TAIPEI, Taiwan | More parents giving children up for adoption due to financial woes

Monday, December 14, 2009

Nearly 90 percent of the parents who phoned the Child Welfare League Foundation to ask about putting their children up for adoption between 2003-2008 did so due to financial problems, foundation spokesman Chen Ya-hui said, citing statistics compiled by the foundation.

The number of phone calls made to the foundation for this purpose posed a significant 55 percent rise over the past five years, increasing from 495 cases in 2003 to 770 in 2008, according to Chen.

For the first 10 months of this year, the foundation accepted 511 phone calls on the issue, an average of 1.7 calls daily, the statistics show.

Eighty-seven percent of those who made the calls did so because of financial difficulties, representing a remarkable surge from 50 percent in January 2008 to 96 percent in September of the same year, with the percentage reaching 100 percent in January, March and June 2009, according to Chen.

According to data collected by the foundation, another reason for children being given up for adoption was because they were born to underage parents. About 23 percent of children put up for adoption had one parent under the age of 20, Chen said.

It is usually more difficult for sick children, those aged over 3 and children of drug-addicts to find suitable parents willing to adopt them, Chen added.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2009/12/14/236512/More-parents.htm

RELATED:

Child Welfare League Foundation

In 1990, the Child Welfare League Committee was organized to facilitate the 1990 amendment of the 1973 Child Welfare Law. The committee was comprised of a group of enthusiastic professionals including legislators, lawyers, social workers as well as other concerned participants. The Committee prepared a Revision of the Child Welfare Law which was then sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval. The Committee believed there was a need for a permanent organization to carry on the child welfare work in Taiwan and thus the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) was established in December 1991.

Since then, CWLF has provided a wide range of publicly accessible services related to child welfare. CWLF works to resolve social problems through public education, social services and legislative change while addressing new problems as needs arise.

CWLF was first established in Taipei in 1991. The Kaohsiung branch was later established in December 1997, followed by the Taichung branch in 1998. CWLF in collaboration with the Taiwan Provincial Government also founded the Missing Children Data Resource Center in Taichung ....

http://www.children.org.tw/about_en.htm