Philippines formally added as country for Irish adoptions

The Philippines has been formally added as a country from where people in Ireland can adopt children after the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) agreed procedures on Wednesday.

Officials signed administrative arrangements with authorities in the Philippines under the umbrella of the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption.This follows previously successful arrangements with Vietnam and the US.

"It will provide a clear roadmap as to how the inter-country adoption process will operate between Ireland and the Philippines," said AAI chairman Dr Geoffrey Shannon.

“This arrangement is a significant development in that it embodies a consensus on the practical arrangements applying to child adoption between the two contracting states.”

The Philippines is now added to the list of countries from where Irish people can adopt, including Bulgaria; Thailand; China; the US; India; Poland; Vietnam and Lithuania.

While the administrative arrangements were agreed on Wednesday, Ireland has adopted 10 children from the Philippines in the last six years.

The AAI was established to coincide with Ireland’s ratification of the Hague Convention to improve standards in both domestic and inter-country adoption.

Since November 2010, inter-country adoptions have become possible with other countries who have ratified the Convention or with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement.