In calling on society to be more accepting, the founder of Kami Sanggup Ambil Anak Angkat (KSAAA), Hamidah (not her real name), said the stigma against unwed mothers and their children was detrimental to them.

She said this stigma could lead to baby dumping or mother and child being forced to face tough times without support from their friends or families.

“When a girl gets pregnant, people will brand her as being ‘sleazy’, while the child will be labelled as ‘naughty’ because his or her mother is ‘sleazy, and both mother and child will be ostracised,” she said, adding this was more prevalent in the Malay-Muslim community.

She lamented that even children who were adopted faced such pressure from society, but was glad that the National Registration Department (JPN) had now allowed adopted Muslim children to use other names aside from “bin Abdullah” as their surname.

She said in the past, “bin Abdullah” was often used in the Malay community as a surname for adopted children, and this was how people would know whether someone was adopted.

With the JPN’s new ruling, she said, it would be harder for people to know whether a child was adopted.

Hamidah related how a teenage mother KSAAA helped had not undegone any medical check-up throughout her pregnancy as her family, friends and the father of the child had abandoned her.

“The poor girl called me at 4am, saying she had been abandoned by the father of the child at the bus stop. So I rushed to pick her up.

“The teenage mother told me she estimated that she was only six months’ pregnant but was not sure as she had not gone for any medical check-up before that. At 1pm the same day, she gave birth. She was actually already nine months’ pregnant.

Hamidah said this was why society, especially a woman’s family, needed to accept that they were not infallible and support them through tough times.

“Islam is beautiful. It is un-Islamic to ostracise a person. In Islam, children born out of wedlock or those adopted are considered orphans and we should look after them.

“On one hand, during Ramadan, we give a lot of money for ‘sedekah’ (charity) to treat children from orphanages to break fast in hotels, but in the case of other orphans (born out of wedlock), we ostracise them.

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

She urged society to avoid judging those who had made mistakes, saying it could happen to anyone’s child or grandchild.

Those seeking to adopt children or give up their children can reach out to KSAAA if they are unsure of what to do.

The group has helped over 40 babies, who were either adopted or kept by their biological parents, since its inception four years ago.

Earlier this year, it was reported that according to police statistics, some 100 babies were dumped each year, with more than half of them dead.