It's a long name: the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Typically referred to simply as The Hague Convention, it's an international policy that goes into effect on April 1st in the United States.

"The convention outlines the process by which a child becomes eligible for adoption and also outlines the processes whereby a family is deemed eligible to adopt a child. This protects children because it ensures that every attempt has been made to keep the child in his or her birth family and birth country. It protects adoptive families, who can be confident that any child they are considering for adoption has been previously designated as eligible for adoption."

Few adoptive families will notice any changes in their adoption process as the convention primarily impacts record-keeping and internal communications between adoption agencies and governmental agencies. Read more at Press-Citizen.com.

Labels: international, inter-country_adoption, protection

Posted By: Aspen Education Group