![]() Teenage girls hang out inside their dorm room at Nayon ng Kabataan. Just 237 Filipino children are adopted yearly, according to data from Rohei Foundation, a Philippine non-profit that advocates for adoption. Non-governmental organisation Philippines Without Orphans estimates there are between 5-7 million abandoned, neglected or orphaned children in the country-that is roughly one out of every six children in the Philippines. Feedback from social workers show that babies and young children often have the highest chance of getting adopted, compared to older children. “ questions their own self worth: Why am I not chosen? Is there something wrong with me?”ĭSWD data show there were 1,999 abandoned and 3,344 neglected Filipino children from 2016 to 2021. Their feelings of not being wanted are validated when they do not get adopted. Registered child psychologist Aileen Sison said that neglected children often struggle to form meaningful attachments with other people. Most of these children have experienced some sort of emotional or physical trauma, an experience that the American Psychological Association (APA) defines as “an emotional response to a terrible event”, which sometimes results in survivors having difficulty in moving on with their lives. ![]() ‘You should have been caring for me, but you did not’ is much more difficult to accept than ‘You’ve left me’,” she added.ĭata from the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) show that extreme poverty, single parenthood and abuse are some top factors that push parents to give up their children. “Neglect is almost harder to process because somebody is there. The mother had neglected and abandoned them ,” said Graff. When I was in the house then, I discovered four other children the referral should have been for five children. “The youngest sibling was a referral because of severe malnutrition. They were placed in the inter-country adoption list on November 2019, when she was 15. She and her four siblings were taken to Gentle Hands in 2017. Mel sits on her bed inside the dorm room where she shares with other teen girls. Donate any amount today to become a Pulitzer Center Champion and receive exclusive benefits! Mel and her siblings were placed into the facility from their aunt’s home, after Gentle Hands’ executive director Charity Graff received notice about the youngest child suffering from malnutrition.Īs a nonprofit journalism organization, we depend on your support to fund more than 170 reporting projects every year on critical global and local issues. ![]() ![]() It has been five years since Mel and her siblings joined the Gentle Hands children’s home, which also houses many children who have experienced trauma. ![]() Her only option to join a family is to be adopted along with any, or all, of her four siblings. Mel, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, is already too old to be adopted. Philippines, 2022.Īt a children’s care facility in Cubao, north of Manila, 18-year-old Mel and her four younger siblings wait to be adopted. The government-run facility in Mandaluyong City in the Philippines serves abandoned, neglected and orphaned children aged 7-17. Extreme poverty, single parenthood and abuse are some top factors that push parents to give up their children.Ĭhildren at the boys’ dormitory in Nayon ng Kabataan watch TV in the common area.Given the lengthy, uncertain process and decline in adoption, care facilities often have to transition their wards to life without adoption. ![]()
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