A family affair

A family affair
December 17, 2003

The Carney family: Paul, Adele, 8, Henok, 5, and Jennie.
Picture: Craig Sillitoe

The legal process of adopting a child from overseas can be long and exhaustive, reports Farah Farouque.
After two years of waiting, the phone call came. The Ethiopian authorities had a suitable child for Strathmore couple Jennie and Paul Carney to adopt.
Did they want him? They were given 24 hours to decide. The Carneys remember travelling, with the trepidation of any expectant parents, to the Melbourne offices of the Department of Human Services in May last year for more information.
He was described as healthy, very lively and happy. There was no photo but there was a physical description ? just height and weight, Paul recalls: "It's all everyone gets. Just a few sentences."
They were illuminating enough, however, for the couple to say "yes". Some four months ? and several thousand kilometres ? later they were united with their new son in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. By then, they had learnt details that mattered: his name was Henok, he was three years old and the only English words he knew were "Mum" and "Dad".
With the addition of Henok, a younger brother for their biological daughter, Adele, now eight, the couple's quest for a second child was finally over.

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With fewer Australian-born children being offered for adoption ? a trend that began in the early 1970s ? couples like the Carneys (who could not conceive naturally or thourgh IVF) are increasingly turning overseas to establish or complete their families.
The inter-country program began about three decades ago in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, when a group of orphans was airlifted to Australia. Today, each state and territory has its own rules and individual programs to coordinate overseas adoption. Parental support groups for such families flourish in the suburbs of Melbourne.
Once approved locally, would-be parents have to conform to rules set by overseas countries. Their requirements are usually more onerous. For example, single and de facto applicants aren't precluded here ? although gays and lesbians are ? but they fall foul of demands by overseas countries that applicants be married (Ethiopia is an exception).
Similarly, Victoria has removed age requirements but overseas countries continue to impose them.
Overseas adoptions are administered by a team, which includes social workers, who are located in Victoria at the Department of Human Services. The program has agreements with countries around the world including China, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Korea, Philippines, Guatemala, Lithuania and Ethiopia.
Inter-country adoption is a rewarding but often fraught process, acknowledges Susette Guttman, manager of the Victorian program. For various reasons there was an unprecedented number of allocations to parents in this state last year ? 110.
But there is also a financial burden for those seeking to adopt overseas. Under a user-pays system, local fees alone are over $6000 (paid in stages), not to mention additional thousand of dollars in overseas expenses. The Carneys, for instance, spent $25,000.
Waiting periods can be long ? as much as five years. Adoptive parents must not only be prepared to travel overseas to collect their child but also open their lives to scrutiny ? from criminal checks to financial statements and even providing testimonials from their doctor that they have discontinued infertility treatment while trying to adopt.
In the first year of the placement, the new family is monitored by departmental social workers and usually one adoptive parent must stay home for the first 12 months.
"Adoption shouldn't be second-best, it should be their focus," says Guttman.
People who want to bypass these rules don't get far, at least in Australia. The Department of Immigration only issues visas for adopted children who are approved by the state administrations. Otherwise, unless the prospective parents have lived in the overseas country for at least 12 months for reasons other than adopting, they cannot obtain a valid visa for the child.
Those who don't comply will find themselves in a legal imbroglio. "The department has in the past, in a small number of cases, refused people entry onshore because they have not complied with the law," said an Immigration Department spokesman.