Monday, May 31, 2010

The difference between ADOPTION and FOSTERING

Malaysian usually use the word 'adoption' as to portray the situation of someone's child who is being taken care by others (relatives or non relatives). In Malaysia, the word 'adoption' is widely used instead of 'fostering'. My question is: Are we as Malaysia confused with the two terms?

Here I would like to highlight the different meaning of the two terms:

Adoption is to mean that a child is being taken care by a new parent and the rights of the biological parent are bestowed to the new parents. All parenting responsibilities fall upon the new parent as the biological parent is unable to cater for the needs of the child. The biological parent does not have any authorities or rights over the child.


Fostering on the other hand means that a child is being taken care of a new parent however the biological parent still have their full rights to the child. The new parents still hold the responsibilities of catering the needs for the child however the child is free to go to the biological parent or the biological parent can take their child anytime they want.

Since Malaysia is an Islamic country, the word 'fostering' is more suitable since in Islamic religion, the fact that taking care of someone else child does not convey the meaning of adopting (permanently owned the child) but rather fostering (simply taking care and nurturing the child's need).

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