TEHRAN – Some 1.19 million philanthropists patronize 409,000 orphans and needy children in the country, the deputy director of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, has said.

More than 6,000 of these children are talented persons at different levels of cultural, scientific, and sports fields, IRIB quoted Habibollah Asoudeh as saying on Saturday.

Also, 3,000 philanthropists living abroad are cooperating with the Relief Foundation and providing financial assistance to needy families and orphans inside the country.

Iranian charities abroad supported 13,000 needy orphans in various provinces during the first six months of the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 21-September 22, 2021).

Adoption of orphans

There is a basic slogan in the country that children must grow in the family so that the priority is to foster the orphans.

In addition to families with no child, families with one kid and single women are able to apply for adoption.Since [the Iranian calendar year] 1392, the number of adoption cases has increased and 2,000 children are placed for adoption annually, some of whom are placed under temporary custody because a temporary trustee is better than care centers.

The Welfare Organization in July 2019 announced that there were 10 applicants for fostering each child in the country.

The country's adoption and foster laws that dated back some 44 years ago was revised and modified in 2013. Within the new law, kids could be adopted up to the age of 16 while the former law states that kids aged 12 or less could be adopted. In addition to families with no child now families with one kid and single women are able to apply for adoption.

The law formerly authorized adoption only for orphans while the new law permit adoption for children with dysfunctional families as well in case the judge concludes that the new family is suitable for adoption.

Previously, the adoptive families were required to sign over one-third of their property to their child-to-be but some could not afford to do so and now the judge gets to decide how a family, depending on their financial status, should be treated.

FB/MG