Wicklow families will welcome progress towards Russian adoption agreement

Posted July 18th, 2012 in Children

Fine Gael Wicklow TD, Simon Harris, has welcomed confirmation from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that significant progress has been made towards establishing a bi-lateral agreement with Russia to give recognition to adoptions of Russian children by Irish families.

Deputy Harris said, “I have been contacted by many Wicklow families who hope to adopt children from Russia. At present there is a transitional arrangement between Ireland and Russia, but this is set to expire in October 2013, and this has been a great source of concern to prospective adoptive parents.”
“Ireland automatically recognises adoptions with countries which have ratified the Hague Convention, which offers safeguards to children being adopted across international borders. Russia, however, has not signed the Hague Convention, and is not expected to do so anytime soon.

“As a result of talks between the AAI and its Russian counterpart, a draft bi-lateral agreement has been negotiated and it has been referred to the Office of the Attorney General for comment. It should be noted that any change to the law will need to meet the minimum standards set out in the Hague Convention and, in order to ensure that there are no delays, Minister Fitzgerald has asked the AAI to hold further exploratory talks.

“I am pleased that progress is being made on this issue. As foreign adoptions can take many months and present many emotional highs and lows for people, it is important for the sake of the children involved and for the adoptive parents who invest so much time, money and emotion that adequate legal protection and full recognition is in place.”