FAMILY PLANNING POLICIES IN INDIA
Adoption in India
The Central Adoption Resource Authority under the Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India is in charge of adoptions in India. 2011 adoptions: 226 children with an estimated Total Cost: $20,000 to $35,000. From completed dossier to placement it takes approximately 12 to 24 months
Abortion in India
India was a pioneer in legalizing induced abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (M TP) Act of 1971. Under the Act a woman can legally have an abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy if the pregnancy carries the risk of grave physical injury, endangers her mental health, if it results from contraceptive failure in a married woman, or from rape, or is likely to result in the birth of a child with physical or mental abnormalities.
465,705 abortions reported nationally. An estimated 6.7 million unreported abortions are performed each year by providers working outside registered and government recognized institutions, often by untrained persons working in unhygienic condition. The proportion of maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion was estimated to be 13% in 1995.
There is a growing trend in some parts of the country towards sex-selective abortions. The Government has developed a "do nothing" attitude towards unsafe abortions because they help to keep the population growth rate down in place of use of contraception for spacing births.