UCA News
Contribute

Vietnam, US restart adoptions after six-year ban

Cases limited to children who are 'hardest to place'
Vietnam, US restart adoptions after six-year ban

Young children are seen on the grounds of the Bo De Pagoda orphanage in Hanoi (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)

Published: September 16, 2014 07:30 AM GMT
Updated: September 15, 2014 08:35 PM GMT

American parents will be allowed to adopt Vietnamese children again, authorities said Tuesday, ending a six-year ban imposed after allegations of baby-selling and fraud but with new restrictions.

Two American agencies have been awarded licences but new US adoptions will be limited to children over the age of five, sibling groups and those with special needs, the US State Department said.

Americans have been unable to adopt from Vietnam since a 2008 ban imposed due to US embassy concerns that many adoptees had been trafficked or given up after their families were coerced.

Vietnam denied these claims but agreed to suspend adoptions with the US.

The communist country has since ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of inter-country adoption, and revised its domestic law on adoption.

"The United States welcomes Vietnam's efforts to enhance its child welfare and intercountry adoption system," the State Department said in a statement.

It named Dillon International and Holt International Children's Services as the American agencies newly authorised to facilitate adoptions in Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Binh, director of the international adoption department at Vietnam's Ministry of Justice, confirmed it had granted licences to the firms.

There are now a total of 36 foreign adoption agencies operating in Vietnam, he told AFP, from countries including France, Italy and Sweden.

Prior to the ban, only some five percent of adoptees were aged five years or older, with the majority under two, state media reported.

Tad Kincaid, founder of Ho Chi Minh City-based Orphan Impact, welcomed the restarting of adoptions with new restrictions as "a good step".

"It makes sense to focus on children who are hardest to place, as they are most likely to spend their entire childhood in an orphanage," he told AFP.

The lifting of the US-Vietnam adoptions ban comes as the former wartime foes move closer together, with a string of recent high-level visits, talk of ending a ban on sales of lethal weapons -- in place due to human rights concerns -- and greater trade ties.

Estimates of the number of children in Vietnamese orphanages vary widely -- from around 143,000 to 1.5 million, Orphan Impact's Kincaid said. AFP

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia