Ghana is witnessing a growing interest in adop­tion, with 158 families seeking to adopt children in the first half of this year alone, data from the Central Adoption Authority (CAA) has revealed. Within the same period, the Authority, which operates under the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, received 220 enquiries about adoption from various inter­ested parties. Although the Head of the Authority, Mr Stephen Tikai Dombo, who provided these statistics, could not offer comparative data for the same period last year, he was confident that the figures had increased. "This represents a steady growth in the number of applications over the months, reflecting a strong and growing interest in adoption," he told the Ghanaian Times in an exclusive interview. Breaking down the half-year data, he said 24 applications were received in January, increasing to 21 in February, 28 in March, and peaking at 41 in April, before decreasing to 25 in May and 17 in June. The enquiries, he noted, numbered 70 in January, 31 in February, 39 in March, 35 in April, 27 in May, and 18 in June.