In Tajikistan, there is a high demand for the adoption of newborn babies, boys mainly.
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There is a high demand for adoption in the country. However, as the authorized child protection services report, most applicants would like to adopt a newborn child.
Abdukhalim Nizomov, Deputy Head of the Child Rights Protection Department of the Ombudsman Office, says the Tajik people have their own preferences for adoption: there are many more requests for the adoption of boys than of girls.
“Most of them say they would like to have a son so that he would care for them in old age,” he added.
However, the girls are adopted too, and mainly newborns are preferred as well.
Farida Jabboralieva adopted a child three years ago. She says that she always wanted a girl, but after the birth of two sons, her health did not allow her to give birth to a third child. The real mother of the girl was in a difficult situation and could not afford to raise a child. Farida decided to adopt the abandoned baby girl.
“I wanted to adopt a girl from an orphanage. However, I heard of this pregnant woman, who could not afford to raise the child and would send her to an orphanage, and I decided to adopt her after the birth,” says Jabboralieva.
She says that first she spoke with a pregnant woman, discussed all the details, so that there would be no problems later if she suddenly changed her mind. Even before the birth, the relevant authorities carried out a full examination and allowed the adoption of this child.
“I collected all the necessary papers. Three days after the birth of the girl, I already adopted her,” the woman says.
In general, if there is an abandoned child, and you know about it, adopting is not a problem, according to Farida. What is necessary is your intention and 17 types of certificates and documents.
According to the Committee on the Rights of Child under the local authorities of cities and districts of the republic, in the first half of 2020, 2,280 applications for foster care and adoption were received and considered, 511 children were adopted, 141 children were fostered and 188 children were placed for custodial care.
However, orphanages and boarding schools in the country are not empty. In total, there are 64 boarding schools in Tajikistan, where 8275 children are being educated. In large cities, there are four orphanages for children, raising 185 children up to 3 years old. There are 160 orphans in these institutions. There are much fewer girls among these children. This is because, according to official statistics, in recent years fewer of them have been born, and their relatives are more willing to take home girls rather than the troublesome boys.
There are no family-type orphanages or childcare homes in the republic, although the country’s legislation provides for these types of raising orphans.
Akhad Sodikov, Head of the Department for State Protection of the Rights of the Child of the Ombudsman Office, explains this by the fact that the Article 44 of the Law On the Protection of the Rights of the Child contains the “foster family” concept, but there are some inconsistencies in this article that need to be clarified.
“Thus, for example, this article contains aspects, such as the definition of the benefits and responsibilities of the foster family, and [it is not clear] whether all family members are defined as such or should a specific person in the family bear the responsibility? Work on these aspects is currently in progress,” Sodikov said.
Tajik legislation does not allow foreign citizens to adopt children. As the Children’s Rights Ombudsman Rajabmo Habibullozoda told CABAR.asia, international adoption is regulated by the 1933 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Since Tajikistan did not accede to this
Convention, foreign citizens are not allowed to adopt Tajik children.