‘Essential and imperative’: Stakeholders hail SC order on maternity leave for adoptive mothers

New Delhi: It was difficult for Ranjini Sharma (name changed) to bond with her day-old adopted daughter as her workplace did not allow her to take maternity leave, since she was “not breastfeeding the child”.

That was nine years ago. Today, Sharma feels adoptive parents should be entitled to take time off from work to connect with the child, both physically and emotionally.

As the Supreme Court on Tuesday held that an adoptive mother should be entitled to maternity leave of 12 weeks, irrespective of the age of the adopted child, stakeholders including adoptive parents, rights groups and legal experts affirmed that the step is both “essential and imperative” for strong bonding between the parents and child.

Sharma said that since she didn’t get enough time to connect with her daughter, she would get irritated by the child’s irregular sleep cycles.

“At whatever age the child may be adopted, I feel that the parents need to have physical contact with the child, not just an emotional bonding, but a physical bonding also. Otherwise, the child will feel lost. And it cannot be just magically done. The child has to be made to feel comfortable and it takes a lot of time,” the Bengaluru-based architect said.

Ruling that age-based classification under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security 2020 was violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that the process of adjustment and integration within the adoptive family, both for the parents as well as the child, remains substantially the same irrespective of the age of the child.

Another adoptive mother, Shilpa Kumar (name changed), noted that maternity leave becomes more imperative for parents when the child is older.

“Older children generally carry the trauma of not having known their biological parents and face abandonment issues. It is essential for the child and both the parents to get used to each other, to understand each other and create an environment that is both safe and comfortable for the child. It takes a lot of time to get a sense of belonging,” the Gurgaon-based IT professional said.

In its judgment spanning 100-pages, the top court said women who adopt a child aged three months or above are similarly situated to women who adopt a child below the age of three months, insofar as their roles, responsibilities, and caregiving obligations are concerned.

“The essential attributes, capacities, and commitments of adoptive mothers do not undergo any material change merely on account of the age of the child at the time of adoption and the immediate period following the adoption,” it said.

The Apex court said the process of adoption itself entails significant emotional, psychological, and practical adjustments for both the child and the adoptive mother.

Enakshi Ganguly, children’s rights activist and co-founder of Haq: Centre for Child Rights, said that the Supreme Court’s step in favour of maternity leave was both “essential and imperative” and argued that there should be a discussion on paternity leaves as well.

“I think it’s absolutely essential and imperative. Not only the mother, even the benefits of paternity leave should be given. It requires time, effort and energy. So I believe that all benefits of both paternity and maternity leave are required for children to be settled into and integrated into an adoptive family,” she said.

Ganguly added that just as a newborn child needs the care and the initial days also determine if the child has any medical issues or psychological issues, the same should apply to an adoptive child.

An older child, she argued, is even more bewildered as questions about belonging storm through his mind.

“Why am I suddenly taken away from wherever I was and put into this home? Who are these new people? Why should I suddenly call them mummy, papa? How have they become my parents all of a sudden? It’s not a switch on, switch off button that the child walks in and starts loving you. Everyone needs

time,” she said.