Abroad instead of children's homes: Czech children in adoptive families in foreign countries

Last year, 22 Czech children found a new home with a foreign adoptive family.

Roman Suda experienced one of the adoption stories. He is the director of the children's home in the West Bohemian town of Nepomuk. In the Czech Radio's domestic broadcasts, he tells the story of two siblings of preschool age. After nine months in the children's home, a new home was found for them in Italy. The foreign language was no obstacle.

"The children have an impressive ability to learn very quickly. They showed us that. After just a few weeks in the Czech Republic, they were able to understand Italian relatively well. An interpreter helped with that. She mediated between the two languages ​​at the beginning."

According to Zdeněk Kapitán, the story of the boy and the girl is a great success:

"We are proud that we found a new home abroad for many siblings in 2021. Organizing the adoption of two or three children is very time-consuming - for the children as well as for the applicants. This requires a lot of personnel from us and a lot of patience and enthusiasm for the children on the part of the adoptive parents."

This is what the head of the Office for International Children’s Rights Protection (ÚMPOD) said.

The majority of children who found a new home abroad in 2021 were between the ages of one and five. Destination countries included Iceland, Sweden and Austria. However, in order for people to be able to take in children from the Czech Republic abroad, applicants must meet a number of strict conditions.

"There are personal and financial requirements to ensure that the child ends up in a safe environment. The Czech Republic is one of the stricter countries in this regard."

According to Zdeněk Kapitán, adoption abroad also has its downsides:

"The sad thing is that no adoptive family could be found for these children in the Czech Republic. Here they would probably have to stay in a children's home. So we are happy that we were able to find a family for them abroad. This will enable the children to succeed in their social and professional lives," says the head of the authority.

According to various NGOs, it is mainly children from the Roma minority who rarely find adoptive parents in the Czech Republic. Adoption abroad is therefore an option especially for them.