Hi friends,

I have an exciting update to share with all of you. 

I have filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Supreme Court of India to bring this issue to the attention of the Court. After a lot of work (mostly by a dearest friend of mine who filed this petition for me!) and dealing with loads of administrative procedures, the registration is finally complete! Phew! Writ Petition (Civil) 960/ 2021 - is finally here and will be heard by the Supreme Court of India on October 1, 2021. This matter was originally to be heard on August 27, 2021 and has been repeatedly delayed. Getting this matter to be heard has been an achievement in itself!

This is a huge step for all of us and could potentially jolt the lawmakers into action. I have my fingers crossed and am eagerly waiting for the D-Day. 

NEXT STEPS

I am also planning to file an RTI to CARA to understand the exact number of children who were placed in adoption when they were less than 3 months old. This data will help me prove that the current maternity benefit is only on paper.

I will also be reaching out to child psychologists who can testify how important it is for adoptive parents to spend time with their children as soon as they come home. If any of you is a child psychologist or knows one who can help, please reach out to me at nhnandini@gmail.com. 

Dearest Changemakers - There are over 28,000 of you standing with me and that is exhilarating. Your signatures are now translating into actual movement on this issue. The Quint reached out to me and did a story on my petition! (https://www.thequint.com/neon/gender/adoptive-mother-maternity-benefits 

I want to thank you all again for your support. I hope you all share my excitement on this. If you do, please spread the word so we can raise awareness and get this law amended.