Parents advised to undergo proper adoption process, no ‘Auntie Kong’ services

Fatimah when met with the reporters at KAA, Bath Kawah on May 17, 2024.

By Marlynda Meraw

KUCHING, May 17: Parents who want to adopt children are advised to undergo the proper adoption process and are strongly discouraged from using ‘Auntie Kong’ services.

According to the Minister of Women, Early Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development of Sarawak Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, ‘Auntie Kong’ are people who facilitate the adoption process for couples through improper procedures.

“There are even instances whereby the ‘Auntie Kong’ is prepared with birth certificates,” said Fatimah when met with reporters at the Kuching Autistic Association (KAA) in Batu Kawah today.

To her, the problem arises when the adopted children create an identity card (IC) and are found out by the National Registration Department (JPN) that their (the children’s) information does not exist within the system.

“When this happens, the (adoption) process must be started all over from the beginning,” she added.

Following the proper adoption process, the adoptive parents’ name will not be on the birth certificate of the child as it is replaced with the biological parents’ names.

However, according to Fatimah, there are cases in which the adoptive parents were listed as the biological parents on the birth certificate of the child.

“This (adoptive parents listing themselves as birth parents within the birth certificate) is quite common in the old times. For this, I will offer the same advice, which is for parents to undergo the proper adoption process,” she said.

Fatimah highlighted how easy it is to undergo the proper adoption process, provided that both the biological and adoptive parents are present at the district office to complete the process under the Adoption Ordinance.

“The district officer will then interview the biological parents and will go through a declaration process. This process can be completed within a day.

“With the adoption certificate, the adoptive parents will then have to head to JPN to obtain a birth certificate for the child,” said Fatimah.

She also said that children whose biological parents are Malaysian and Sarawakian will be registered under Malaysian citizenship and have Sarawakian status.

Fatimah cited application problems arising from biological parents not being present during the adoption process. Due to this, the child’s birth certificate will not include the parents’ or mother’s names, whereas if the biological parents are present during the process, the child will have the parents’ names on the certificate, making the adoption process smoother. — DayakDaily