Ukraine – Ministry of Social Policy Statement on Intercountry Adoption
March 21, 2022
Ukraine – Ministry of Social Policy Statement on Intercountry Adoption
On March 13, 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy issued the following statement on Intercountry Adoption Under Conditions of Marial Law – A Clarification. The Department of State is pleased to provide the following official translation. Official Ukrainian updates about a range of issues related to the invasion, including the evacuation of children residing in institutional care, are available on the Cabinet of Ministers website.
OFFICIAL TRANSLATION
Intercountry Adoption Under Conditions of Martial Law –
A Clarification from the Ministry of Social Policy
Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, published March 13, 2022, at 22:19
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Recently the mass media and social networks have been filled with notices about the willingness of foreigners to adopt a child from Ukraine and with appeals that Ukrainian children need to be adopted abroad.
The Ministry of Social Policy emphasizes that under current conditions intercountry adoption is impossible and that disseminating such inaccurate information contains signs of fraud and violations of the rights of the child.
This is why we appeal to all concerned citizens, civil society organizations, and international organizations not to disseminate misinformation and not to endanger children.
In reality, because of risks to the life and health of children as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, children and families with children are being evacuated to safe areas within Ukraine as well as beyond Ukraine’s borders to other countries, including member states of the European Union.
This is stipulated by international law and practice that pertains to intercountry adoption in such conditions.
The policy of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees with respect to adoption is that children who are evacuated to other countries as a result of an emergency situation, including children who are granted refugee status in the territory of other countries, cannot be adopted because the majority of them are not orphans or do not have official authoritative confirmation to that effect.
Such children require appropriate temporary care for possible reunification with [their] families in the future rather than adoption.
In addition, adoption must not be carried out if:
– there is hope of successfully finding and reuniting families in the best interests of the child, and
– a reasonable period of time has not yet passed (usually at least two years) during which all possible steps were taken to find the parents or other surviving family members.
Countries of origin of such children and countries of their temporary residence must make all possible efforts to find the family members of such children before they can be considered eligible for adoption.
This is stipulated by national legislation of Ukraine that pertains to intercountry adoption.
In accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, adoption of a child who is a citizen of Ukraine by foreigners or by citizens of Ukraine who reside beyond its borders requires the consent of the National Social Service. It is this Service that oversees matters pertaining to intercountry adoption.
The National Social Service is not currently considering cases and is not providing consent and/or permits for the adoption of children by foreigners or by citizens of Ukraine who reside beyond its borders. Because of active hostilities, it is impossible to ensure high-quality verification of documents of foreign citizens who have expressed a desire to adopt a child, to ensure contact between the prospective adoptive parent and the child, to establish the child’s opinion regarding adoption by precisely this person, to obtain findings and the consent of interested parties (parents, institutions in which the children lived, guardianship and trusteeship bodies, etc.).
Without such verification and preliminary work there is a great risk that the child could fall into the hands of fraudsters, persons who would not ensure the child’s rights and best interests, or human traffickers.
When the situation permits resumption of high-quality verification of documents of foreigners who are prospective adoptive parents and of the preliminary work required for the process of intercountry adoption, the Government of Ukraine will inform the public and competent authorities of foreign countries without delay about the terms and specifics of resuming intercountry adoption.
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Post-Adoption Report Day!
POSTED MAY 10, 2017 BY NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION
The Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State has declared May 15th Post-Adoption Report Day. It’s an opportunity to highlight the importance that parents who have adopted through intercountry adoption keep their promises and submit post-adoption reports as they committed to during the adoption process.
Here are 3 simple reasons NCFA believes Post-Adoption Reporting matters!
– You promised!
As a part of the adoption process, you were entrusted with the care of your child and promised to share about their future experiences. While it is easy to forget about extra paperwork in the important work of caring for your children, we think keeping your promise to report back on the wellbeing of your child is critically important.
– It’s a great opportunity for reflection.
Post-adoption reports are a good time to do some reflection and assessment. Consider your reporting dates an opportunity, not an obligation. You can review and celebrate progress and milestones. Take a moment to consider what types of support might help your child (and you!) to grow and thrive. And consider what your goals are for your child and your family between now and the next reporting date. It’s also a terrific time to touch base with your adoption agency or other adoption professionals if you need any support. For some countries, you’re required to connect with your agency at this time anyway. It’s a natural and convenient time to touch base about any questions, concerns, or supports your family might find valuable.
– You’re helping to support future adoptions.
Post-adoption reports are one of the ways countries assess whether children are healthy, safe, and loved as a result of intercountry adoption. This information can be critical to deciding whether future children will have the option to join families through intercountry adoption or might otherwise languish in institutions or other impermanent situations.
So, what exactly is a post-adoption report? While the number and timing of reports required varies, generally the report’s goal is to discuss the child’s development and adjustment to a new family, home, and country. It’s important to pay special attention to the specific requirements in the country a child is adopted from. The type of information, how it should be assessed (through an agency or by parents themselves), and how it should be submitted can vary widely from country to country. Below, we’ve listed some basic information on several countries reporting requirements. If you have specific questions about what your reporting requirements are, we encourage you to reach out to your adoption service provider to learn more. Department of State also provides country specific information and can be contacted if you need more information.
Post-Adoption Report Requirements
We aren’t listing in detail all the country requirements, but wanted to give examples of some common countries of origin and their general guidelines, we’ve also linked through to more specific information at Department of State for each country. Of course, the best way to get information on what is required for your adoption is always to contact your adoption service provider and confirm what was required by the country at the time of your adoption and any other requirements the agency might have that you agreed to during the adoption process.
Bulgaria: 4 reports required. One every six months after adoption for first two years.
China: 6 reports required. Six months after adoption and at 1,2,3,4, and 5 years after adoption. First 3 reports must be prepared by the social workers who prepared the homestudy. Families may write last three reports themselves.
Haiti: 7 post-adoption reports are typically required. The first 4 must be completed with the adoption service provider at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after adoption. The last 3 reports at moths 36, 48, and 60 may be submitted directly to IBESR by adoptive parents.
To find the requirements for the country you’re working with, you can search here or contact our adoption specialists today!
Read MoreFamily Home From Guyana
With one of our amazing families bringing their child home from Guyana this week, we wanted to share a blog from another one of the families in our Guyana adoption program who brought their kiddos home nearly two years ago! If you’re interested in learning how you can begin your Guyana adoption journey, contact our CAN matching specialists or visit our Guyana adoption page today!
Well, blogging hasn’t happened in a while! We’ve been a little busy – became a mom again for the 4th and 5th time! We are loving life with 5 kids. Miles and Kallie have added so much joy, laughter, noise, and fun to our family! I’ve had several blogs I want to write on our adoption story but there is one I just couldn’t wait to write anymore. So if you will all bear with me as I share a few adoption stories in the coming weeks – some things are just to good to not share!
My family (husband and 3 biological children) headed to Guyana (South America) to adopt Miles and Kallie (siblings) We stayed in a furnished apartment. Guyana is hot/humid and there is not much to do there (like really – there is nothing to do there!) so our days were filled with homeschooling (yep, perks of homeschooling you can do it anywhere), swimming in the pool, and in the evening we would all cuddle up and watch a movie.
One night the kids wanted to watch Horton Hears a Who – I love this book, I’ve loved this book for a long time. Last summer we spent a week in Tahoe with my husband’s family and visited a traveling Dr. Seuss museum that included his rare hats. Super fun trip and we learned some really neat stuff about Dr. Seuss. There were rare paintings he had never planned on releasing to the general public and the stories they told about his work was wonderful. But the explanation for Horton Hears a Who I will never forget – they told us that Dr. Seuss wrote Horton Hears a Who against abortion. I researched this and there are conflicting reports as for whether he actually wrote it for this purpose or not, but it sure made the book stand out to me in a whole new way.
For those of you who have never read Horton Hears a Who the general story is that a large elephant hears a noise on a flower that has a speck on it. The tiny speck has the entire town of Who-ville living on it. Horton and his enormous ears are able to hear the town and he promises to take them to a place of safety. Horton has a great quote “a person is a person no matter how small” and he goes through all sorts of teasing and weather and perils to finally put the speck in a safe place so the town of Who-ville can survive.
Now back to my story (sorry totally derailed) . . . my kids decide to watch Horton Hears a Who one night while in Guyana. I’m cuddling up with Kallie on the couch watching this super funny movie and the Lord so sweetly spoke to me. He reminded me of all the times I was back in America feeling crazy because my heart and my arms were breaking for my babies in Guyana that I couldn’t get to quick enough.
Adoption is hard, it isn’t like when you are pregnant with a child and everyone knows you are expecting because – well. . . it’s obvious by that cute little basketball under your shirt and the jar of pickles in your hand!!! When you are “expecting” with adoption no one knows and you want to shout it from rooftop. Every time you buy a piece of clothing or their beds or their toothbrushes you just feel like a crazy lady and end up telling the checker at Target all about the kids you are adopting only to have them look back at you like a deer in headlights wondering why on earth I had to get in their lane. Oh yeah friends, lived this out more humiliating times than I should have. Yes, I have some super amazing stories where when I couldn’t contain myself and started sharing with strangers about the children I didn’t have and they were equally as excited with me – one in fact has become a friend because she just had to know when we were bringing our kids home and has been praying for me ever since! But there are plenty of times I shared and people just confirmed the craziness I was feeling by the look on their face. It’s hard – adoption is so hard!
I also can’t say enough thanks to those who followed up constantly on where we were in the process – why? Because though most days I had nothing new to report it made Miles and Kallie feel real, it made me not feel so crazy, and you so constantly reminded me of the faithfulness of our Savior. You see like Horton – we had a speck in Guyana. 2 beautiful children – “my Who’s” that no one knew existed, that no one knew needed help and home and mom and dad. Yet somehow by the grace of God, He put us in the exact right place at the right time so we heard “our Who’s” tiny cries, their longing for a family, their need for safety and protection and love.
I sat on the couch that night watching Horton Hears a Who and sobbed and sobbed. I was living the real life Horton Hears a Who! We serve a God who also says “A person is a person no matter how small” and He heard them and brought us together. I had “my Who’s” finally safe on my lap cuddling watching a movie and it was all too much for my hea
rt. Too much amazement at the goodness of God, too much gratefulness that He chose me to be their mom, too much love for “my Who’s” and it was simply a night I needed to share with you.
Friends, I don’t know where you are at in life right now, but I do know that we serve a God who hears our cries – ALL of them. From the smallest child to the greatest it makes no difference. I just want you to know as you read this your Father hears you.
Learn more about our Guyana adoption program
Read MoreBulgarian Waiting Child Matched With Forever Family!
We are so excited to announce that one of our Bulgarian Waiting Children has been matched with his Forever Family! A huge CONGRATULATIONS goes out to him and his new family from all of us at Children of All Nations!
If you would like to learn more about our Bulgaria Waiting Child Program to see how you can get matched today, contact hilary@childrenofallnations.com, visit our CAN Photo Listing, or join our Bulgaria Waiting Child Facebook Group to have updates sent directly to your news feed!
Read MorePhilippines Healthy Track Adoption
1. Children in the Regular Track are considered relatively healthy
The children available through the Regular Track adoption program in the Philippines will be considered Healthy or with minor special needs. These are the kiddos who are not included in the Philippines Special Needs program.
2. You can get a child as young as 2.5 years
Children in the regular track will be as young as 2.5 years old. Although you will need to be open to at least age 5 your family does have the opportunity to be matched with a younger kiddo!
3. The process is quick
In comparison to other healthy referral programs the Philippines Regular Track Program is very quick. After a family submits their dossier we anticipate an average wait time of 24 months until match.
4. Can not specify gender
One of the small rules that goes along with Philippines Regular Track is that a family can not specify the gender of the child they would like to adopt. Families need to be open to either a boy or girl.
5. There are limited spots available
We are given an allocation of Regular Track Spots each year and those spots fill up fast so contact one of our International Adoption Councilor’s today to learn more about the program and get your process started!
Don’t forget to check out or Philippines Hosting opportunities!
Read MoreUkraine Host Kids Have Arrived
The Kids Are Here!
Our Ukraine Host Kids arrived from the Ukraine this weekend to spend their entire summer with an American host family. Everyone is safe and sound in their host homes. We ask for your thoughts as the children settle in and families adjust. The children are here for 11 weeks and we hope that they all have an incredibly memorable experience. We hope that these children who were once abandoned know and understand that there are people in this world that want to love them, that they have a purpose, that the world is much bigger and brighter than they may realize.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Twin Girls from Bulgaria!
Who doesn’t love twins! Especially when those twins are adorable 4 year old girls! We have recently received a file for a set of twin girls from Bulgaria. This is exciting news because any family, no matter where they are in the adoption process can move forward with these sweet girls! These beautiful young ladies are developmentally doing well but they do carry the Hepatitis B Virus which seems a little scary at first but with the proper education and preparation these girls could be an amazing match for a family! The Hep B does not affect their daily life functioning and is very easily managed. Check out this Fact Sheet on Hep B published by the CDC. We would love to find a home for these sweet girls so contact us today if you would like to hear more information about the program and see their file!
lacee@childrenofallnations.com
Read MoreNew: Uganda Program Open for First Ten Families
**Update: Children of All Nations is currently no longer accepting applications for this program. If you’re interested in learning about similar adoption programs, please contact our CAN Matching Specialists today!**
We are very excited to announce that we are now taking 10 new families for our Uganda adoption program! The process in Uganda requires families to be flexible and patient, but yields young healthy children who are in great need of adoption. Uganda is located in Sub-Saharan Africa which is the poorest region in the world. These children need an adoption warrior like you. Contact one of our International Adoption Counselors today.
