Last week, our social media has picked up and shared the news about the sad departure of a seven-year-old boy from Melaka who died after he was believed to have been abused by his mother and stepfather.

Both the victim’s biological mum and stepdad are now been detained for further investigation.

The mother in me was so moved when I found out as The Star reported that the victim had only been under his biological mum’s care for the last three months for he had been with the loving ‘adoptive’ family from Selangor since he was only two-months-old.

They had to return the boy to his biological mum last October as their intention was just to ‘help’ eases the burden of the young mum at that time and never made the adoption legal.

Unfortunately, they lost the boy they have cared for the last seven years only three months after returning him to his mum.

Well, the police are still investigating the case and I am in no position to make any conclusion of allegations.

But, I found out that many adoptive parents out there are being kept in the dark on how to legalise an adoption and I hope this brief writing might help.

Do note that I am not a lawyer and the content I have compiled here is from the input of a lawyer friend and sources from the internet.

Why do people adopt a child?

For illustration purposes only. (Credit: cilisos.my)

There are many reasons why people choose to adopt a child.

One of the main reasons is because the adopted parents are medically unable to bear a child of their own.

Most of the couples decided to adopt a child after trying to consummate but fail and age factors might play a role as well.

Besides that, people adopt a child to protect and ensure the child is growing in a safe and loving environment.

This always happens when a child is an orphan or comes from an economically-challenged family background.

In addition, a child that is born out of wedlock and teens’ mums could also be the reasons why the child is given away for adoption.

How to adopt a child in Malaysia?

The legal procedure under the Law of Malaysia that governed for adoption are:

Adoption Act 1952 (Act 257), which only applicable to non-Muslim. The adoption process is through an order of the Court.
Registration of Adoption Act 1952 (Act 253), applicable for Muslim and non-Muslim, and provides for adoption process through “self-registration”.

Here is the brief flow of how the Adoption Act 1952 works:

The child to be adopted must be in the care of the applicant for at least three (3) consecutive months prior to the preparation of documents.
Preparation of documents which include the adoptive parents’ MyKad, adoptive parents’ marriage certificate, and the adoptive child’s birth certificates. The prepared documents are then required to be filed to the Court.
The first hearing date will be given and during this time an appointed Welfare Officer from Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) will be assigned to prepare an evaluation report of the adoptive parents.
The Welfare Officer will be communicating with the adoptive parents and undergo the standard procedures and investigation before preparing the evaluation report which will then be submitted to the Court.
Usually, 3 months after the first hearing, the second hearing will be held to announce the verdict whether the adoptive parents are equipped to raise the child or not.

As for the Registration of Adoption Act 1952, it takes a longer time to complete the process compared to the Adoption Act 1952. The process is summarised as per below:

The child to be adopted must be in the care of the applicant for at least two (2) years from the date of an official Statuary Declaration which stated the consent of the biological parents to give the rights of the child’s care to the adoptive parents.
In this duration, the adoptive parents are to register the child with the Welfare Department (Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, JKM). JKM will provide the appropriate form to allow the adoptive parents to take care of the child while waiting for the 2-year duration.
After 2 years, the adoptive parents are required to attend an interview with the JPN and there will be the JKM ‘s visit to ensure the child is under the best care.
If everything goes well and according to the procedure, the adoption can be registered and officialised.
Should the biological parents decided to claim for the child after it has been officialised, they need to go through the Court.

Well, a child is a God’s gift to every parent, be it the natural parents, step-parents, or even adoptive parents. Cherish the gift by put them at the best care that we could possibly give.