International adoption.

• Author: Johnston, James E.B.

Adoption has been a sociological mechanism down through the ages whereby a family can reach out beyond biological restraints, to create and expand family units. It occurs in extended families, step parent adoptions, familial relationships both domestically and internationally. This article concerns international adoptions from the view of a practising lawyer in Alberta, with a family law component to his practice. The writer further acts as corporate counsel for both The Adoption Council of Alberta and the International Adoption Families Association (IAFA) and is an adoptive parent both domestically and internationally.

Take the scenario that a single person or a couple wishes to adopt and one of the parent's is over 40 or they have a high average age and they cannot reasonably expect to adopt a baby domestically in the near future. Perhaps they are not ready to take on an older foster child as they want to partake in the formative birth to five-year-old stage. They should consider international adoption.

The adoptive parent(s) would be dealing with multiple levels of governments and non-governmental organizations, both regulated and unregulated. Canada is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Adoptions to which some reciprocating jurisdictions subscribe (Romania) while others do not (China). Note that this Convention is between Canada and a reciprocating nation and is the basis upon which the Alberta Department of Family and Social Services (AFSS) -- or similar body in other provinces -- now has an overriding approval status.

Under the Child Welfare Act of Alberta, the adoptive process is defined in law for domestic adoptions. Alberta has ratified and amended its Child Welfare Act for international adoption procedures to implement adoption both through the Hague Convention and other jurisdictions directly. Suffice it to say that if the AFSS has no objection to an adoption, a necessary hurdle has been cleared.

Thus, anybody seeking to adopt internationally must first apply to AFSS for permission to proceed. AFSS approval is required for an Immigration Visa. The applicants must then approach a licensed agency as the responsibility for parent preparation and a home assessment report has been delegated to them. The first crucial step is the all important home assessment report where a licensed social worker conducts a study of the prospective adoptive parents with sensitivity to the intended adoptive country. The primary focus is ensuring...