NOT ENOUGH BABIES: WAITING LISTS OF FOSTER PARENTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 29, 12 March 1948, Page 3

NOT ENOUGH BABIES: WAITING LISTS OF FOSTER PARENTS

There are not enough babies to go round in New Zealand. There is a waiting list of people wishing to adopt infants in every city. Adoptions for 1947, figures for which are not yet complete, will be close to the previous year’s record of 1383. The progressive popularity of adoptions is shown by the' figures for the previous nine years, namely: 406, 516, 518, 604, 605, 684, 854, 1065 and 1151. Still there are more people desiring to adopt babies than there are babies for adoption. Adoptions of babies fell under the Infants Act, but almost invariably magistrates referred to the Child Welfare Department for reports in such matters, said the superintendent of the department, Mr C. E. Peek. Most adoptions, he continued, were due to married people having no children or to wishing for a companion for their only child. Baby girls were the first choice in the majority of cases, but, when they were not available baby boys seemed just as popular especially when the couple had had to wait their turn for a baby, and had then taken a baby boy on trial. Senior women officers of the department paid close attention to the suitability of people to become foster parents, and their reports after a probationary period were available for magistrates before the order for adoption was made.