THE adoption of Chinese babies by Irish couples is likely to become a minor industry next year. More than 100 couples are seeking to adopt a child in China, a procedure which will cost them at least £6,000 in fees and expenses.
Some outstanding bureaucratic problems which have delayed a small avalanche of adoption requests from Ireland seem to have been overcome during a visit to China in the last two weeks by Mrs Sally Keaveney, co founder of International Orphan Aid.
Mrs Keaveney returned home yesterday accompanied by Bi De (Peter), a 21 month old orphaned Chinese boy with major heart problems, who will have surgery in Dublin in the coming weeks. The boy will have to return to China after his convalescence but may eventually be adopted by an Irish couple.
The door was opened to adoptions from China when Cyril and Susan Mulligan and two other couples won a Supreme Court case against the Irish Adoption Board in July allowing them to proceed with the adoption of a Chinese baby. A few weeks later the Mulligans brought 19 month old Peng Xiju (Precious Jade) to their home. She is still the only adopted Chinese orphan in Ireland.
The international adoption of Chinese infants has been rising sharply in recent years. Two years ago US officials processed visas for 20 adoptions a month but this has now risen to 20 a day and could go up to 50 a day next year, an American embassy official said this week. This would mean some 12,750 Chinese orphans going to the US alone next year.
The process involves being assigned a baby, waiting for a confirmed date, then travelling, often at short notice and to a remote part of China, and going through legal and notary procedures which can take up to two weeks.
The Chinese authorities charge adoption fees in US dollars: $3,000 for the child welfare institution, $100 for registration, $100 for a passport, $450 for adoption centre translation and other services and $250 for the local civil affairs office - a total of $3,900 or £2,400. With air fares from Dublin to Beijing and on to another Chinese city, hotel accommodation and travel and translation services added on, the final bill would come to at least £6,000.
China is believed to be the only country which has set up a bureaucracy to handle international adopt ions and it imposes a number of rules. One of these is that parents should have a minimum age of 35. The foreign couples have to make solemn declarations to local officials about the child's welfare.
Because of the one child policy imposed on Chinese families, who place great store on having a boy, the emphasis is on baby girls, who are frequently abandoned.
The Irish Adoption Board originally refused to recognise the adoption by the Mulligans, mainly because Chinese law allowed it to be ended by agreement between the parties, which differed from Irish law. The Chinese authorities then declined to complete the formalities unless the adoption was recognised in Ireland and Precious Jade was left in a legal limbo in China.
When the Mulligans challenged the Adoption Board's refusal, the High Court granted recognition but the board appealed to the Supreme Court, where the five judge panel unanimously upheld the High Court ruling.
With Irish babies no longer becoming available for adoption, many Irish couples have been looking for some years towards China. The Dying Rooms documentary about orphans in China a year ago stimulated the formation of International Orphan Aid in January to help improve conditions in Chinese orphanages and lobby for adoptions from China to be made legal in Ireland.
At the time of the Supreme Court ruling on July 25th, over 100 Irish couples had registered with International Orphan Aid seeking Chinese adoptions, of which 28 had been approved by health boards. On 25th October, an unexpectedly large number of prospective parents turned up at a meeting in Dublin to hear about the Mulligans' experience and the prospects for further adoptions.
No more Irish couples have since been assigned a Chinese orphan, however, because of the concern of officials in Beijing that the Supreme Court decision applied to only one adoption, rather than setting a legal precedent. This had now been clarified with officials, Mrs Keaveney said.
Six couples have lodged papers in Beijing with the help of the Irish embassy.
The last remaining obstacle to an Irish couple adopting a Chinese child is the need to get a letter from the Department of Health entrusting International Orphan Aid with the function of a nonprofit charitable organisation, Mrs Keaveney said.