of six. 3,439 children of all ages were in the care of the department at the end of the year. (See Appendix 5).
19. The Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children has five infant welfare centres at which nutritious food and medical treatment are given to babies and advice to their mothers. It also runs two creches where babies suffering from malnutrition can be nursed back to health. Another infant welfare centre is run by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
20.
The number of babies found abandoned during the year was 208, and all were found places in babies' homes or orphanages. Efforts to trace the parents of these children rarely succeed, but in due course many of them are adopted into families in Hong Kong or elsewhere.
21. The demand for female labour in factories and the need to increase the family income have caused many Chinese mothers to go out to work, and as a result large numbers of children under the age of six are often left uncared for in tenement buildings, in resettlement estates, and in the streets during the day time. Day nurseries and play centres provide places for 1,280 children under the age of six, but many more are needed. During the year four new day nurseries and play centres were opened; two by the Y.W.C.A. in Kowloon, one by the Salvation Army in a resettlement area at Tsuen Wan, and one by the Maryknoll Sisters in King's Park resettlement area.
22. Legal adoption, as distinct from Chinese customary adoption, has been possible in Hong Kong only since October 1956 when the Adoption Ordinance came into force. Under this Ordinance the Director of Social Welfare is normally required to carry out the duties of guardian ad litem. The staff of the Child Welfare Section carry out the necessary investigations and prepare the reports required by the Supreme Court. Eighty four Adoption Orders were made during the year as against fifty three during the previous year. Details are at Appendix 6.
23. Although the number of persons applying to the Courts for Adoption Orders is increasing slowly, the majority of children are still adopted in accordance with Chinese custom. Boys are usually adopted in order to perpetuate the family and are well cared for, but there is a risk that girls may be adopted as a means of obtaining a cheap domestic servant. For this reason the adoption of girls otherwise than by Court Order has by law to be registered with the department, whereupon the Director of Social Welfare becomes the legal guardian until the girl reaches the age of 21 or is married before that age. By
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