8,000 Ukrainian children have found their new families
8,016 Ukrainian children have found their new families - loving, kind and caring. These are the results of a 6-year work as part of "Say No to Orphanhood!" project at Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
"We still remember and can hardly ever forget the first child who found a family thanks to the project. This was a three-year-old boy. He was adopted by a family that already had a biological child. The woman had a good example in front of her eyes – her neighbours, who raised an adopted child in their family. When she was getting married, she told her husband she wanted to adopt a child and give this baby their love and care. Her husband supported her, and after a while they made their wish real", – Darya Kasyanova, the Head of "Say No to Orphanhood" project, shares her memories.
Based on the six years of project's existence, most of adoptions fall on Donetsk, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk and Kirovohrad regions. Girls find their new families more often than boys. The number of girls who found a new family is 4,677, the number of adopted boys is 3,339. As for the age, it is much easier for children under 5 years old to get new parents. It should be also emphasized that adoption is the most popular way of finding a family for children among the users of "Say No to Orphanhood" portal (59%). The second place is taken by family-type orphanages and foster families (23%). The third place belongs to custody (18%).
"We should also mention the fact that families are not afraid of adopting several children at a time. The fact is that 85% of orphans and children deprived of parental care in Ukraine are family groups, i.e. brothers and sisters who are left without parents. Adoption of several children is a great responsibility, however, 2 of 3 cases of adoption fall on family groups. Now people in Ukraine adopt even three children at a time, and foster families or family-type children's homes take 5-6 brothers/sisters",– the project manager shares.
"8,000 of adopted children is a big and a great number. But we are not ready to rest on our laurels yet. We achieved this result only thanks to the coordinated work of our partners, such as the Ministry of Social Policy, Office of Children's Services, all-Ukrainian public organization "Magnolia" and Shakhtar Football Club. Our motto is: "Every child should live in family!" and we are striving for this. There are 8,991 profiles of children who need parents placed on "Say No to Orphanhood!" portal. And we hope to find a family for each of them", – Darya Kasyanova summarizes.
As a reminder, "Say No to Orphanhood!" project is aimed at securing the right of every orphan or child deprived of parental care to be raised in family; supporting families who want to take a child; facilitating the establishment of foster families and family-type children's homes.
Our portal www.sirotstvy.net is the place where you can see the profiles of children looking for families; and also get an expert advice on adoption, custody and creation of family-type homes.
