According to Tejasvini, in-charge of the Adoption Resosurce Centre (ARC) in M S University's Faculty of Social Work, which is run in collaboration with the Mumbai-based Association for Promotion of Adoption, about 40 per cent of the 400 couples who had adopted children through her organisation in the past 15 years had gone in for a girl-child in preference of a male baby.

``Gone are the days when people would come to us only for a male child. Now couples opt for a girl-child even if they don't have a natural male child'', says Tejasvini.

Radhe Shyam Shah, who brought home a girl-child from the Missionaries of Charity nine months ago, says neither his wife distinguished between male or female children. ``My daughter will be my heir'', says Shah, a successful businessman, who decided to go in for adoption after nine years of a childless marriage.

Shah's friend Mukesh Bharatbhai Dalal, a wealthy businessman, too, preferred a girl-child despite the option given by the ARC. ``My wife and I are very happy with our daughter,'' he says, adding, he has no plans to adopt a male child for sons and daughters are equal.

Namrata Naresh Shah, who adopted a girl-child three years ago, says she has no regrets over choosing the child. ``When I saw the baby, it was love at first sight,'' she says, adding gender was never a priority.

Both Tejasvini and Sister Suma, who is serving as the Regional Superior of the Missionaries of Charity, opine that foster parents should tell their children that they are adopted. ``Secret adoption should not be encouraged because it has a severe psychological effect and adversely affects the child's future, when he comes to know the truth from a third source'', they point out.

Agrees Vinod Gada, a businessman hailing from Kutch, who adopted a male-child from the Goregaon Bal Vikas Trust two years ago and after 12 years of his marriage. Regreting that a majority of foster parents hide the truth from the society as well from their adopted children, he maintains that the child should be told the truth before s/he is 15.

Gada says there is an urgent need to promote awareness about adoption so that childless couples can benefit from it and fulfill their dreams of having children. ``There is nothing wrong in adoption. It's a couple getting a child and a child getting parents,'' Sister Suma philosophises.

Tejasvini, pointing out the current practice of writing the names of adoption centres in place of names of parents in birth certificate of adopted children, says it causes psychological depression among such children.

She regretted that though the Union government had through a recent order done away with the practice and allowed putting names of parents and some state governments, including the government of Maharashtra, had implemented it, the Gujarat government had yet not given the go-ahead.

Some names have been changed to protect identities.