nd

Black’s Law Dictionary 2

edition- defines adoption
as, the act of one who takes
another’s child into his/ her
own family, treating him/
her as his or her own, and
giving him or her all the
rights and duties of his own
child.
Both the CAA and the CA
provide no definition for
adoption.
- In the Matter of Victoria
Namutosi, Adoption Cause
No. 09 of 2017
Courts stated that,
“Adoption is the creation
of a parent-child
relationship by
judicial order between two
parties who are unrelated,
creating a lifelong
relationship of parenthood
between a child and the
adoptive parent.”
However, Section 51 of the
CA states that upon grant
of an adoption orders, all
rights, duties, obligations
and liabilities of the parents
or guardian of the child are
extinguished and are vested
in the adopter.
Section 48 (1a) the
consenting party to the
adoption order understands
that the
adoption will be permanent
and deprive the person
giving consent of the rights
and
obligations over the child
- In the Matter of Sidney
Stephen Harper & Wendy
Harper (Applicants)
Adoption Cause No. 0001
of 2018
Court granted the adoption
order to the applicants and
held that, the relationship
of
parent -child is hereby
established with all rights
and privileges incident
thereto.
- In the Matter of Adoption
of Victoria Namutosi,
Adoption Cause No. 09
of 2017
However, it is vital to
distinguish between
Customary Adoption and
Legal
Adoption.
Customary adoption
commonly practiced in our
African societies does not
severe
the ties of natural parents
like legal adoption.
See: Olweny Alfred and
Oroma Alex v Otema
Wilfred, Civil Appeal
N0.0042
of 2019 (2020)
Note that what is provided
for under the CAA is
customary guardianship
and not
customary adoption
nd
Black’s Law Dictionary 2
edition- defines adoption
as, the act of one who takes
another’s child into his/ her
own family, treating him/
her as his or her own, and
giving him or her all the
rights and duties of his own
child.
Both the CAA and the CA
provide no definition for
adoption.
- In the Matter of Victoria
Namutosi, Adoption Cause
No. 09 of 2017
Courts stated that,
“Adoption is the creation
of a parent-child
relationship by
judicial order between two
parties who are unrelated,
creating a lifelong
relationship of parenthood
between a child and the
adoptive parent.”
However, Section 51 of the
CA states that upon grant
of an adoption orders, all
rights, duties, obligations
and liabilities of the parents
or guardian of the child are
extinguished and are vested
in the adopter.
Section 48 (1a) the
consenting party to the
adoption order understands
that the
adoption will be permanent
and deprive the person
giving consent of the rights
and
obligations over the child
- In the Matter of Sidney
Stephen Harper & Wendy
Harper (Applicants)
Adoption Cause No. 0001
of 2018
Court granted the adoption
order to the applicants and
held that, the relationship
of
parent -child is hereby
established with all rights
and privileges incident
thereto.
- In the Matter of Adoption
of Victoria Namutosi,
Adoption Cause No. 09
of 2017
However, it is vital to
distinguish between
Customary Adoption and
Legal
Adoption.
Customary adoption
commonly practiced in our
African societies does not
severe
the ties of natural parents
like legal adoption.
See: Olweny Alfred and
Oroma Alex v Otema
Wilfred, Civil Appeal
N0.0042
of 2019 (2020)
Note that what is provided
for under the CAA is
customary guardianship
and not
customary adoption
What is adoption?
More than a quarter of the way through this entry, I can finally come to define the
topic. Adoption is, I suggest, the purposeful taking on of a kinship role,
responsibility, or duty vis-à-vis another person. I’ve tried to make that definition as
simple and open as I can, in part because there is a lot of variability in what
anthropologists might label ‘adoption’. It could be primarily about – as seen in the
earliest adoption laws in ancient Rome – formally identifying an heir. It could be, on
the other hand, a kind of fostering – taking care of a young person – not focused on
inheritance but instead on the acts of raising.[6]

So, one way of answering ‘what is adoption?’ is with another question: ‘Well, it
depends – what needs and expectations do people have of their families in the
cultural context you are wondering about?’ In much of North America and Europe, a
‘sentimentalization’ or ‘sacralization’ of childhood (Zelizer 1985) has occurred over
the course of the last century, so that what adoption is for residents of those
regions today is a parent-centric institution that provides children to adults who
eagerly want to love, raise, and care for a child.[7] Marilyn Strathern, observing the
cultural implications of assisted reproductive technologies (which, depending on
how they are defined, can include adoption), remarks that a child in such a context
embodies ‘the desire of its parents to have a child’ (1992: 32). Problems or
challenges within adoption in this setting will arise when the model of parental
desire for a child conflicts with other aspects of social reality: for example, if
prospective parents want infants whom they can raise and mould (Leinaweaver
2013: 38-46; Stryker 2010), but the available children are toddlers or school-age.

But in other cultural contexts around the world and throughout history, adoption is
something else. There are several different ‘purposes’ for which adoption happens,
and it is useful to distinguish them. Raising, training, and caring for a child is one
purpose – often called fostering. Acquiring a legal and spiritual heir is another – for
example, for many Hindus, sons fulfill both religious and property-related roles,
and adoption is one of the potential substitutes for ‘legitimate’ sons in ancient
Hindu legal codes (Bharadwaj 2016: 53, 158). In the following two sections I will
describe each of these categories, before moving to a broader discussion of how
adoption – among the many things it accomplishes – can also reproduce local and
global inequalities.