Court allows grandparents to adopt their grandchild after daughter gave birth at 18
SINGAPORE — A couple was allowed to adopt their grandchild after their daughter gave birth at the age of 18, despite the Director-General of Social Welfare's resistance that it would "distort" original familial relationships and potentially confuse the child.District Judge Jason Gabriel Chiang made the decision after serious deliberation and finding that it would be in the child's best welfare if his grandparents adopted him.
According to a Family Court decision published on Saturday (June 17), the boy was born in 2020 after his mother had casual unprotected sex.
She was devastated when she realised she was pregnant and took a week to muster up the courage to tell her parents, who are in their late 40s or early 50s, about it.
Because of her multiple sexual partners that she did not keep in contact with, the mother did not know who the father of the child was, so the father did not come into play in this decision.
The boy was cared for by his grandparents since he was born, and was observed to be well cared for and loved by them. The boy's mother continued to live with him and her parents, but did not take on any duties as a mother besides brief interactions with the child.
The boy's grandparents applied to adopt him in November 2020. Their daughter was reported to lack maturity and there were concerns over her mental health. She had also consented to the proposed adoption.
The court appointed the Director-General of Social Welfare to be the Guardian In Adoption (GIA) to conduct investigations into the matter.
GIA INVESTIGATIONS
The GIA found that the child was developing well under his grandparents, who had a stable relationship and were committed to his care.However, the GIA objected to the proposed adoption, saying it would be "a fundamental distortion of the original familial relationships" as it would turn the natural relationship of grandparent and grandchild to that of parent and child.
The child and his birth mother would also end up becoming siblings by order of law, said the GIA, adding that this would be "against the order of nature and contrary to the child's welfare".
The year of investigations revealed that the boy called his grandparents "mama" and "papa" and addressed his birth mother as "jie jie" or sister.
The GIA said it would likely confuse the boy when he grows up and discovers his birth history and the circumstances of the adoption.
JUDGE'S DECISION
In explaining his decision, Judge Chiang noted that there have been a "significant number" of other recent applications where grandparents applied to adopt their grandchild.There is no restriction in the Adoption of Children Act against the adoption of grandchildren by grandparents. Such adoptions have been recommended by the GIA when there were exceptional circumstances, but the GIA said these were not present in the current case.
The judge noted that the birth mother had provided a statement confirming that she had chosen to give her son up on her own accord and had "no emotional attachment" to him.
"It was evident that she did not want to be the child's mother and it further appeared apparent that she did not have the capacity to be his mother," said the judge.
"It is noteworthy that in no other type of adoption case other than the adoption of a grandchild by his or her grandparents, does the court have to take the further step to question why the natural parent gave up the child and further ask whether the natural parent still has the capacity to care for the child, when that natural parent had duly filed their consent to the adoption," noted Judge Chiang.
"If a natural parent wants to give up their child for adoption and there are persons willing to be the child’s adoptive parents who are suitable to care for the child, GIA would generally recommend the adoptions, regardless of whether the natural parent had any capacity to personally parent the child."
The GIA raised two issues against the adoption. First, that there would be a breach of natural order and that the circumstances of the case were not exceptional enough to allow this breach.
Second, that there would be an issue of whether there would be appropriate disclosure of the child's birth history at an appropriate age and how this would affect the child.
Judge Chiang said it was arguable that any adoption would be a distortion of the original family relationship, and that any child who undergoes adoption could have emotional confusion if their birth history and adoptive status are not appropriately disclosed and explained to them properly at an appropriate age.
On the issue of disclosure, the judge noted that the grandparents were firm that they would tell the boy about his birth history at the right developmental age.
They had attended a disclosure workshop which helped prepare them for it.
DETRIMENTAL EFFECT IF ADOPTION NOT ALLOWED
Judge Chiang considered also the detrimental effect that a dismissal of the adoption application could have on the family and the child.The grandparents could be significantly affected as the main caregivers of the boy, while the boy's natural mother might spiral into further depression.
This could potentially affect the level of care the boy would be receiving, said the judge.
He noted that there was no body of literature presented on why grandparents should not be allowed to adopt their grandchildren, nor any evidence of any publicly held sentiment against it.
Even if there was such a public policy against grandparents adopting their grandchild, the judge said it was hard to see how this would be "sufficiently powerful to enable us to ignore the statutory imperative to promote the welfare of the child".
Judge Chiang concluded that the grandparents were suitable caregivers who had shown their commitment to the appropriate disclosure of the child's birth history and adoptive status, which addressed the GIA's concerns over his potential emotional confusion.
"I did not come to this decision lightly," said the judge.
"Since this decision, there have been a number of applications involving adoption of a grandchild by grandparents, whereby the GIA did not recommend the adoption but also did not participate in proceedings," he said.
In some of these cases the adoption was granted, but in others they were not.
"The key touchstone was whether it would be in the best welfare of the child for the adoption to be granted," explained the judge.
Adoptions were not allowed in cases where grandparents were "obstinate" and refused to commit to a workable plan of appropriate disclosure and support for the child, choosing instead to be secretive even though they knew the risks that the child might find out about their true birth history from others.
"Hence, this decision, should not be treated as a carte blanche approval of all adoptions of grandchildren by their grandparents. It must be proven that such adoptions would be in the best welfare of the child," said the judge. CNA
