Orphans of the Pandemic: Who are the children left after the death of their parents?

Since March 2020, the world has mourned the death of thousands of people who were victims of COVID-19. In the eagerness (and need) to find an antidote for the virus, there was no time to think about who would be left behind once it was done; in this case, the underage children of adults who have died and the guardians who suddenly find themselves responsible for these children.

One of the children of this tragedy is Lucas.* He was born on January 1, 2021, after a risky and unlikely pregnancy. His mother, then 36 years old, carried a number of risk factors, including an autoimmune disease.

The child was a dream come true for the family; however, the dream was soon interrupted by a nightmare. Soon after delivery, the first flu-like symptoms began to manifest in Lucas’ mother. At that time, very little was known about COVID-19, and hospitals in Amazonas, Brazil, lacked the basics, such as oxygen.

With that in mind, and trusting that the illness would soon pass, Lucas’ mother decided to stay home rather than seeking medical attention. Around this same time, her mother, Lucas’ grandmother, also began to show symptoms. Despite being in the same house, they decided to isolate themselves. The women’s conditions only worsened. 

In another municipality, Lucas' father had also been infected. COVID-19's symptoms were getting worse.

Even with all this context, the family could not imagine the worst scenario that was about to happen. On Saturday, January 9, the family received the news that Lucas’ father had been hospitalized. Later that day, his mother was taken to the hospital. But in the municipality of Iranduba, about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Manaus, there was no oxygen.

The family then went to the capital of Amazonas in search of assistance. Once there, they left Lucas’ mother accompanied by her father and returned to fetch Lucas’ grandmother. Before they even got home, the news of Lucas’ mother’s death came.

But the situation did not allow them to mourn their grief. They quickly took the older woman to the Iranduba hospital, now refilled with oxygen cylinders, and there she was admitted.

For Lucas’ aunt, only one thought occurred: “My mother needs to go back. This baby doesn't have a mother anymore, and he needs his grandmother.” 

Unfortunately, this wish was not granted.

Still inside the cemetery gates, on January 10, the news came that the family’s matriarch had not survived. They collapsed--father, sisters, friends, and family. Such a tragedy did not seem real. 

“It was a desperate cry, it was something devastating,” says Lucas’ aunt says of her sister’s reaction to the news. 

On January 18, Lucas entered statistics and became yet another COVID-19 orphan. His father had died without knowing that he had lost both his wife and his mother-in-law to the same virus. 

A study published in the scientific journal “The Lancet” on July 20, 2021, and translated into Portuguese by BBC News Brasil, exposes a devastating reality. In Brazil, between March 2020 and April 2021, 113,000 Brazilian minors lost their father, mother, or both as a result of infection by the novel coronavirus. When we extend the analysis to caregivers such as grandparents, this number reaches 130,000 children and adolescents. Worldwide, there are already more than 1.5 million orphans. However, the system is not yet able to identify and provide the necessary care for these families.

The same survey also shows the numbers in Argentina: More than 13,000 children have lost their father, mother, or both. In Peru, according to the newspaper Ojo Público, there are around 10,000 orphans. In that country, the federal government instituted a pension for these children, distributed by the National Integral Program for Family Welfare. Despite this, the number of beneficiaries is still very low, compared to how many requested the benefit.

In most cases, care for these children is taken over by a close relative. Lucas’ aunt took care of her nephew, but this was not a simple decision.

“I prayed a lot and asked for an answer from God,” she says. The answer came, but she had to give up her home, the career she was building, and other dreams to assume this maternal role. Now they all live in the house of the grandfather who lost his wife and daughter in less than 24 hours.

The problem is even more serious when we talk about the loss of income and livelihood caused by these deaths. When families are not ready financially (and emotionally) to accept this responsibility, the state needs to intervene.

A bill that intends to offer financial assistance to these individuals is being processed in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Federal Senate of Brazil, but it has not yet entered into force at the national level. Some states, such as Maranhão, already offer the benefit.

On the other hand, children who cannot be cared for by their extended family are referred to foster homes such as SAICA (Institutional Care Service for Children and Adolescents) in Pouso Alegre, southern Minas Gerais, and maintained by ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency).

Elisângela Rangel is an ADRA social worker and explains that the first step is to explain to that child what happened. 

“Most of the time, the child or adolescent has no idea why they are being welcomed,” she says. “We do all the welcoming together with the psychologist so that the child understands the whole context.”

Adaptation and adoption by new families also tend to be different depending on the child's age group. 

“When it's a child up to six or seven years old, it's usually easier to adopt or refer them to a foster family,” Rangel explains. “In the case of children aged eight and over, we have more difficulties.”

This is because most families applying to adopt a child prefer babies or younger children. Even so, the process is slow and, in the end, it may be that the child prefers to remain in the shelter, which is usually at that point seen to the child as “home.”

It is possible that there are still many children who were not accounted for by the system and the full consequences of this tragic pandemic will not be understood for many years to come.

*Name changed to protect identity and privacy.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site.