It’s illegal to give your children to someone to care for them – Gender Ministry

The Gender Ministry says it is wrong for mothers to give their children to others to take care of them.

According to the ministry, giving once child for upkeep by another family is illegal per Ghana’s laws.

It is common practice in Ghana for poor families to offer their children to others to take care of them while the children in turn provide domestic assistance to the caretaker family.

There is often no documentation covering the arrangement. Despite common knowledge that most children offered under such arrangement suffer abuses, the practice has largely remained in place in many parts of the country.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Tuesday, Deputy Director and Head, Central Adoption Authority of the ministry Stephen Dombo said it is also wrong for people to nurse pregnant women just so they could adopt the babies.

“It’s illegal to take your child and hand him/her to another person to take care of him/her. You bring the child to the social welfare."

“There are people who’ll encourage some young women to carry their babies and adopt after they deliver and that’s illegal. I feel that people need to be educated. If they’re educated, they’ll not do the things they’re doing. Example, if you pick an abandoned child, you don’t keep the child, you report to the police,” he said.

The development comes on the back of the baby harvesting syndicate which was busted last week.

Investigations by the Medical and Dental Council and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) led to the arrest of some doctors, nurses and social workers in the illegal act of baby harvesting’ and ‘human trafficking’.

A joint statement revealed that the investigations were carried into the illegal activities between the periods of June to November 2020.

As a result of these investigations, two medical doctors, two social workers, four nurses, two mothers and one traditional birth attendant have been arrested so far and are on bail pending further investigations.

According to the statement, Dr. Hope Mensah Quashie was arrested On Thursday, December 31, 2020. Dr. Mensah Quashie who works with the 37 Military Hospital was arrested at his private health facility named Susan Clinic located at Lartebiokorshie, a suburb of Accra. He allegedly sold the first baby boy to the team for an amount of Thirty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢30,000.00) in October 2020.

He was arrested with three nurses who worked at his facility namely Sylvia Awuseh, John Adorey Effie and Angela Ametepe. They have been identified as his accomplices together with one Dede Gifty Anikpi, a traditional birth attendant at Bethlehem Maternity Home at Santoe a suburb of Kpone Katamanso, who referred the mother of the first baby to Susan Clinic.