Mixed-Race Adoptions Difficult

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31661, 23 April 1968, Page 1

Mixed-Race Adoptions Difficult

Some difficulties were found in obtaining adoptive parents for illegitimate babies of mixed race, or babies with some flaw, said the acting district officer of the Child Welfare Division of the Education Department (Mr J. L. Hills) yesterday.

He was asked to comment on recent statements by the matron of St Helens Hospital (Miss M. Fraser) about problems involved in the number of illegitimate babies. Occasionally, for physical reasons, babies were not acceptable for adoption, Mr Hills said. The list of applicants for babies was shorter. “But the number of adoptions each year remains high." Mr Hills said. “Multiracial babies can prove a difficulty, but in most cases adop•tions are arranged fairly ■promptly.”

Asked for figures, Mr Hills said that 11 babies were available for adoption at present. Two were Maoris, three were' in Karitane Hospital not yet fit for adoption, and two were not fit on other medical grounds. In the last three weeks, about 20 babies had been adopted. From the end of September last year to the end of March this year, the number of babies adopted was more than 200.

To say that unwanted babies were cluttering up the hospital and costing the country a great deal of money was not strictly correct, said Mr Hills. Asked what happened to a baby for whom there were no adoptive parents, Mr Hills said that officers of his department were constantly in touch with maternity hospitals. The mother could be asked to take the baby, it could, be placed with foster parents until ready for adoption, or, as a last resort, application could be made to

the Children’s Court for it to become a ward of the State.

Babies of mixed race posed considerably more difficulty for adoption, but the department was in constant touch with other centres and arrangements were often made with adoptive parents in another area. Most adoptive par-i ents wanted perfect babies. Asked why she had spoken out about illegitimate babies. Miss Fraser said yesterday that she felt strongly about the problem. "They have such an unhappy start in life through no fault of theirs and it is not good for the babies to be without mothers,” she said. She wished to make it'clear that in referring to unwanted babies, she did not mean that the hospital did not want them. The hospital’s job was to deliver babies safely and look after them. The nurses, when they had time, enjoyed looking after and playing with unattached babies. But she was concerned over the number of illegitimate

babies and those born prematurely because girls did not look after themselves properly during pregnancy. Miss Fraser said doctors would not know of all the circumstances as some of the girls involved could not afford i doctors and came to St Helens to have their babies. It was a dreadful social problem; sometimes babies stayed up to a month in hospital because no arrangements could be made for adoptive parents, or for someone to look after them.

A. fairly high proportion of the babies was of mixed race, and there were problems in adopting these babies, she said. This was understandable, as some couples did not want a baby of this type. - Multi-racial babies were sometimes a problem, said the medical superintendent-in-chief of the North Canterbury Hospital Board (Dr L. M. Berry) but these were only a handful a year at St Helens Hospital.

When babies were in hospital longer than normal an extra burden was imposed on the nursing staff. The problem of finding adoptive parents appeared to be a bit worse than in the past, but it was not serious yet, and was not as bad as in Auckland where mixed-race infants caused difficulties.

Dr Berry said the expensive facilities available at the neo-natal unit of St Helens were available to all babies, and he felt the hospital would do its best for all. A social problem existed and childless couples were naturally diffident over adopting weakling infants. With increased medical knowledge of infertility problems, there were also fewer suitable childless couples coming forward as adoptive parents. The board was most appreciative of the Child Welfare Division’s assistance in the problem and there was close co-operation between hospitals and officers concerned.