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Mexican adoptions not affected

CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor

Mon, Jan 30, 2012

THERE IS as yet no evidence that uncompleted adoptions from Mexico will be affected by recent events in the country in which 11 Irish couples have been questioned in connection with illegal adoptions, according to the chairman of the Adoption Authority.

Geoffrey Shannon told The Irish Times there was ongoing contact with Mexican authorities in relation to 18 adoptions currently in train from Mexico, but stressed this was routine under the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, to which both Ireland and Mexico are signatories.

Countries: Ireland, United States of America, Mexico, India

Adoption law to help children of married parents

CARE: Call for more flexible system

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By Alan O'Keeffe

Monday January 30 2012

CHILDREN of married parents will be allowed to be voluntarily adopted under new legislation planned by the Government.

Currently, the only way a child of married parents can be adopted by others is if the parents have been legally deemed to have failed or are likely to fail in their duties of care for the child.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said large numbers of children of married parents who could have been adopted in the past were barred from being adopted because of the Constitution.

The upcoming Children's Rights Referendum to change the Constitution will be accompanied by new laws allowing children of married parents to be adopted, she said.

Children of unmarried parents do not face the same hurdles when it comes to adoption. A mother who is not married can voluntarily give their child up for adoption.

Currently, married parents do not have that option and the new laws are intended to introduce more flexibility into the system to improve the care options for children.

Cost

Meanwhile, efforts to speed up the system for people seeking to adopt children from foreign countries are under way. Prospective parents may be asked to make a financial contribution to the cost of assessments regarding their suitability.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been criticised for long delays in the assessment process and extra financing may allow these tasks to be outsourced to outside agencies.

The Adoption Act 2010 enables the HSE to use outside agencies to do assessment work but so far there has been no outsourcing of these functions.

The Adoption Authority has stated in recent months that there were a number of factors influencing the numbers of inter-country adoptions, including increasing delays by the (HSE) in assessing people's suitability.

Child protection here is its priority so adoption is not hugely resourced.

There has been a fall off in people proceeding with adoption because of the recession, while some were waiting to see if more countries would open up to Irish people.

Russia accounted for the largest proportion -- some 38pc -- of all adoptions into Ireland between 1991 and 2010.

aokeeffe@herald.ie

- Alan O'Keeffe

Countries: Ireland

Message for U.S. Citizens – Barring of Two U.S. Adoption Agencies by IHNFA (January 30, 2012)

2012 Messages for U.S. Citizens

Message for U.S. Citizens – Barring of Two U.S. Adoption Agencies by IHNFA (January 30, 2012)

January 30, 2012

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras informs citizens that the Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA ) has barred two U.S. adoption agencies from the local adoption process, effective immediately. The IHNFA will no longer approve adoption requests filed by families who utilized the agencies to facilitate the adoption of a local child, as the agencies are no longer registered in Honduras. Only adoptions approved by the IHNFA can be processed for Immigrant Visas, as the IHNFA is the Government of Honduras’ Central Adoption Authority.

The following U.S. adoption agencies are no longer accredited in Honduras:

1. Living Hope Adoption Agency, IHNFA’s resolution SG-016-2011

2. Gladney Center for Adoption, IHNFA’s resolution SG-017-2011

The Embassy continues to monitor the adoption situation in Honduras and will update U.S. citizens accordingly. Meanwhile, we recommended that families who have not finalized adoptions contact IHNFA directly at ihnfadopciones@yahoo.es or at 011-504-2235-3565 to be sure their applications are handled by an accredited adoption agency.

If you are going to live in or visit Honduras, please take the time to tell our Embassy about your trip. If you sign up, we can keep you up to date with important safety and security announcements. We can also help your friends and family get in touch with you in an emergency. Here’s the link to the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.

U.S. citizens should consult the Country Specific Information for Honduras and the latest Travel Alerts and Warnings and Worldwide Caution at the State Department's website: www.travel.state.gov

Current information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States, or for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

The U.S. Embassy is located on Avenida La Paz in Tegucigalpa; telephone (504) 2238-5114, after hours telephone (504) 2236-8497; Consular Section fax (504) 2238-4357; E-mail: usahonduras@state.gov; Webpage: http://honduras.usembassy.gov.

American Citizen Services at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acstegucigalpa.

Organizations: Living Hope Adoption Agency, Gladney Center for Adoption

Countries: Honduras

Fitzgerald challenged on adoptions

The Irish Times - Friday, January 27, 2012

Fitzgerald challenged on adoptions

2010 Act saves adoptive child and couple from pitfalls | 27/01/2012

In this section »

Countries: Ireland, Mexico

Uruguay approves $513,000 settlement for disappearance, illegal adoption during dictatorship

By Associated Press, Published: January 24

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay’s president has approved a $513,000 payment to Macarena Gelman, who was illegally adopted during the dictatorship after her mother was tortured and disappeared.

The payment complies with an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling that accuses Uruguay of delaying justice for crimes committed by its dictatorship in the 1970s, according to a brief statement posted Tuesday on the presidency’s website.

Gelman’s parents were kidnapped in Argentina and taken to a torture center notorious for being a nexus of Operation Condor, the effort by South America’s U.S.-supported dictatorships to combine forces and eliminate opponents in each other’s countries.

Countries: Uruguay

Kyrgyzstan grants US Christian organization adoption services permit

By Associated Press, Published: January 23

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan is allowing foreign adoptions to resume, issuing the first permit to a U.S.-based Christian organization.

The Social Development Ministry said Monday it chose Christian World Adoption after a rigorous selection process.

Christian World Adoption says the move would allow it to resume adoptions from Kyrgyzstan. International adoptions were suspended in Kyrgyzstan in 2009 as authorities sought to improve regulations and root out corruption in the process.

Countries: Kyrgyzstan

Organizations: Christian World Adoption

Children’s shelter owner to face trial

January 23 2012 at 08:25am

By Tania Broughton

Durban North children’s shelter owner Hester Elizabeth van Schalkwyk will face trial later this year on allegations that she ran the home illegally and facilitated illegal adoptions.

It is also likely that she will face further charges of fraud for misrepresenting to prospective adoptive parents that she was legally entitled to do adoptions.

Countries: South Africa

Peer Review Croatia - Ankie - Croatia must accede to Hague

From: GIANSANTI Annalisa (ELARG)

Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 9:02 AM

To: 'ankie vandekerckhove'

Cc: IBOLD Per (JUST); JONES Allan (ELARG)

Subject: FW:

Organizations: The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and International Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption

Persons: Ankie Vandekerckhove

Countries: Croatia

Jaarverslag Kind & Gezin

Shareable Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v632S8Tk7zoBRV0MgjXxu3rYWX2kXEX4

Organizations: Vlaamse Centrale Autoriteit Adoptie (Kind en Gezin) - Belgium

Countries: Belgium

Adoptieprofessor met hart voor het gezin

Gepubliceerd op: 17 januari 2012

Henrieke van Dam

Meer informatie

Adoptieprofessor met hart voor het gezin

Ze is de enige adoptieprofessor ter wereld en werd in 2010 onderscheiden voor haar werk. Tekeningen aan de wand van haar werkkamer tonen het interesseveld van bijzonder hoogleraar Femmie Juffer: kinderen; adoptiekinderen in het bijzonder.

Persons: Femmie Juffer