the event of a married
relationship, both spouses must agree to the adoption. Adoptive parents should be physically,
intellectually, and emotionally healthy, financially prepared, and free of any life-threatening
medical conditions, regardless of their marital status.

Unmarried Women And their rights under Personal Laws

Adoptions for Hindus which includes Sikhs and Buddhist are up held by the Hindu’s
adoption and maintenance act, 1956 says any female Hindu is eligible to adopted child wear
in she may be unmarried and in case her husband is not living or her marriage has been
dissolved by the court order husband is legally declared to be incompetent to take a child in
adoption.

Adoptions in case of Muslims, the traditional Muhammad in lord do not recognise total
adoption but Section 8 of the guardians and what act 1890 allows them to take up the
guardianship of kid. But there are certain set of rules to mainly preserve the biological
family line and not to confused with it. The Juvenile Justice act or the care and protection
of children act 2000 legalizes Muslims to adopt too.

For Christians and Parsis if someone wants to adopt, he can approach the court and obtain
certain legal permissions for aforesaid under the guardians and ward act 1890 since even
they do not recognise full adoption.

Which children are up for adoption?

The kid could be a “orphan, abandoned, or surrendered child, proclaimed lawfully free for
adoption by the Child Protection Committee,” or a “child or children of a previous marriage,
relinquished by the natural parent(s) for parenthood by the step-parent.” Adoption of a
relative’s child is also possible under Section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Procedures for adoption

According to CARA’s official website, parents who intend to adopt a child must first register
online with CARA (Central adoption research authority), where they can indicate their
preferences and provide papers. Following receipt of the registration, the parent can choose a
Specialised Adoption Agency based on their location for a Home Report developed by a
social worker. The report is valid for three years and validates the parent’ fitness to adopt
children. Parents are provided referrals of children who are legally available for adoption
after they have been judged to be eligible and suitable. Within 48 hours, prospective adoptive
parents must reserve a child who has been referred to them. Following that, an arrangement is
made with the agency’s adoption committee to match the PAP (Prospective Adoptive parent)
with a suitable child

Why do single women and men in India struggle to adopt a child despite a favourable law?
To make the process easier and more accessible. CARA issued new adoption standards in
2015 in order to streamline the process. There are no grounds of sexual orientation on an
applicant’s marriage status under these standards, save that a single male cannot adopt a girl
child. The legislation became quite beneficial for unmarried women over the age of 40 in July
2017. Their adoption wait time has been shortened by six months, compared to the two-year
norm for prospective adoptive parents. This has resulted in an increase in the number of solo
PAPs, particularly women, registering for parenthood over the previous four years. CARA
had 412 single women register for adoption in 2015-16. By climax of the year, the total had
roughly doubled to 817. Despite the fact that this was barely one-twentieth of the 18,000
registrations that year, the figures continue to rise.

Women given same right as men: Amendment

The bill of personal law, which amends the guardians and wards act of 1890 and the Hindu
adoption and maintenance act of 1956, was enacted by Parliament. If a couple adopts a child,
the man is the natural guardian, according to the Guardian and Ward Act, which applies to
Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Parsis. The 120-year-old Act has been amended to allow both
the mother and father to be nominated as guardians, making the process gender-neutral.
Another change to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act aims to make it easier for
married women to adopt or give their children up for adoption. Unmarried and divorced
women, as well as widows, were earlier permitted to adopt children, however women who
have been separated from their husbands and are involved in a long divorce battle were not.
Since the new amendment came into place it gives women the right to adopt with consent of
her husband with whom she is involved in matter of divorce from a long time. The
amendments that took place by far has always been in favour of woman and their rights.
Males and females must be treated equally in all aspects of life, including employment, work,
and income. The concept of equality does not exclude the continuation or adoption of policies
that provide specific benefits to women who are unrepresentative. Now, women all across the
nation get equal rights in adoption of a child as well as an individual say in guardianship.

Other associating grounds why women are accepted with this dynamic change,

It used to be a presumed fact that children should always stay with their mother following a
divorce. In fact, there has been some states that has passed laws stating that there is no
custody preference for women.
In spite of such a change the modern era, mothers are still more reluctant to get custody
when parents do get divorced. Judgements pertaining in smaller quotes do vary from state
to state. The fact that must be determined in custody arrangements is, that the best interests
of the child matters in his/her new future not and not just favouring the pre-decided rule
book. As most marriages are structured the factors court consider in discerning where those
best interest slice are more likely to favour mothers.
Most parents would agree that their child’s best interest should prevail if the put rancour
aside. But being on the male counterpart if one is trying to get joint physical custody soul
custody or simply the most generous visitation with once child possible needs to be aware
what the judge will be looking for at when deciding custody issues.

Even if there is an increasing chance of acceptance of the concept of single parenting,

people aspiring to adopt face numerous obstacles from the parents, partners families and
society at large. The ideas that of a child may prosper well in the ideal two parents’ setup
compromising of a father and a mother in a loving, compatible relationship still holes
impeccable. Parenting at once by one, would require a solid support system which can
provide necessary help and relief with the times of crisis like medical care after school care
job related travel and any other personal grievances. A break through regarding this
problem would be hiring adoptive agencies, but can be biased towards single male and may
scrutinize them on the contrary.

Problems arising Intercountry adoption

Whenever there is a inter-country adoption taking place, there are various possibilities of an
adopted child becoming a target of human trafficking. A lot of cases have been pertaining over
the country where they were passed on to human traffic cause in exchange of money. Also, in
intercountry adoption follow up, gets difficult which can become a factor for negligence and
abuse by adoptive parents and their food a lot of countries impose restrictions when you do come
to a single parent regarding adoption.

The Psychological Impact of females with regards to single parenting

The Indian society in the modern era has been witnessing some dynamic changes. With the
plethora of traditional biasness, one such favourable change has been experienced and
accepted by the Indian society which is of single parent adoption. Of becoming single
parents through adoption are on a study rise. This new vision towards life is sizeable for
both the genders. The single mothers in this century have two primary challenges the most
prevalent gap of them is lacking an adequate and meaningful support system for social and
emotional support with them. This increased tendencies often bring isolation loneliness and
unsupportiveness. The other ones who often act the financial safety which is to be decided
via a financial heart shape and yet often make to money to receive financial assistance from
community and government funded subsidy programs to fill in up these gaps.

Advantages of being a single mother

The entire authoritative parenting decisions rests on a single person while this may be
intimidating in beginning but sooner a letter the realisation would stick that it is his
principles that the child would bore.

Single parents might have a choice of how the monetary funds are to be exhausted for the
children. Position to plan they are finances and understand and acknowledge their child regarding
their financial needs increases in the case of single parenting.

While being a single parent it means to handle almost all of the work by the own self, which
becomes observatory for the child and the asserting replay in the child’s character from a very
young age.

Single parenting wood and hands the child being a team player and walk together is a team
instead of making him or her realise on the parent for every little thing.

Sense of undivided motherly attention is something to be observed and shower over the child.

Relationships no matter social, financial, professional and personal, would be dealt more like a
self-enriching bond would be try to look up on them as a balancing act. Approach decreases with
time with essence of independence striking into the life for the woman.

Statistical Report of Women Parenting on their own

Accordingly report by the United Nations women of 2019-20, estimated that a percentage
of 4.5 percent of Indian households that is of 13 million houses are run by single mothers.
Report also threw a light on the significant numbers of lone parent families across the
country which estimated to about 32 million families to be living in extended households.
While in the global scenario data from about 89 countries show that out of all the loan
parent households, single mothers had over 84 percent then depicting to 101.3 million.
The report steeply speaks about that because women and men around the globe are delaying
marriage and more women are becoming enabled to complete the education and a
establishing themselves into labour force can support themselves financially.
On another note, counting with the positives, the poverty rate of single mother households
in India is about 38% which is significantly higher in comparison to dual parenting
household that is only of 22.6% according to a report of democratic and health survey.
Various other solutions were offered by the report to which was to combat unstable income
in families led by single mothers such as diverse and non-discriminatory family rules,
accessible sexual and reproductive healthcare guaranteed access to adequate income of
women and prevention and prompt reasons to domestic violence against women.