YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–In Maternity No.1 Armenuhi Arakelian abandoned her new-born daughter Lily and left her in the charge of an orphanage. The father of the baby–Armenuhi’s husband–also agreed with his wife’s decision. A lost job convinced the family they cannot afford to support their new baby.
According to the maternity workers–this is a case that is becoming more ordinary as socially vulnerable families are forced to take the only option available to them.
In 1997 the Nork orphanage received 91 new-born children–social welfare ministry official Ofelia Petrossian told Noyan Tapan. Twenty-five of the children were returned to their parents–and 42 children were adopted. From 1993-97 orphanages received 278 children and another 61 children have already been abandoned by their parents this year. Due to hard social conditions–the birth rate in the country has decreased almost two fold over recent ten years.