Jay Prakash Ahirwar said his mother took his three children in 2015 to the local Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which protects vulnerable children, after his wife died – only to discover last month that a US couple had adopted them. “I wanted to take my children home for Holi festival last year, but (SOS Children’s Villages officials) said they were getting good education and I should not spoil their lives. A spokesperson for SOS Children’s Villages said the charity told the government’s child welfare department in 2016 not to put the children up for adoption as their father was alive. The CWC then declared the children as “legally free” for adoption as the newspaper adverts had elicited no response. Pakistan hints at working with India on Covid-19Some 2,500 children have been adopted overseas since 2015, according to the Central Adoption Resource Authority, which regulates adoptions.

Source: The Express Tribune March 13, 2020 06:22 UTC