Sandeep, 35, and Reena Mander, a British Asian couple are suing an adoption agency for refusing to let them adopt a child in the UK, and advising them to adopt a child from India instead.
They were told not to apply because white applicants from Britain and Europe will be given preference to become adoptive parents in the UK. The two Sikh professionals from Berkshire have no close links to India and requested the adoption agency for a child from any ethnic background, but were rejected as only white children were up for adoption.
With the backing of their local MP Theresa May, they are suing the agency and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The Manders told the Times that they are desperate for a child, having tried IVF unsuccessfully 16 times over the course of seven years. ‘Giving an adopted child – no matter what race – the security of a loving home was all we wanted to do.
‘What we didn’t expect was a refusal for us to even apply for adoption, not because of our incapability to adopt, but because our cultural heritage was defined as “Indian/Pakistani”.’
Speaking to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, Reena said ‘It’s quite hurtful that we were written off at the first hurdle.'
Georgina Calvert-Lee from McAllister Olivarius law firm, representing the Manders, told the paper that it is unacceptable for a child to be denied loving adoptive parents solely on the grounds that the child does not share the same racial or cultural heritage as the adopters.
Micheal Gove had introduced reforms to end the prevalence of racial profiling in the adoption system. New statutory guidance for local authorities and adoption agencies in 2011 made clear that a child's ethnicity should not be a barrier.