Vietnam mission to finalise renewed adoptions

IRISH OFFICIALS are due to visit Vietnam in the coming weeks to finalise arrangements for the resumption of adoptions to Ireland, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said.

In a statement yesterday, she said Vietnamese authorities were committed to putting in place a legislative framework that supported safe and secure domestic and inter-country adoption.

“Once this is in place, and with the work of the Adoption Authority on the Irish side, I am confident that arrangements for inter-country adoption between Ireland and Vietnam can progress,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

An intercountry adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam had lapsed in May 2009 and adoptions were suspended after a series of scandals relating to fraudulent adoptions in Vietnam.

Last November, however, Vietnam ratified the Hague Convention, which will allow Irish couples to resume adopting children from Vietnam.

The ratification comes into force on February 1st next, although it is not certain on what date adoptions will resume.

Ireland has already passed the Adoption Act ratifying the convention, which means that only children from other Hague Convention countries, or those with which there was a bilateral agreement, could be adopted into Ireland.

Ms Fitzgerald said that since being appointed Minister for Children she has taken “every opportunity to foster and develop relationships with the Vietnamese authorities”.

“I am pleased this relationship between the Irish Government and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has ensured ongoing dialogue regarding intercountry adoption between our two countries,” she said.

“As a result of this contact over the last number of months, Vietnamese politicians and officials have reiterated the commitment of Vietnam to an intercountry adoption regime with Ireland and their willingness to consider Ireland as a receiving country for Vietnamese children eligible for inter-country adoption.”

She said the Adoption Authority in Ireland had already carried out a preliminary visit to Vietnam at her request in 2011. Next month’s visit will focus on agreeing administration arrangements for inter-country adoption.

Ms Fitzgerald also said she had accepted an invitation extended to her by authorities to visit Vietnam to discuss the issue.