International Adoption Guide

Hundreds of children are forced to wait an average of 20 months from entering care to moving in with their adoptive parents – six months slower than the timetable set out in national guidance, according to official figures published today.

Adoption is about to get easier and faster. A simplified procedure, time-bound approvals and specialised centres in every district are among a series of steps planned to speed up the procedure, which drags for months and at times even years.

A new film that opens in the US this week, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, stars Jennifer Lopez as a young mother who adopts from Ethiopia when her IVF treatments fails.

On April 13, 2012, the Government of Sierra Leone's Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs lifted the suspension on intercountry adoptions that it enacted on May 21, 2009. Official information states at this time that any new intercountry adoptions will take place under the country’s existing legal framework. An interagency committee established by the Ministry continues to work on new adoption laws and procedure and the situation remains fluid. We strongly encourage prospective adoptive parents to read all information regarding intercountry adoption procedures for Sierra Leone prior to beginning the process of intercountry adoption.

Spain has been rocked by a scandal that involves children been taken from their birthparents and given to otheres sometimes for money other times a reward gift for hard work.

The Inter Country Adoption Board (ICAB), an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), successfully matched 12 children from Central Visayas for inter country adoption.

By Meron Tekleberhan

A developmental perspective is required when it comes to supporting adopted children and the families who take them in.

April 11, 2012 The Romanian Office for Adoptions announced that its new adoption law went into effect on April 7, 2012. The new law allows for intercountry adoptions of Romanian children by relatives of the fourth degree of kinship, the spouse of the child’s natural parent, and Romanian citizens who are habitually resident abroad.

April 11, 2012 The Romanian Office for Adoptions announced that its new adoption law went into effect on April 7, 2012. The new law allows for intercountry adoptions of Romanian children by relatives of the fourth degree of kinship, the spouse of the child’s natural parent, and Romanian citizens who are habitually resident abroad.