Charles Flanagan
Question:180 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the age limit for adoptive parents in respect of domestic adoptions and foreign adoptions. [28213/01]
Written Answers. - Adoption Regulations.
The law does not lay down upper age limits for adopting parents, but adoption agencies generally apply their own age limits for domestic adoption. There are a number of reasons the agencies apply age limits as follows: the birth mothers are involved in the choice of adopters and have a preference for younger parents; the decline in the number of children being placed for adoption means that adopters have to wait a substantial period following the assessment before a child may be placed by which time they would be a few years older and the expectation that a child would be placed with a family where it is likely that the parents would be in a position to care for them appropriately until they reach adulthood.
At present there is no specific age limit which would exclude a couple from being assessed for intercountry adoption, however, age is a factor which would be taken into account in assessing capacity. As with domestic adoption this requires that the assessing social worker is satisfied that the child is likely to have parents who are in a position to care for them appropriately until they reach adulthood.
In addition, it is considered that the adoptive child should not be exposed to a special situation to any greater extent than the adoption itself involves by being placed in a family which deviates in terms of age from that of other children in Ireland.
One of the areas which will be dealt with in the context of the proposed legislation to ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and co-operation in respect of intercountry adoption is age limits for people wishing to adopt domestically or intercountry. When making decisions in this matter I will take into account the views expressed by the Adoption Board, the various stakeholders during the consultative process on the legislation to ratify the Hague Convention and the recommendation contained in the report entitled Towards a Standardised Framework for Intercountry Adoption Assessment Procedures. I will be submitting the heads of the Bill to Government shortly. I can confirm that any age limit would apply at the time of application for assessment with transitional arrangements for those already on the waiting list for adoption.