Pavlenko: Adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners will be neither simplified nor complicated

KYIV, January 17 /UKRINFORM/. In the case of Ukraine's accession to the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, the procedure for adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners will be changed, but no one is going to simplify or complicate it.

This was pointed out by Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Yuriy Pavlenko, the press service of the head of state reported.

"In the case of Ukraine's accession to the Convention, the procedure of adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners will be changed in accordance with international standards, but this in no way involves its simplifying or complicating," Pavlenko said.

According to him, the principles of inter-country adoptions, declared by the Convention, provide for maximum consideration of the best interests of children, respect for their rights and freedoms.

As noted by Pavlenko, the Convention provides that the acquaintance of foreign adoptive parents with the child will occur only after the competent authorities of the two countries determine that the relevant family can best serve the interests and needs of the Ukrainian child. "Thus, the selection of parents-to-be will be the least traumatic for the child due to avoidance of multiple meetings with foreign adoptive parents, which not always end with adoption," he said.

In addition, the commissioner said the accession to the Convention will improve control of the families that adopted a child from Ukraine. Pavlenko also said that today this control is a duty of consulates, and they do not have enough resources to implement it.

The Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, aimed at improving the procedure of intercountry adoption, was ratified by 89 countries, including the United States, Italy, Spain, Israel and France, whose citizens have adopted most of all Ukrainian children since 1991.