Draft law by NGOs for the legalization of international adoption, endorsed by a Liberal senator
Draft law by NGOs for the legalization of international adoption, endorsed by a Liberal senator
by Aurelia Alexa
BUCHAREST, 4 April 2013, 19:57
Several NGOs have drafted a bill that states that children for whom a family for national adoption was not identified within six months can be adopted intra-communitary or internationally. The draft law was endorsed by Liberal Senator Sebastian Grapa, a member of the Juridical Commission.
Draft law by NGOs for the legalization of international adoption, endorsed by a Liberal senator (Photo: Shutterstock)
Several NGOs in the field of child protection urged the legalization of intra-communitary and international adoptions on Thursday, during the debate "Child rights are law", organized by the Senate Juridical Commission and the Catharsis Association Brasov.
The NGOs have prepared a draft law on adoption which would allow, along with the national adoption, the intra-communitary adoption in the case of individuals and families residing in one of the European Union member states, and the international adoption in the case of individuals and families residing in one of the states signatory of the Hague Convention.
According to the draft law, the intra-communitary or international adoption could be allowed in the case of the child for whom no national adoption family has been identified in six months since the child has acquired the status of eligible for adoption, and in the case of the institutionalized child for whom no national adoption family has been identified until the child has reached the age of one year.
The NGOs also proposed that adoption be allowed for the child who totally lacks parental care, whose natural parents or close relatives has shown no interest in the first six weeks after its abandonment in maternity, hospital, social care institutions, OPA (approved private body with competence in adoption) or in public places.
The draft law also refers to the certification issued to an individual or family found able to adopt one or more children. This document would be issued by the Commission for Child Protection at the request of interested persons within 60 days since filing the request, based on evaluation reports and proposals made by the Adoption Service within the General Direction for Social Assistance and Child Protection or by the OPA.
In the case of persons - residing in another state which is signatory of the Hague Convention – who wish to adopt children from Romania, the certification process would be performed by the appropriate social services or by the OPA of residence.
The draft law endorsed by Liberal Senator Grapa also shows that, in exceptional cases, the court may override the natural parents’ or guardian’s refuse to consent to the adoption of the child if it is proved through any evidence that they abusevily refuse to consent to the adoption and the court considers that the adoption is in the best interests of the child. During the debate, Sebastian Grapa stated that there are very many shortcomings in the regulations governing adoptions, considering that direct intervention is required on these laws.
According to data from NGOs 61,656 children were in state care at the end of 2012, while the number of families certified for adoption at the end of February was 1,351. Of these, 199 are have received the second certification, 39 have received the third, and 18 have received more than three certificates.
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