Bulgaria NOT Closing to Adoption

Bulgaria NOT Closing to Adoption

Rumors

April 01,2010 / Anonymous

Rumors of Bulgaria closing to international adoption are untrue. Bulgaria continues to iron-out its program to place orphaned children internationally. In a March 23rd forum between Bulgarian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials, the Social Support Agency in Bulgaria , and representatives of Non-Government Organizations, it was agreed by all to work more closely in sharing information about special needs and older children. It was also established that many more children will be added to the adoption registry during 2010, in the hope of allowing these children to find permanency.

Due to the intensity of the work needed to thoroughly document each child's case before adding the child to the registry, it was acknowledged that patience must be exerted by each agency and prospective family concerned with the welfare of these children. The process will require many months before all children living in orphanages have a clear, documented case plan.

A new Family Code was established in October of 2009 in Bulgaria . Before the implementation of this code, children often languished in orphanages with no clear plan for reunification or adoption (domestic or international). Under the new code, efforts are made to reunite the children with their birth families. If the families do not take steps to claim their children, then the child is entered into the official registry.

The forum, which united 23 Bulgarian organizations for mediation in international adoptions, was to outline the first results of implementing the new Family Code, and the challenges and opportunities facing the state institutions, the capacity of municipalities and NGOs working in this field. During the meeting, representatives of accredited organizations expressed special gratitude to the staff of MoJ for their efforts in finding a solution for each child in institutional care.

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