LIST OF PAKISTAN ORPHANAGES

1. Edhi Foundation

2. Anjuman Kashana-e-Itfal-o-Naunehal

3. SOS Children's Village of Pakistan

4. HOPE

5. Zehra Homes

6. Didar Karim

1. Edhi Foundation

Edhi Foundation is one of the most commonly used orphanages for adoption simply because they get more abandoned or orphaned children than any other organization and the wait time to get a referral is much less than others (typically three to four months.)

Mrs. Bilquis Edhi personally handles the adoptions and prefers that overseas families designate a local contact in Karachi to periodically visit the center and call her office to check on the application status. Mrs. Edhi also asks for periodic updates after she places a child with a family.

Typically, Edhi places babies that have been abandoned or left in their care, to childless adoptive couples. Once a child is placed, Edhi Foundation requires adoptive parents to get a complete medical checkup of the child so they can be certain that the child is the right fit for them. Babies tend to be underweight due to poor prenatal care but in the majority of cases, the children quickly catch up with their peers under loving parental care.

The Edhi Foundation has in the past required a three-month waiting period between the time of the placement of the child and when they relinquish release forms about the child that will allow one to proceed with getting a birth certificate and gaining guardianship, but more recent adoptions have involved shorter waiting periods. This is something to consider if there is a strong time constraint on staying in Pakistan for an extended period to care for the child. However, Mrs. Edhi does allow applicants to assign an individual to care for the child in their absence to meet the waiting period requirement. Mrs. Edhi needs to be informed about the individual in advance of any child placement.

An article on Edhi foundation can be viewed at http://www.dawn.com/weekly/review/archive/040506/review7.htm

Below is a list of Edhi Adoption Centres in Pakistan.

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2. Anjuman Kashana-e-Itfal-o-Naunehal

Kashana gets fewer babies and therefore the waiting period could be up to two years. They require the adoptive mother to visit their center daily for a week to learn to care for the child placed with her and based on their assessment, they provide their release, which allows one to proceed with getting a birth certificate and guardianship order.

A doctor immediately checks babies that are handed over to Kashana. They are not put up for adoption if there are serious health concerns about the baby or the baby is severely underweight. The staff at Kashana works to bring the baby's weight up to a certain standard, and provide treatment to fix the health issues. In any case, they do not put the baby up for adoption before he/she is at least 3 months old.

They carefully select the couple which they think would be most suitable to raise the baby. They try and "match" the baby with the parents. They believe that this helps the baby to better adjust in the family. Once they think there is a good match, they contact the parents.

The babies are housed in a peaceful nursery with usually three or four attendants. The prospective mother is asked to come to the nursery every day for a week, where she is "trained" to take care of the baby. A separate area complete with a crib is kept aside for this training. The mother learns to clean the baby, feed, change and give the baby a bath.

After the week of training, the baby is taken home. One has to appear with the baby in front of the board at Kashana and there is a formal handing over ceremony with much cheering and blessings for the baby.

Typically, Kashana does not give another child for adoption to a couple who already has one. The reason is the tremendous number of applications they have and the limited number of babies they get. Additionally, they do not hand over the baby to a relative of the adoptive parent. They will inform the parents and wait until the child is picked up by the parent themselves.

In order to apply, one parent has to go and meet Mrs. Isphahani, present their case and fill out the application. One has to fill the application, give a copy of a nikah nama and a photograph of the adoptive couple. Later, a home study and a statement of finances are submitted.

Read an article on Kashana at http://www.dawn.com/weekly/review/archive/031120/review9.htm

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3. SOS Children's Village of Pakistan

Like Kashana, SOS gets very few newborns and they do not adopt out older children that are placed with them. When they get a newborn child for adoption, they give the child to the adoptive family or their designated representative right away. Once they have the child, they call the applicant's Pakistani contact. If someone cannot come and pick up the baby right away, they contact the next person on the list.

SOS is not very keen on giving babies to couples who already have a child, but sometimes they make exceptions.

A list of various SOS centres throughout Pakistan is provided below.

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4. HOPE

Contact of HOPE is provided below.

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5. Zehra Homes

Contact of Zehra Homes is provided below.

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6. Didar Karim

Contact of Didar Karim is provided below.

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