Tony Gregory
Question:99 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Health and Children his response to the concerns (details supplied) in response to the Adoption Board's circular on inter-country adoption. [2097/00]
Written Answers. - Inter-Country Adoptions.
The Adoption Board has been responsible for the making of adoption orders since the introduction of adoption in Ireland on 1 January 1953. It is an independent statutory body established under the Adoption Act, 1952, and is responsible for the administration of the adoption process. As the primary body responsible for adoption matters it has developed a specialised knowledge of the issues surrounding adoption, domestic and inter-country. I sought a report from the board in relation to its recent circular regarding age limits for couples applying for an assessment of suitability for inter-country adoption. It has advised as follows in relation to the matter.
The board outlined in broad terms the reasoning behind the recent decision to issue guidelines on age limits. It referred to the report Towards a Standardised Framework for Intercountry Adoption Assessment Procedures. I have already commented in detail in the House on the reasons this report was commissioned. The report recommends that there be no more than a 42 year age gap between the adopters and the child. Under existing legislation the board is unable to impose such an age restriction when making declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt abroad. This difficulty arises from the fact that couples, once granted their declaration, make their own arrangements regarding the placement or adoption of a foreign child in the country of origin. There were, therefore, practical difficulties in implementing the recommendation precisely as outlined in the report.
The board referred to the fact that an increasing number of adult adoptees who were adopted in the State have complained to the board that they were placed with older couples. These adoptees have stated that their childhood experiences of being reared by their adoptive parents were more akin to being reared by grandparents because their adoptive parents were older than the parents of their peers.
The board advised that it also had regard to the approximate upper age limit at which children are born in to the normal Irish family and the desirability of the adopted child having the life expectation that its parents would be in the age bracket to enable them to nurture the child to adulthood.
The board also expressed its concern at the increasing age profile of inter-country adopters and referred to similar concerns expressed by social workers in the assessing agencies.
The board noted that in reaching its decision to impose an age limit it is obliged to consider the welfare of the child as of paramount importance and in this context it has allowed exceptions to the age limit in cases where the prospective adoptive parents have a pre-existing relationship with the child or where the sibling becomes available for adoption. The board commented that, to date, approximately 90% of couples who applied to have their inter-country adoptions recognised under Irish law or who have had Irish adoption orders made in respect of foreign children, have come within the board's latest guidelines on age.
Specifying age limits for eligibility is one of the more controversial aspects of the inter-country adoption process. I am satisfied, however, that the board's report as outlined above reflects the careful attention given to this decision to issue guidelines. It also helps to remind us that adoption is a service for children in which we must consider the interests of the child as paramount.