Adoptions needlessly tough

Couples who want to adopt a foreign child face unnecessary obstacles as Greece has yet to ratify an international treaty governing cross-border adoptions, according to experts who say an increasing number of would-be parents are entering into illicit transactions with mediators in Bulgaria.

Many couples interested in adopting are obliged to seek a foreign child as the number of Greek children available for adoption dwindles and the state system for adoptions obliges them to wait several years. The adoption of foreign children is also difficult but would not be if Greece ratified the 1993 Hague Adoption Convention, experts say. “According to the provisions of the agreement, authorities in Greece would check whether the would-be parents are fit to adopt and the applicants would then travel to the child’s country of origin to collect the child,” said Mary Theodoropoulou of Roots Research Center, a non-governmental organization.

Later this year a parliamentary debate is due on reforms designed to facilitate the state adoption process. It is thought that the international adoption treaty will be discussed after talks on the local system.

According to opposition PASOK Deputy Thalia Dragona, who tabled a question in Parliament seeking the ratification of the international adoption treaty, the lack of progress in this area is due to lack of organization. “I can’t see anything preventing us from ratifying the treaty. I think it is a mere dysfunction of the state,” she told Kathimerini. The difficulties faced by Greek couples wanting to adopt a child has driven many to enter into illicit agreements. A woman from the eastern port of Volos said she had been offered a Bulgarian child for 20,000 euros. “I know many local women who have adopted children in this way – within three weeks of handing over the money, they were given the child,” she said.