There is a popular belief in Africa especially in the eastern Nigeria
that an adopted child can never be your blood. This is genetically true but to
people who truly cherish the concept of family, family is not always blood.
Adoption is the process
whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that
person’s biological or legal parents, and in so doing, permanently transfers
all rights and responsibilities along with affiliation from the biological
parents.
The history of adoption is
as old as time itself, starting from the Antiquity era where adoption
especially in Rome was practised for the wellborn or elites in the society so
as to strengthen political ties between wealthy families and create male heirs
to manage estates. According to history, many of Rome’s emperors were adopted
sons. During the medieval age, the idea of pure bloodlines was paramount and unwanted
children were disregarded and labelled bastards and street urchins and if ever
accepted into a family, they are used as slaves to work in the field or as
household servants. The system of modern adoption became really popular during
the “baby scoop era” between 1945 to 1974. This era saw rapid growth and
acceptance of adoption as a means to build a family. Illegitimate birth rose
three fold after World War II as sexual mores changed. Simultaneously, the
scientific community began to stress the dominance of nurture over genetics,
while condemning eugenic stigmas, in this period, adoption became the best
solution for both unwed mothers and infertile couples.
Child adoption can be
categorized into; open and closed adoption. In an open adoption, the birth and
adoptive parents exchange identifying information such as names and addresses,
while in a closed adoption the adoptive and birth parents remain anonymous and
do not exchange any identifying information. There is also domestic adoption
where adoptive parents adopt a child within the city or country in which they
reside. International adoption is where the birth mother and adoptive parents live
in different countries. Private adoption is a type of adoption that is arranged
through an individual who may be a physician, clergy or an attorney or even a
referral service. There is also Agency child adoption where adoption is
arranged through child adoption agency which can be private or public with or
without religious affiliation. The distinctions among these types of adoption is important as each type must meet a
different set of legal requirements and procedures. The legal requirements and
procedures are very necessary because child adoption in many countries of the
world is vulnerable to child trafficking, enslavement and other kinds of child
abuse. It is due to these risks which are found in adoption system that in
Nigeria, adoption process is regulated by the Nigerian Child Right Laws or the
adoption Act of 1965.
ADOPTION AMONG THE IGBO OF SOUTH
EASTERN NIGERIA.
It is a tradition in Igbo, Effik and Ibibio tribes of Eastern
Nigeria that a married woman without a child has no honour in her
husband‘s family and her barrenness is believed to be her fault. This was the
reason why Nnuego in ―The Joys of
Motherhood tried to drown herself because it is a general belief that a
woman who did not have a child for her husband is a failed woman.
The reasons for child adoption
vary with individuals and cultural settings. For some, the reasons include
intense love for children, couple desiring gender balance in children, couple
with only one child, and a male heir to inherit the family estate, avoidance of
discomfort and pain of pregnancy and labour, and infertility. In Igbo land,
those who engage in child adoption do so primarily for economic and
psychological reasons. In a country such as Nigeria that has no social security
provision for the elderly and the unemployed, child adoption serves as an
insurance policy for old age for the adoptive parents. Also, in African
societies, many families adopt children in need of help especially when such
children are relatives. This is called kinship adoption. A child may lose his
or her parents to death or they may be too poor or too sick to raise the child.
In each of the Eastern
states, there are also the bodies that are responsible for child adoption laws.
For instance in Enugu State, the National Women Commission is the statutory
body responsible for the documentation and follow-up of child adoption
processes.
One of the major fears
associated with adoption is the grave concern about the genetic quality of
illegitimate and indigent children, perhaps best exemplified by the influential
writing of Henry H. Goddard who protested against adopting children of unknown origin
saying:
“Now it happens that some people are interested in the welfare
And high development of the human race; but leaving aside
Those exceptional people. All fathers and mothers are interested
In the welfare of their own families,
the dearest thing to the parental
Heart is to have the children marry well and rear noble family. How
Short-sighted it is then for such family to take into its midst a child
Whose pedigree is absolutely
unknown; or where if it were partially
Known, the probabilities are strong that it would show poor and diseased
Stock, and that if a marriage should take place between that individual
and
Any member of the family, the offspring would be degenerates.”
From the above quote, it can be deduced that
one of the major challenges of adoption is the lack of knowledge of the adopted
child’s medical history. It is commonly believed that insanity, drug abuse,
imbecility and other degenerative health and psychological problems could run
in the bloodline of the biological family of the adopted child. This could
discourage the would-be adopted parents from adopting. Other challenges
associated with child adoption include:
Cultural Belief:
In Eastern Nigeria, child adoption has never been acceptable culturally
before pre-colonial era. Even now, in Igbo communities, adoption is still a
stigma. This assertion is true because in Eastern Nigeria people do not easily
accept a child whose biological make up is foreign as a legitimate child in the
family. Newspaper reports on child adoption in the Eastern Nigeria revealed
that;
(i)
although child adoption is done,
it is alien in Igbo culture
(ii)
no matter how rich an adopted
child might be, he cannot be a traditional ruler in the community
(iii)
adoption of babies is bringing a
lot of problems that are against people‘s way of life and should discontinue
For these reasons, motherless babies who yearn for parents to love and
train them may not be adopted.
Poverty:
Poverty is a social problem, and a serious challenge to adoption
process. Nigeria is Africa‘s top oil producer, yet poverty is so endemic across
the country that that 67 million Nigerians live below one American Dollar per
day. Consequently, many people in Eastern Nigeria sell themselves to material
temptations to make ends meet. It is due to poverty that some people establish
illegal adoption agencies and orphanage homes known as baby factories where
teenage girls are lured into giving birth and selling their babies for the same
purpose. In 2012, 2,500 pregnant teenagers were rescued from baby factories in
South Eastern Nigeria. News Flash reported
that the police on 15th March
2013 found 6 pregnant teenage girls in Enugu City and arrested 3 suspects
planning to sell the babies after being born.
Arinze Orakwe of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking
in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP) said that couples who patronize
such factories are those Nigerians who want to avoid illegal adoption process.
In December 20, 2013, Nigeria Police freed 19 pregnant teenagers in Abia State
aged 15-23 years old. According to sources, most of the teenage mothers were
lured into the infamous trade with monetary offers by the baby factory
operators, while some others were forced into the trade by poverty and
illiteracy. These issues are a dangerous development and a criminalization of
child adoption laws. The emergence of baby factories in Igbo land and the high
patronage it enjoys challenges or impacts negatively on child adoption in two
fundamental ways. First, genuine orphanages no longer have enough babies for
adoption. This is mainly because most of the teenagers with unwanted
pregnancies now prefer to make gain out of their mistake by selling their
babies to operators of baby factories rather than placing them in orphanage
homes or even dumping them where they would be located and taken to motherless
babies’ homes.
Second, those women who fake pregnancies prefer to purchase babies from
baby factories and claim such as their biological babies rather than formally
adopting children from orphanages. The reasons for this fraudulent practice are
to create the impression that the woman is capable of becoming pregnant, and
that she is not barren after all. The second reason is to secure for the new
baby cultural acceptability, and remove from the child the stigma associated
with adopted children. These illegal agencies and orphanage homes do not have
legal backings to run child adoption services. The perpetrators indulge in this
crime due to poverty, materialism, greed and high moral decadence. The business attracts both genuine prospective
adoptive parents and fake ones who want babies for ritual purposes and or for
child trafficking.
Denial of Inheritance:
In Eastern Nigeria, child adoption is not common. It occurs only among
educated people whose adopted children suffer discrimination and denial of
inheritance when they come of age. Many traditional communities in Eastern
Nigeria, do not allow an adopted child to participate in sharing communal land.
They are not also allowed to inherit the staff of office of the family (a
position and honour given to the eldest man in a village or community). This
type of attitude towards the adoptee discourages childless couples who may wish
to adopt children that will inherit their property when they (adoptive parents)
pass away.
Bastard label:
Most adopted children are
rejected in their immediate society because they are indirectly regarded as
slaves. Because slaves and adopted children are paid for with money, they are seen
as outcasts and therefore have no position in the family. Hence, an adopted child is not seen as a real son of the soil,
because everybody wants a child that is recognized biologically. Therefore,
both the adopted parents and the adopted children are stigmatised.
This type of attitude towards the adoptee discourages child adoption.
This is because nobody wants to adopt a child that will be discriminated
against, and finds it difficult to interact freely because of fear of being
intimidated.
Late adoption:
This is another social problem that destabilizes the process of child
adoption. Adoption Act of 1994 stipulates that the maximum age limit for those
wishing to adopt a child is 45 years if one is adopting a first child, but if
the adoptive parent already has other children and wants to adopt more, the
maximum age is 50 years. However, for the adoption of new born babies, the age
limit imposed is usually 35-40 years so that the adoptive mother will be able
to take adequate care of the child.
Unfortunately, here in the Eastern Nigeria, because adoption of children
is alien to our culture, many infertile couple delay a lot before they take
decision to adopt. Because biological children are more
preferred they usually exhaust all the avenues of giving birth before they opt
for adoption. Sometimes you see couples retiring from their jobs and adopting
children they may not have the physical and economic strength to take care of.
Adoption at old age does not give the adoptive parents enough time to train their
adopted child in school or nurture them enough to face the challenging world.
Poor Law Enforcement:
In spite of the existence of different law enforcement agencies and
organizations in the country such as the police, the States Security Service
(S.S.S), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) and the
Independent Corruption Practices Commission, (ICPC), many corrupt practices in
child adoption often go on unchecked. On daily basis, different news media are
filled with stories of babies that are sold, illegal adoption agencies that
operate and other illegal adoption practices such as children being sold for
ulterior motives in Eastern Nigeria and in South-East precisely. Unfortunately,
the perpetrators of these evils are not punished squarely. The state Governments
are sometimes aware of the foster homes and illegal maternity homes where
babies are sold to both genuine prospective adoptive parents, and the fake
ones, but turn a blind eye because some of the people who run such
establishments allegedly grease the palms of those in authority so as to remain
in business. Worse still, the establishments are allegedly owned by prominent
members of the society who cannot afford to have their image tarnished. It is
because the perpetrators are not punished seriously that the business of baby
sales still flourish up to date, with more people joining them.
Having exhausted the problems associated with adoption, how can we make
it easier? How can we elevate the heartaches of childless women? And how do we
give genuine care to orphans around the world? Despite the fact that adoption
has been severely looked down upon by the African society, adoption has healed
a lot of homes which were on the verge of destruction. It has also been an
avenue for so many love deprived babies to find love in the midst of a loving
and stable family. Every child deserves love and there is a saying that you
have never truly loved until you love someone who has never had a taste of
love. Many orphaned children around the world are being abused and have never
known what if means to be truly cared for. It is time to look beyond what the society
thinks and what our culture says, after all traditions can be broken especially
traditions that do not positively affect our lives. How can society look down
on a family who takes in an orphan child for all the right reasons? And how can
the same society turn around on that child and brand him a bastard, a slave,
and still deny that child his rights just because his bloodline is unknown? It
is time for us to have a rethink and do things the right way. And to all those
adopted children out there who has been looked down on, abused, disregarded,
whose rights have been trampled upon and denied, whose ego have been bruised
and who have lost all sense of belonging and self-esteem, remember this, you
are human just like every other person and you have an equal right to love and
be loved and you can reach within yourself and discover who you are, you can be
anything you want to be. Do not resort to violence to get back at the society
because you will hurt yourself in the long run. Remember, when you love those
who hate you, you will heap coals of fire on their head and the great architect
of the universe will order your steps.
In conclusion, we bring some random facts about adoption from around the
world
·
Perhaps the earliest
known adoption is mentioned in the Bible when the Pharaoh’s daughter “adopted”
the baby Moses.
·
Famous people who were
adopted include Jamie Foxx, Jack Nicholson (by his grandparents), Ray Liotta,
Steve Jobs, Nicole Richie, Dave Thomas (Wendy’s Founder)
·
From 1854-1929,
homeless children (especially Catholics and Jews) were placed on trains and
taken to rural sites in the Midwest and West in search of homes. At each stop,
children were “put up” on platforms to see if anyone would want to take them,
which led to the phrase “put up for adoption.” Criticism of the Orphan Train
movement sparked new agencies and laws, such as Minnesota’s Adoption Law of
1917, which required an investigation of all adoptions
·
There are more orphans
in Sub-Sahara Africa than children in Denmark, Norway, Canada, and Sweden
combined
·
There are more orphans
globally than the population of UK and France combined
·
Around 7 million
Americans are adopted persons.
·
UNICEF estimates that
there are 151 million children who have lost at least one parent worldwide and
18 million who have lost both parents
·
The United States
adopts more children, not only internationally but also domestically, than the
rest of the world combined.
·
In 2010, an American
woman put her adopted 7-year-old son on a plane back to Russia with a letter
citing “severe psychopathic issues.” That same year, an American woman left
twins she had adopted from Russia on a freezing Russian street with a note
saying she didn’t want them anymore. These cases sparked outrage and caused a
diplomatic row between Russia and the U.S.
·
While modern adoption
tends to favour creating stable family structures for often homeless or needy
children, ancient adoption practices emphasized the political and economic
interests of the adopter. It was more a legal tool and political tool that
created ties between wealthy families and created male heirs to manage estates.
·
In contrast to the Roman
tradition of adopting a male to create a peaceful transition of power, in the
Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic cultures after the fall of the Roman Empire, a
ruling dynasty simply was replaced if a natural born heir was not available.
Adoption was widely denounced, and infant adoption was rare. In fact, abandoned
children were turned more often into slaves.
·
Reasons besides
infertility that lead people to adopt are many, including compassion, to avoid
contributing to the overpopulation of the planet, to avoid passing on
inheritable disease, and health concerns about pregnancy and childbirth.
·
Women who adopt are usually
currently married, have impaired fertility, are childless, and are in their
early 40s.
·
Because adoption in
England was discouraged, “baby farmers” cropped up during the late Victorian
era before foster care and adoptions were regulated by British law. Baby
farmers would take the babies of unwed mothers for a lump sum with the promise
of providing the child a loving home. Because it was more profitable if the
baby died, some baby farmers murdered the children. Two infamous British baby
farmers were Margaret Waters (1835-1870) and Amelia
Dyer (1837-1896). Together, these two women were responsible for at least 400
murders.
Because the English
law of inheritance heavily emphasized natural bloodlines, little or no
provisions were made for a family name to “live on” through adoption. Abandoned
children were at risk of being used by beggars who often mutilated the
abandoned child so that he or she could be more effectively used as a beggar.
Chidimma Ezeobi
