“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”.
Of the 18.5 million children in SA, 4.5 million live with neither parent.
Of the 18.5 million children in SA, 4.5 million live with neither parent.
Orphans have increased by more than 30% over the past decade.
150 000 children live in 79 000 child headed households.
Over 13 000 live in residential facilities and 10 000 on the street.
In 2013 there were over 11 million children registered for child support grants and over half a million for foster care grants.
297 parents wanting to adopt (14 black parents, 190 white parents, 43 Indian parents, the rest are unspecified)
297 parents wanting to adopt (14 black parents, 190 white parents, 43 Indian parents, the rest are unspecified)
Most are seeking a child of their own race.
Girls are preferred where gender is specified
50 applicants would consider a child with special needs (HIV/Aids, physical or mental disability etc.)
410 children available for adoption (398 black children, 3 white children, 9 ‘mixed race’ children, the rest are unspecified)
Equal number of boys and girls.
Over 60% were abandoned and less than 40% consented.
The management of abandoned children is governed by the Children’s Act 38 or 2005, which was implemented in 2010.
The management of abandoned children is governed by the Children’s Act 38 or 2005, which was implemented in 2010.
Good piece of legislation, however, its implementation a challenge:
Illegal immigrants are unable to legally place their children in the formal child protection system in SA, and face deportation should they try.
Relinquishing one's parental rights so that a child can be adopted, can only be done without a legal guardian’s consent from the age of 18 years, making this option inaccessible to teenage mothers (a child of any age can request an abortion in SA sending mixed messages about adoption).
Anonymous child abandonment has been criminalised, with mothers facing a range of charges such as concealment of birth and attempted murder.
Baby safes are considered illegal in terms of the Children's Act, however, these are being opened up more frequently given the increase in abandonment.
Child protection experts voiced concerns that the Act is being used as a tool to prevent adoption rather than to facilitate it by both the Courts and the Department of Social Development.
Police officers ask people reporting an abandoned child if they would like to keep the child.
Police officers ask people reporting an abandoned child if they would like to keep the child.
Abandoned children being handed over to people in the community who have lost a child, or who have expressed a desire to take care of children who have been abandoned.
Individuals are required to sign an affidavit, attesting to the fact that they are taking care of the child, however, no further formal legal processes are undertaken.
Mass child abandonment has been reported around the world and across generations from as early as the 17th Century, usually associated with mass urbanization and the related social issues of broken extended family support systems, the vulnerability of young single women, and the devastating impact of poverty.
Mass child abandonment has been reported around the world and across generations from as early as the 17th Century, usually associated with mass urbanization and the related social issues of broken extended family support systems, the vulnerability of young single women, and the devastating impact of poverty.
17th & 18th Century Europe - first foundling homes and 'wheels‘
19th Century America - industrialization and migrant labour
1980's China - implementing of the strict one child policy.
Studies conducted in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s in Brazil, Jamaica and Peru where a combination of poverty, war, gender inequality and social suffering have led women to consider this 'survival strategy'.
In these examples we see how 'child circulation' through informal fostering and adoption becomes a means of managing abandoned children, similar to South Africa.
Contemporary urban South Africa has all of the challenges identified as causes of child abandonment in global studies on the subject:
Contemporary urban South Africa has all of the challenges identified as causes of child abandonment in global studies on the subject:
Restrictive legislation
Poverty
Mass urbanization
High levels of violence (rape is a major concern)
Extreme gender inequality
High levels of HIV/AIDS (Which has also been gendered as a disease)
Diminishing family support
Institutional & foster care systems are under pressure due to over-use.
Despite its proven success globally, government appear hesitant to openly support adoption as a means to alleviate the crisis.
A review of African ancestral beliefs indicates that the ‘Western’ practice of adoption, where unrelated children are incorporated into families in a form of ‘created kinship’ is problematic in SA.
Participant observation and in-depth interviews/workshops with:
Participant observation and in-depth interviews/workshops with:
Teenagers and young adults experiencing unplanned pregnancy
Mothers who had been caught for abandoning their children
Police men & women who have encountered child abandonment
Hospital nurses, social workers, doctors and pathologists
Accredited adoption social workers
Founders, managers, social workers and carers in baby homes and CYCCs
Babies and children in institutional care
Foster care mothers who also offer their services as a place of safety
Adoptive mothers and fathers
Adopted children both locally and internationally
Young adults who recently discovered they were abandoned and adopted
Child protection experts, consultants and lobbyists
Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists
Traditional Sangomas & Inyangas
In support of my interviews and participant observation I also conducted a detailed discourse analysis of an archieve of newspaper articles from the past 4 years – 2010 to 2013, rated to:
In support of my interviews and participant observation I also conducted a detailed discourse analysis of an archieve of newspaper articles from the past 4 years – 2010 to 2013, rated to:
Unplanned pregnancy (111 articles)
Abortion (41 articles)
Child abandonment (151 articles)
Temporary safe care solutions e.g. foster care and CYCCs (137 articles)
Adoption (99 articles)
I analysed 539 articles in total to identify the messages, communication techniques and sources of information in each of these.
I used critical discourse theory to identify the dominant points of view on each of these topics, and how certain vocabulary and communication styles and images have been used to create a common way of talking and thinking about unplanned pregnancy, abortion, child abandonment, foster care and adoption.
Young pregnant girls are increasingly individualised and demonised:
Young pregnant girls are increasingly individualised and demonised:
Language used includes: Shocking; skyrocketing; crisis, out of control; epidemic (medical term implying the widespread infectious disease).
The girls are getting younger and younger, and more ‘innocent’.
Parents and particularly mothers are chastised for abdicating their parental responsibilities.
Sugar daddies & intergenerational sex (highlight immorality of teen pregnancy)
Sugar daddies & intergenerational sex (highlight immorality of teen pregnancy)
20% of teen pregnancies a result of rape
60% of teen mothers claimed to have been coerced into having sex by men who were older than them (Mail & Guardian 03/02/2012)
Poverty
Rape
Drug & alcohol abuse
Proving one’s fertility
Grant dependency (disproved in research)
Peer pressure
Abortion remains a contentious issue, with girls who chose this option being labelled primarily as immoral versus that of making informed and responsible choices.
Abortion remains a contentious issue, with girls who chose this option being labelled primarily as immoral versus that of making informed and responsible choices.
Illegal, backstreet, unsafe and botched abortions are reported on frequently, often resulting in the death of the young mother and her unborn child.
Abandoning mothers are portrayed as immoral criminals and murderers or suffering from severe mental disorders.
Child abandonment is increasingly being associated with postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress.
No statistics are currently available from government, however, the reporting of child abandonment gives us some indication of the typical age of the children and places where they are found:
No statistics are currently available from government, however, the reporting of child abandonment gives us some indication of the typical age of the children and places where they are found:
65% were new-born babies, and more than 90% were younger than a year.
Of the more than 250 references to ‘sites of abandonment’, 70% would be deemed unsafe for the child (noted in descending order of frequency):
‘toilets, drains, sewers and gutters’ (20%)
‘rubbish sites, dustbins and landfills’
‘the park or open veld’
‘baby safes’ (considered safe)
‘hospitals’ (considered safe)
The remainder included: on the street; in a township; on a door step; with a relative; with a stranger; in a river or dam; in a church or synagogue; buried; on or near train tracks; in a taxi rank; at a school; and at a crèche.
Only one article mentioned the abandonment of a child in the ‘suburbs’, however, a number of articles claimed that mothers chose to travel to informal township environments to abandon their children.
Headlines: ‘Born to be dumped’, ‘Sewer baby’ & ‘Weggooi kinders’
Headlines: ‘Born to be dumped’, ‘Sewer baby’ & ‘Weggooi kinders’
Photographs of police and rescue services removing baby’s bodies from rubbish dumps.
‘Trashcankidz’ a range of commercial toys that are supposed to give a voice to the “millions of orphans, vulnerable and street children of the world”.
Vulnerable, sick, exposed to infection and HIV – often don’t survive.
“Large part of undetermined deaths in Gauteng for 0 to 4 yrs”
There is much coverage of the declining rates in adoption in South Africa, and the impact that long term institutional care has on abandoned children.
There is much coverage of the declining rates in adoption in South Africa, and the impact that long term institutional care has on abandoned children.
Although the implementation of the new Children’s Act is partially blamed, the most frequently cited challenge is that of the ‘cultural barriers’ associated with adoption.
Cross race adoption is stated as being a contentious issue by the media, with many adoptive parents sharing experiences of ‘judgement’ and ‘discrimination’ from social workers, the Department of Social Development, and society at large.
International adoption is also treated with a great deal of mistrust. Most of these concerns stem from a belief that the child will experience a “loss of cultural roots” and that their welfare will not be a priority in the receiving country (Pretoria News 09/12/2011).
The notion of ‘Ubuntu’ appears conflicted in reference to adoption in the media.
The notion of ‘Ubuntu’ appears conflicted in reference to adoption in the media.
It is cited repeatedly by both the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa (NACSA) and the Department of Social Development in newspaper articles, as a means to deal with the worsening crisis of orphaned abandoned and vulnerable children.
However, it is also stated as a reason for black adoptive parents rejecting adoption due to the child being of a different and unknown blood-line.
Both have similar profiles of who abandons but differing perspectives on who or what is to blame:
Both have similar profiles of who abandons but differing perspectives on who or what is to blame:
Police officers and public hospital nurses and social workers see abandoning mothers as immoral and irresponsible, and believe that they should be punished by the law and their ancestors - they also believed that they could be held accountable by their ancestors should they assist them!
Adoption social workers see abandoning mothers as victims of poverty and structural violence which has stripped them of their ability to love their child, and that the choice to abandon is often a ‘survival strategy’.
Women living in extreme poverty, and just surviving from one day to the next.
Women living in extreme poverty, and just surviving from one day to the next.
Illegal immigrants with no support structures.
Women with no family or support structures
Women who have moved from one relationship to another and their new boyfriend does not want to take care of the child from a previous relationship.
Women who have HIV/AIDS.
Women who have been raped by a family member (incest is often mentioned), someone in their community or a stranger (multiple perpetrator rape in SA is the highest in world).
Women who have been abandoned by their boyfriends.
Young teenagers who are still at school.
Prostitutes.
Alcoholics and drug addicts (usually living on the streets).
Women living in rural areas in extreme poverty who travel to the city to abandon.
All of the social workers were very concerned about the impact of long term institutional care for these children, as they believed that it could lead to ‘attachment disorders’ such as behavioural and learning challenges later on in life (Howe 2005):
All of the social workers were very concerned about the impact of long term institutional care for these children, as they believed that it could lead to ‘attachment disorders’ such as behavioural and learning challenges later on in life (Howe 2005):
The child and their caregiver, develop a regulatory system together, through the continuous responding to a child’s signals e.g when a child is hungry and cries a caregiver would respond by feeding it.
Through this process, the child learns to recognise itself and others as persons, with thoughts and feelings, and this is the basis for empathy.
Women who choose to abandon their children are often in desperate situations - many have been abandoned by the father of their child and their families on discovery of pregnancy.
Women who choose to abandon their children are often in desperate situations - many have been abandoned by the father of their child and their families on discovery of pregnancy.
Pregnancy brings a rapid shift in their social status in their family and their community - they move from someone who is loved and cherished, to someone who is isolated and shunned.
Many of the young women spoke of their frustration at being labelled as the sole perpetrators of their predicament by their community, their family and their boyfriends/partners.
Most of the women were completely unprepared for pregnancy, no one had told them about sex, conception, birth control or pregnancy.
Understanding of how conception takes place was often incorrect with many believing that ‘you have to have sex many times to make a baby’.
Adoption was viewed with great mistrust due to its permanence and its disconnecting of the child from their ancestors.
Adoption was viewed with great mistrust due to its permanence and its disconnecting of the child from their ancestors.
Most of the young women felt that foster care was a better alternative as this allowed a mother to retrieve her children later.
I was repeatedly told that a child must be introduced to its father’s ancestors if it is to live a full and happy life:
Thlabi (2013) notes that even if a girl has been raped, her family will try to get the guilty party to acknowledge paternity once the child has been born.
Especially in the case of a male child, only once their paternal lineage is determined and appropriated do they have an identity.
A woman who has not been introduced to her ancestors may still get married, but she could suffer many still born children, as it is very bad luck.
Formally relinquishing one’s rights is seen as a ‘conscious act’ of rejecting a child that has been given to you by your ancestors, who could then exact a similar punishment for that of abortion (infertility).
Most felt that a women who could not take care of her child would do better to abandon them into someone else’s care, as the mother could always apologise to the ancestors at a later stage, and claim that she was not herself at the time.
Most felt that a women who could not take care of her child would do better to abandon them into someone else’s care, as the mother could always apologise to the ancestors at a later stage, and claim that she was not herself at the time.
Unlike adoption, abandonment is not necessarily seen as permanent:
“A women called me yesterday about two children that she abandoned nine years ago at our baby home. She just told me, ‘I am well now and would like to have my children’. I remember her from when she left her children with us. She was young, on drugs, living on the street and HIV positive. She told me that she has now found God and put her life back together, but she is not sleeping at night. The fact that she left her children is tormenting her and she is suffering. She literally arrived with the children and then disappeared, she never formally consented. When I told her that her children had been adopted and were now living overseas, she got very angry with me. She said ‘these are my children and I am suffering’, but it seemed to be more about her than about her children.”
Adoption social worker
None could tell me why they had abandoned their children, but all appeared extremely disconnected from their child at the time of the abandonment, and believed themselves and their children to be at the mercy of fate.
None could tell me why they had abandoned their children, but all appeared extremely disconnected from their child at the time of the abandonment, and believed themselves and their children to be at the mercy of fate.
None saw themselves as perpetrators of child abandonment, but rather as victims of their particular situation, making them feel disempowered, angry and depressed.
The physical act of abandonment is a traumatic and alienating experience for a child.
The physical act of abandonment is a traumatic and alienating experience for a child.
Most respondents believed that an abandoned child, who grows up in an African family who believes in ancestor, will live a difficult life.
Beyond their sense of loss and rejection, they will be unable to connect with their ancestors, as they have no knowledge of their father’s name and through this, their family’s ancestors.
Not knowing ones ancestors prevents you from fulfilling many of your traditional roles and rituals effectively:
These include paying damages for a child, paying lebola, celebrating big milestones such as matriculating, graduating or getting a new job.
Ancestors are also important for guidance and support, for understanding where illness may come from, and assisting a person in making important life decisions.
The reason I am looking for my father is because I have some problems with my health. I was sickly growing up. I have a problem with my eye. I have problems with asthma as well… I just impregnated a woman back in Vereeniging. I do not know what to do since I know nothing about our family rituals. I also need to perform some family rituals for myself.
The reason I am looking for my father is because I have some problems with my health. I was sickly growing up. I have a problem with my eye. I have problems with asthma as well… I just impregnated a woman back in Vereeniging. I do not know what to do since I know nothing about our family rituals. I also need to perform some family rituals for myself.
Kumbule’khaya Season 10 Episode 1
Global best practice indicates that parents should advise their children of their adoption as soon as possible, however, black adoptees are often not told that they were adopted by their parents, as fear the stigma associated with adoption.
Global best practice indicates that parents should advise their children of their adoption as soon as possible, however, black adoptees are often not told that they were adopted by their parents, as fear the stigma associated with adoption.
Adoption is still taboo with us Africans. If you take someone else’s child, it’s not my blood-life. If it is first born, it cannot be given inheritance. A child will want a name and will cry for a name. A friend of mine discovered that her father was not hers at his death. She wanted to give input into his funeral arrangements but the family told her, ‘it is not up to you, he is not your father’. She was devastated, and she told me that she hated her mother for not telling her. (Adoptive mother)
This young black couple are wanting to adopt. Neither of their families know that they are wanting to do this. The couple believe that they are taking a risk with their ancestors, but they are desperate for a child. They plan to pretend that the child is theirs, and not to visit their family whilst they are supposedly pregnant. They have agreed that when he has grown up, they will do some kind of ritual to help him, but in the meantime, no one needs to know. (Social worker)
Two models of illness:
Two models of illness:
The social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists interpret the abandoning mother’s suffering as depression and a mental breakdown caused by the anger, rejection and abandonment by their family.
Community members, the police, public hospital nurses and social workers, and sangomas, however, interpreted the suffering as being caused by their ancestors, who believed the adopted children displaced
Psychiatrists and psychologists advocate solving the problem through the treatment and medication of the individual patient.
Sangomas believe that the solution lies in healing the collective family.
Approximately 200 000 traditional healers practicing in South Africa in 1995, compared to only 25 000 ‘modern doctors’ (Truter 2007:56).
All research subjects had some knowledge of indigenous ancestral beliefs and most had engaged in rituals that concern themselves, or their families, and their ancestors.
None of the sangomas I spoke to were openly against formal adoption, however, they all had concerns about the fact that the ancestors of the child and the adoptive parents were unrelated.
None of the sangomas I spoke to were openly against formal adoption, however, they all had concerns about the fact that the ancestors of the child and the adoptive parents were unrelated.
This was seen as something that needed to be managed proactively, consulting with one’s ancestors was seen as critical, letting them guide you as a family was the only way to ensure their support of the process.
I was told that if the child was introduced to their new family’s ancestors from the start, they would be able to assist the child in connecting with his or her ancestors (ubigile – announcing a child to the ancestors).
In each instance, it appeared that consultation and honesty were the only way to resolve issues with one’s ancestors.
Conversely, suffering would only be meted out in instances of dishonesty and concealment.
Ancestors are alive when you remember them. Some people think that it is just about slaughtering and feeding them blood, but it is not just about this. The ancestors are not happy with so much blood at the moment, they are looking into our fridges lately and seeing that we have dead meat in them, it is too much. Child abandonment is something about now, when you cut yourself off, and not only from your family, but from your soul. Blood and family is important. When we break the family, we break blood relatives, common lineage, heritage. When you look at what’s going on now, we have lost Ubuntu, it is just a brand, an idea, an abstract practice. You need to be realistic, I can’t say I can help the individual child. The African people need to understand what being African is about….
Ancestors are alive when you remember them. Some people think that it is just about slaughtering and feeding them blood, but it is not just about this. The ancestors are not happy with so much blood at the moment, they are looking into our fridges lately and seeing that we have dead meat in them, it is too much. Child abandonment is something about now, when you cut yourself off, and not only from your family, but from your soul. Blood and family is important. When we break the family, we break blood relatives, common lineage, heritage. When you look at what’s going on now, we have lost Ubuntu, it is just a brand, an idea, an abstract practice. You need to be realistic, I can’t say I can help the individual child. The African people need to understand what being African is about….
We can’t try to sort out the branches when the roots are a mess
