In recent years, the adoption process in foreign countries was scrutinized by their governments and by the United States. Several countries, including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Columbia, Hungry, Bulgaria, and more, decided to implement The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect to Inter-country Adoption, also known as Hague Adoption Convention. The Hague Adoption Convention was ratified by many countries in order to protect children's rights.
The objectives of the Hague Adoption Convention are:
- to establish safeguards to ensure that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of the child and with respect for his or her fundamental rights as recognized in international law;
- to establish a system of co-operation amongst Contracting States to ensure that those safeguards are respected and thereby prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children;
- to secure the recognition in Contracting States of adoptions made in accordance with the Convention.
Adopting from a Hague country simply means that the governments of both countries, the sending country (a country of the child's origin) and the United States, agree to worked together in order to establish safeguards that insure the eligibility of the child for adoption and created procedures on providing information about children available for adoption to prospective adoptive parents.
One of the benefits of adopting from a Hague Country is that the prospective adoptive parents will receive more medical and social information on the child referral, which by Hague Adoption Convention standards, is legally provided to them by sending country. This is a particular advantage for prospective adoptive parents considering adopting children with special needs. Acquiring more detailed medical information about children with special needs will enable the adoptive parents to begin accessessing the level of care and begin lining up physicians for treatment. The need for adoptive parents willing to provide for the care of special needs children in sending countries is greater than the availability of local adoptive families.
Many special needs may be corrected in the United States with standard medical procedures, such as a cleft lip/palate
For more information on Cleft lip / Cleft palate please click here
Children with missing limbs have many advantages and treatment options in the United States that are not available to them in the sending country.
Please see Michael’s video. Michael lost his arm as a young boy in Kazakhstan. This video chronicles his story and him receiving his prosthetic after being adopted.
Down syndrome can be viewed in some countries as a life sentence to a sanitarium for the mentally ill but, in the United States, there are many opportunities and therapies available to children with Down Syndrome to help them live life to their fullest potential.
Click here for more information about Down Syndrome.
Hydrocephalus is a frequently seen medical condition among orphaned children.
Click here for more information about Hydrocephlus.
If your heart is open for a child with special needs from a Hague Country please contact Adoption ARK. We are here to make a difference in the Special Angels of this world.