Colombia closed the door for foreign adoption

30 May 2013

Colombia closed the door for foreign adoption

Google Translation from Spanish:

May 30, 2013 4:18 pm

E n an unprecedented move, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare has temporarily suspended acceptance of new applications for foreign families who want to adopt Colombian children between 0 and 6 years, with no special conditions.

The move, announced on Thursday at the First Meeting of Central Authorities in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, responds to the need to manage 377 Colombian applications and 3,506 foreign families who are registered on the waiting list who want to adopt healthy children, children seven years and no siblings, ie children who do not have characteristics of difficult adoption.

"This decision is part of the obligation to safeguard the interests of children," said the Director General (in charge) of the ICBF, Adriana Gonzalez Maxcyclak. "We are guaranteeing and prioritizing adoptions by domestic households and in the context of subsidiarity, successfully carrying out the processes that are already ahead of foreign families who want to provide all the love and warmth of their homes to children in Colombia yearning to have him. "

By backing the measure of ICBF, the representative of the Hague Conference, Laura Martinez-Mora, said "this will allow the ICBF work better with the birth parents and respect the international principle of subsidiarity, taking into account that in Colombia is a large number of candidate families to adopt children from 0-6 years. "

The decision of the Family Welfare was recorded in the final declaration of the meeting, a document five points also invited to the central authorities of the participating countries, to adopt the decision of Colombia that eliminates mandatory donations charged to families adopters, especially previous contributions to the process of adoption or in return for the delivery of a child as a result thereof.

"We have reiterated that in Colombia this kind of donation is strictly prohibited and today we eliminate technical and financial requirement for adoptions humanitarian financial aid is requesting as part of applications."

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