From 1952 to 1990 the vast majority of children adopted in Ireland were children who had been placed for adoption within the State. Of those children who were placed for adoption outside Ireland, a significant majority were placed with Irish American families in the United States.

In recent years, there has been a large decline in the number of infants available for domestic adoption. A number of factors have contributed to this trend; in particular the softening of attitudes towards lone parents and the financial supports available to them. In addition, most of the children who are currently placed for adoption in Ireland are adopted by relatives. This has meant that opportunities to adopt a non-relative child have decreased considerably.

Adoption Law in Ireland

The legal process of adoption creates a parent-child relationship between persons who are not related by birth. In Ireland, adoption is governed by the Adoption Acts, 1952, 1964, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1991 and 1998.

Adoption Board

The Adoption Board is the independent statutory body appointed by the Government to regulate both domestic and intercountry adoption. The main duties of the Board are to make adoption orders, to register and supervise adoption societies and to grant declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt abroad. The Board also maintains the National Adoption Contact Preference Register.

Intercountry Adoption

Intercountry adoption involves the movement of children across national borders for the purposes of adoption. In Ireland, requests for assessment for intercountry adoption are continuously increasing. The Study on intercountry adoption, undertaken by the Children's Research Centre in Trinity College, revealed that Ireland has one of the highest rates for intercountry adoption in Europe. The full report may be accessed here:

Intercountry_Adoption_Outcomes_Ireland_Main_Report.pdf

It is against this background that the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is working to create the appropriate legislative, policy and administrative frameworks which will ensure a well regulated regime of adoption. Our aim is to support and protect prospective parents, and even more importantly, the children for whom adoption services are devised and provided.

Hague Convention

A core principle of the Hague Convention is that intercountry adoption should be child centred, that is, in all stages of the process the child’s interests must be paramount. Legislating for intercountry adoption is essential to give protections to children in the process of adoption. The Hague Convention has put in place the equivalent of a contract between states to regulate the standards that will apply in each jurisdiction. It is an additional safeguard for a receiving country like Ireland regarding the standards that are being applied in the sending country, over which we have no jurisdiction. As a receiving country it is especially important to have some confidence in the process of consent to the adoption, the status of the child as adoptable and a guarantee of no improper financial gain from the process.

Legislation and specifically the regime of the Hague Convention provides an assurance for individual children, their families, and the State, that appropriate procedures have been followed and that the adoption was affected in the best interests of the child.

Domestic Adoption

Domestic adoption is where a child is adopted within Ireland, with the consent of his/her natural mother and/or guardian by:
• Relatives
• A Step-parent
• A non-relative
Further information is available at:
www.adoptionboard.ie/domestic/index.php

Information and Tracing

The National Adoption Contact Preference Register helps those affected by adoption to make their wishes known in relation to voluntary contact. It aims to help individuals and families with the often difficult task of ascertaining the current location circumstances, and contact details, of adoptive persons and their natural relatives.

Persons affected by adoption who join the Register can confidentially state their preferences on the extent and type of contact they wish to have with the other party. Participation is voluntary and contact through the register will only be initiated where both parties register. It is important to understand that the options in registering are not simply “yes” or “no”. In fact there are a variety of contact options, ranging from meeting or exchanging letters, to opting for no contact at the moment or to agreeing to provide background or medical information. Participation in the Register is open to adopted people, natural parents and any natural relative of an adopted person. Further information is available at:
www.adoptionboard.ie

Role of the HSE and registered adoption societies

For an intercountry adoption to be recognised in Ireland, all prospective adoptive parents habitually resident in Ireland, must be assessed by the HSE or a registered adoption society and obtain a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability to adopt. The Adoption Board has produced information booklets for prospective adoptive parents that explain the assessment process and the role of the HSE in detail:

The Adoption process:
www.adoptionboard.ie/booklets/Intercountry/Booklet_1_Adoption_Process.pdf

The Assessment Process:
www.adoptionboard.ie/booklets/Intercountry/Booklet_2_Assesment_Process.pdf

After the Declaration:
www.adoptionboard.ie/booklets/Intercountry/Booklet_3_After_the_Declaration.pdf

When the adoptive family return with the child the Board also has a role in relation to the health and welfare of the child. Many countries require that post-placement reports are submitted after the adoption. This provision of post placement reports assures other jurisdictions regarding the safety and care of children which they have allowed to be adopted across jurisdictions. The co-operation of adoptive parents is important in ensuring the continued willingness of other jurisdictions to allow Irish applicants to adopt. In this context, the HSE has prepares and provides post adoption reports in line with the requirements of foreign jurisdictions and the Adoption Board facilitates the transmission of such reports where required.

Current Issues

Legislation

The Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is currently drafting the Adoption Bill, 2008, which will give force of law to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The Bill also provides for the consolidation, restating or updating of the provisions of the Adoption Acts 1952-1998 as appropriate, and for the repeal of those Acts. Drafting of this legislation has been completed. The Bill will be published at the earliest opportunity.

The text of the Hague Convention and its Explanatory report may be accessed by clicking on the following links

Hague Convention

Explanatory Report

Proposed Constitutional Referendum

The Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2007 was published in February 2007 and contained the Government’s proposal to amend the Constitution in relation to children and included a provision to ensure that all children would be eligible for voluntary adoption, subject to appropriate consents. The Programme for Government of June 2007 committed to deepening consensus on the Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2007 and to this end, the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children [JCCAC] was established in November, 2007, to report back within four months, on the proposals set out in the Bill. The Committee recently received Dáil and Seanad approval for an extension of their timeframe to 30th November 2008. The Committee is now progressing with its work and the Government awaits the outcome of its deliberations before proceeding further with the proposed amendment of the Constitution in relation to children.

Waiting times for intercountry adoption assessment

The OMCYA is aware that persons applying for intercountry adoption are experiencing delays in the assessment process and appreciates the frustration this causes to those who are anxious to adopt and who are more than willing to participate fully in the necessary assessment procedures.

The HSE has undertaken a review of the intercountry adoption service. This review examined staffing, business processes, resources, strengths and options within the service. On foot of this review, it is expected that the HSE will submit a proposed strategy on the management of the service into the future based on this work and parallel discussions with professionals within the service.
Although the assessment process can be lengthy, it is very important for both the prospective parents and the child. Officials from the OMCYA will continue to work closely with the HSE and the Adoption Board on the streamlining of services, and the development and implementation of best practice on a consistent basis around the country with a view to achieving improvements in the service.

Useful links

Adoption Board www.adoptionboard.ie
The Adoption Board is the independent statutory body appointed by the Government to regulate both intercountry and domestic adoption in Ireland. Information booklets on the adoption process, and on tracing, are available on its website.

Adoption Legislation: 2003 Consultation and Proposals for Change
The report of the 2003 public consultation process on adoption legislation.

Helping Hands www.helpinghands.ie
Helping Hands was established set up in 2005 as a not-for-profit body, licensed by the Adoption Board and the Vietnamese Government. It is the only Irish Adoption Mediation Agency, and its purpose is to provide adoptive parents with support before, during and after adoption from Vietnam.

Adoption Support Groups

International Adoption Association: www.iaaireland.org

Intercountry Adoption Association: sharonod@gofree.indigo.ie

Irish Chinese Adoption Group: www.iccg.ie

VINAF: www.vinaf.ie

Thai Adoption Group: homepage.eircom.net/~thaigroup/

Viet Irish Support Group: www.vietirishsupport.net

Irish Families for Russian Adoptions: 045 870063

Parents of Romanian Adoption Children: parcireland@eircom.net

Belarus Ireland Adoption & Parents Society: eastherquinn@eircom.net

The attached link is a status table of countries in relation to the Hague Convention

http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=69