Pakistani Adoptions

A very comprehensive article literally a guide for people seeking to adopt from Pakistan.
I would like to add just a little here, under the Pakistani Laws it is assumed that adoption is forbidden under the laws of the country and under the Islamic rules; it is not so.
There are two variations when we discuss adoption in western world as compared to adoption in Islamic countries.
Adoption in the western world is taking over of a child and completely disguising his/her biological identity; whereas, adoption under Islamic rulings is referred to as fostering of a minor, be that orphan or deserted.
I have been through assisting a child who was originally adopted and taken in for fostering by his aunt as his mother passed away soon after his birth. The petition was approved by the US offices of Immigration was approved for this child who has already spent most of his life under the care of his aunt, when this child pursued with the US Consulate in Pakistan he went through all the formalities up to medical examination for immigration etc. towards the end when he was supposed to receive his visa documentation an official at the US Consulate raised the argument that adoption is not permitted under Pakistani laws as such a visa will not be granted, while he overcame this difficulty once I argued on his behalf with the US State Dept.
What they were seeking is a decree of adoption while there is no such avenue to document adoption through the court systems of Pakistan.
I had the father of child declare the details in an affidavit duly sworn and notarized in lieu of such documentation.
When it comes to the reference of Islamic Laws forbidding adoption this also needs to be clarified since Islam encourages the fostering of a child under adoption however restricts the concealment of biological data from the child as well as giving him/her a name other than his original name. The Prophet PBUH had himself fostered a child named "Zayd" but he never gave this child his name or changed his original name. It is very important to maintain the child's originality based on scientific reasons, as the child is supposed to know his/her siblings so that he/she does not become involved in a marital relationship with them, as was reported in a recent case in Europe where two siblings not knowing who they are or were, became involved in a marital relationship and later discovered that they were real siblings by same parents.
Like you have mentioned in your article I strongly believe that if the lawyers in US and Pakistan build a strong case with coordinated information so that there are no variances in the account other than time there should be no difficulty in getting an approval and a visa can be issued.
Regars

since the first child adopted by an american citizen, how many pakistani children adopted are still living and in what condition and status in america ?

its always documented, how can one say, data is unavilable ?

perhaps, instead of mexican and other southern strip kids, americans purchase their chore-washers from the other-side of the planet ?

what is the youngest possible age limit that americans prefer ?

gender preference ?


the above shall reveal, if pakistani parents die, or abandon their kids or are being forced to for house-maid or life ?

this can be proved beyond doubt with the 'documented data' that should be 'made to become public' as a common query in this part of the world is.

why are 'kids' being smuggled out of the country ?

both with legality and "otherwise".

this nation might like to know as a "published news"

what became of pakistani born kids after certain period of time ?

as americans do 'clean up the records with courts permission.


suspected are american behaviours, and destructive is american role on this part of the world where there is a

'ccm' turning yellow, due to pollution.

Testing

Good info, but this article does sound a bit like a sales pitch for an immigration lawyer that does adoption cases. Unless there are complicating circumstances wouldn`t it save money (and perhaps time) to proceed without legal representation for the US piece of the equation? USCIS and the state department have resources and ``how to`` guides available for most things. It may still be necessary to seek legal representation in Pakistan/India/Bangladesh for dealing with their government, but does retaining a lawyer for filing a petition with the US make sense? Just a question.

Burpinder- you are right on target!

Samina, thanks for your response. Boomboom and Shah-jahan are just having some fun in their perceived righteousness of belief. Ignoring them is probably a good idea.

I am not against cross-cultural adoption, if that`s what my post #4 seemed to imply. My concern is that people from America or anywhere else in the developed world may be wanting to adopt for all the wrong reasons. It is really scary to hear stories like the Dutch guy who used to fly into Goa every month to lure some desperate parent out of his offspring only to use them to satiate his unnatural urges; which he could not in his own country. There is no dearth of such desperate, indeed venal ``parents`` in the subcontinent.

My second point is the message that serial adopters like Brangelina are sending out to the world..that it`s perfectly OK to go around plucking kids out of their homes (in some cases even when they do have parents/grandparents to take care of them- all they perhaps need is a helping hand). Considering the average lifespan of a Hollywood marriage, the risk of these kids (who have precious little else in common) may find themselves victims of a broken home up for foster care themselves is an irony we can live without.

This is probably just my subcontinental conservatism -what we call ``family values;))- speaking. In any case it`s just my opinion. I am sure there are a lot of perfectly decent Americans wanting to adopt a child from the subcontinent with every intention of providing it a safe, comfortable home and a bright future- more power to them!

Re: # 8 Neembu: There are no official statistics available on the birth place of adoptive parents. However, you are correct the criteria are the same for everyone. As an American born Pakistani, you should not experience any particular difficulty adopting in Pakistan as long as you observe the laws of Pakistan and the adoption laws of the US. If you are Muslim, only Muslim children will be available to you. If you are Christian, only Christian children will be available to you. You will have to have a home study, a criminal records check, a child services check and be pre-approved by immigration as an appropriate adoptive parents. You will then need to locate a qualifying child (the easiest way is through Ehdi if you are Muslim) and then get a Guardianship Order. During this stage, a Pakistani judge would consider whether or not you are an appropriate parent for the child. Your birth place should not be a decisive factor. Finally, the US embassy would make sure you had not circumvented Pakistani law, would make sure your child was an orphan and would then issue the visa. The embassy would not be concerned with your birth place.

Re: # 6

Ms. Kennedy,

What are the chances and percentages of American born Pakistanis adopting from Pakistan? I`m assuming the criterion is the same?

Thanks for your responses!

Echoboom: Wrong. Under Pakistani law, a court cannot make Christians guardians of Muslim children and vice versa. Adoptions can only occur along religous lines. No Guardianship = no visa. No souls available for harvesting in Pakistan.

Actually, the vast majority of couples who adopt from Pakistan are Pakistani`s born in Pakistan but now living in the US. In general, they cannot have another biological child but they want to adopt a child who looks like them. As you can imagine, there are not many Indian or Pakistani children available for adoption in the United States.

Furthermore, the law in Pakistan only allows Muslim couples to adopt Muslim children and Christian couples to adopt Christian children. A Pakistani Court would not and could not issue a Guardianship Order where the child was of a different religion to the parents and the US embassy cannot issue a visa to a child if the underlying Guardianship does not comply with Pakistani law.

re: 4

Considering that this is South Asian website, the readership of this article will most likely be desi. Interacts #2 and #3 illustrate other cultural values that are supported by institutional adoption policies and that is adoption is still not a dominant culture practice.

Throwing money at the issue of orphaned children as #2 suggests does not provide them with a stable, supportive familial unit. Orphans just grow up in an institution, which arguably, is not in their best interests as children and human beings.

There has been a wave of Asian (Korean, Chinese) children adopted by Anglo Americans. The issues of identity, race, familial history, are negotiated by the adopted child as well as the parents.

Ultimately we must ask ourselves which position is more principled? Retaining the practice of bloodlines or as a society, being responsible for the well being of children who have experienced the life altering tragedy of losing their parents.

Aren`t there enough poor orphans in the US that can be adopted by these folks? It`s really scary to see the likes of Brangelina and Madonna go about their adopting as if it were a geography project.

shah:2
There are souls to be harvested; you dunce!

Why not just send inflated exchange rated $$ to take care of more than one children simply inside Pakistan and NOT go through hassel of immigration unecessarily

Thank you for this important information.