SC OKs adoption of dyslexic boy by American parents

New Delhi: An 11-year-old dyslexic child growing up with an uncertain future in a south Delhi orphanage, will soon be flying to US to be the fifth member of Coates family and may even dream of a new life given the awareness and health care facilities there.



The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the adoption of Anil and brought to an end a two-yearlong legal battle waged by the Coates —Cynthia and and her husband Craig who himself is a cerebral palsy patient.
The American couple faced an acid test in proving their intentions, given the fact that many such adoptions had resulted in neglect of the child in foreign shores and that the Coates had already three children.
As their plea had already been rejected by the trial court and the Delhi High Court, the apex court Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and T S Thakur adopted a cautious approach while dealing with their appeal reiterating the request for a green signal to Anil’s cross-country adoption. The Bench tasked an expert committee to ascertain the fitness of the foreign couple for adoption and the positive outcome spurred the Bench to suggest to Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam to impress upon the government the need to evolve a process under which a regular Medical Board be consulted in every request for intercountry adoption.
“We are told Central Adoption Resources Agency (CARA) has the power to make references, but no committee as such is identified or constituted for this purpose,” the Bench said.
Anil was examined by a board headed by Rajat Ray, head of psychiatry at AIIMS, and comprising noted experts in the field of child psychiatry Pearl Drego, Amit Sen and Roma Kumar. The board interviewed the adopting mother Cynthia who the board said besides being a trained nurse had a clear vision of the family, school and community resources needed to make the adoption successful.