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Gaffes Impede Adoptions

Trud Newspaper, March 24, 2010, Elena Encheva

Mistakes in medical records of relinquished children with medical conditions impede such children's intercountry adoptions. Due to gaffes healthy children turned to have records of medical conditions and vice versa. One third of foreigners, who applied for adoption of Bulgarian children, refused to do so finally. The issue was announced publicly by the Ministry of Justice at Conference of Intercountry Adoption Accredited Organizations (IAAO). We have sent notice to the National Health Security Fund, but we have not been given any answer, informed officers from the Ministry of Justice.

1.188 children with medical conditions and over 7-year-old children are filed with a special intercountry register maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Actually for 67 children consent has been given for intercountry adoption, for 21 procedures have been started and for 78 applications have already been filed. Forum's special guests were 5-year old Elina, born without left foot and right shank, and Elina's new mother from the United States

Although the Family Code, enforced on October 1, 2009, provided for children, placed at social home and not sought for by their parents for 6 months, to be filed with adoption register, IAAO reported that different instructions were still given to people dealing with adoption. Therefore IAAO suggested law amendments. Yet the new law gave some positive results: from October until now 363 children were given back to their parents, 168 were placed with relatives or foster families and 555 were entered in the adoption register. Presumably, in April another 4.500 children will be registered for adoption.