“It’s a big problem, if the child has no family, no nothing, it is better to give them to the government”, said Funani, in response to a question I had asked her about adoption. Funani is around sixty years old and lives in Alexandra Township, we were discussing the issue of unplanned pregnancy and what options are available to a woman in this situation; we had discussed abortion, parenting, and foster care, and had moved onto the option of adoption.
“It’s a big problem, if the child has no family, no nothing, it is better to give them to the government”, said Funani, in response to a question I had asked her about adoption. Funani is around sixty years old and lives in Alexandra Township, we were discussing the issue of unplanned pregnancy and what options are available to a woman in this situation; we had discussed abortion, parenting, and foster care, and had moved onto the option of adoption.
I asked her to explain why the issue of no parents was such a problem, she went on to say, “if you know the parents of the child, you can go back and talk to them, if there is a problem”. I then asked, about a child that has been abandoned, and has no parents, what should happen to this child? She responded by saying, “the problem is you take it and help it, it’s not family, it’s nothing about you, what if that child is naughty, who can you go and talk to, to help you with it? It is a big problem”. She later came to me, full of concern, and said, “I don’t know where you are going to get that family for those children”.
