Decreasing number of adoptions of foreign children
In 2014, the Federal Central Authority for the adoption of the FPS Justice recognized and / or registered 199 foreign decisions about an adoption in Belgium. There are noticeably fewer than in previous years. In 2010 there were 446 children, in 2011 388, in 2012 289 and in 2013 239. This is apparent from the answer from Minister of Justice Koen Geens to a written question from Philippe Goffin (MR).
Before an adopted child is transferred to Belgium, the Central Authority must recognize and record all foreign decisions regarding adoption. As soon as proof of registration has been issued, the child can be registered in the population register of the municipality of his place of residence or in the aliens register.
From 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014, 1,843 applications for recognition and / or registration of a foreign decision on an adoption were received. 1,163 of those applications were made in the context of files handled by an approved adoption service or by the competent Community. 624 applications were not supported by an adoption service or a Community, in 56 cases it was for registration applications.
”The fall in the number of intercountry adoptions since 2010 is mainly due to the international context. Because the countries of origin are developing economically, fewer children need adoptions and the chance of a domestic adoption increases, "says Koen Geens. "The downward trend can also be observed in our neighboring countries and not only in Belgium."