THE PROBLEMS OF ALLOWING GIRLS TO GROW UP IN ORPHANAGE HOMES AND MARRY FROM THERE

THE PROBLEMS OF ALLOWING GIRLS TO GROW UP IN ORPHANAGE HOMES AND MARRY FROM THERE

Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus Zereuwa SSPP

utaziprince@yahoo.com

Introduction

The intersection of institutional care and early marriage represents a multifaceted social challenge with serious implications for the psychological, educational, social, and health outcomes of girls. While orphanage homes are intended to provide shelter and basic needs for children without parental care, research increasingly shows that growing up within institutional environments often fails to offer the emotional, relational, and developmental supports necessary for healthy maturation. When this situation is combined with patterns of early or child marriage; which may occur after a girl leaves institutional care, the result can be compounded disadvantages that affect the individual child and her community.

Psychosocial and Developmental Limitations of Orphanages

Institutional settings have long been critiqued by child development scholars for inhibiting secure attachment and emotional formation. Children raised in orphanages often lack stable primary caregivers, which impairs early brain development and can lead to attachment disorders and compromised coping mechanisms later in life.¹ These environments commonly suffer from understaffing, lack of individualized attention, and poor emotional stimulation, all of which are central to psychological health and adaptive behavior.² As a result, many orphanage graduates experience difficulty forming trusting relationships, managing emotions, and navigating social demands of post-institutional life.³

Studies have documented a range of psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, among children who are raised in institutional care, further impairing their capacity for social integration and resilience.4 Attachment theory suggests that the absence of consistent caregiving can leave deep emotional scars, increasing vulnerability to stressors in adulthood.5

Let us take a look at these three effects when they get married: 

Lack of Family Advocacy: Orphaned girls usually have no parents or guardians to intervene if they are mistreated. Even if abuse occurs in their marriage,, there may be no one to challenge it or provide legal or emotional support.

Social Isolation: Many orphanage graduates lack extended family ties or community support. This isolation can make it difficult for them to report abuse or seek help without fear of stigma or retaliation.

Economic Vulnerability: Girls leaving orphanages often have limited skills or financial independence. Early marriage may appear as a solution for survival, but it can trap them in dependency on a husband who may be abusive.

Compounding Effects: Orphanage Upbringing and Early Marriage

When the developmental deficits associated with institutional care are compounded by the adverse effects of early marriage, the consequences for girls can be profound. Both institutional upbringing and child marriage independently undermine educational attainment, psychological well-being, and economic opportunity.6 Together, they can trap women in intergenerational cycles of disadvantage, where limited education and entrenched gender norms restrict social mobility and maintain inequality.

The combination of orphanage rearing and early marriage can also exacerbate health risks. Early pregnancy among child brides increases maternal mortality and contributes to higher rates of child morbidity.7 Additionally, the mental health consequences of child marriage, which include increased rates of depression and emotional distress are well documented.8 Without adequate social networks or family support, former orphanage residents who experience early marriage may be isolated and less likely to access essential healthcare or community resources.

Towards the Solution

Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach: reforms in orphan care that promote family-based or kinship alternatives, preventive measures against child marriage, and robust support systems that prepare girls for independent adulthood. The most important approach is reducing the high amount of money charged for adoption. This will help reduce the number of children who will be left to grow into adulthood within the walls of Orphanage homes.

Conclusion

Allowing girls to grow up in orphanage homes and subsequently enter into marriage directly from that context presents a range of challenges that jeopardize their long-term well-being. Institutional care, despite often being seen as a protective alternative to family deprivation, frequently fails to provide crucial psychological, emotional, and developmental support. When combined with the pressures and limitations associated with early marriage, girls face compounded risks that inhibit their education, health, economic independence, and social integration.

Endnotes

Responsible Tourism Partnership, The Problem: Why Are Orphanage Visits Harmful? (n.d.). 

Ainur Sadyrova and Zhomart Simtikov, Socialisation and Experience of Living in Orphanages During Childhood, International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy 19 (2025). 

Orphans in Orphanages and Their Psychological Problems, NTF (2023). 

Lorraine Sherr et al., Child Violence Experiences in Institutionalised/Orphanage Care, Psychology, Health & Medicine (2017). 

Responsible Tourism Partnership, The Problem: Why Are Orphanage Visits Harmful? 

Sadyrova and Simtikov, Socialisation and Experience 

Child Marriage in South Sudan, Wikipedia entry. 

Rochelle A. Burgess et al., Overlooked and Unaddressed: A Narrative Review of Mental Health Consequences of Child Marriages, PLOS Global Public Health (2022).