Care Leavers in India: The Invisible Struggle for Identity and Support

The world expects us to stand alone, but who teaches us how?We don’t just want to exist—we want to live with dignity. By Hajra Bano Hajrabano1910@gmail.com Thousands of young adults from child care institutions like orphanages and foster care systems in India exit when they reach the age of 18. The world wants us to be independent, to stand on our own two feet, but nobody knows about the invisible struggle we endure. Without a family to turn back to, without a place to call home, our path into adulthood is one of uncertainty, isolation, and struggle. Our struggles are not merely financial or material—they are struggles of identity, belonging, and survival in a world that frequently ignores us. The Identity Crisis: Who Are We? Living in an institution means growing up with a gap—a name without a past, a life without heritage. Legal Identity: A Struggle for Documents In India, all things—education, employment, even as simple as the purchase of a SIM card—are made possible through le...