No need for adoption service review committee – Appoġġ

Support agency Appoġġ has dismissed calls for the setting up of an action committee to review the adoption process, pointing out it already scrutinised the system and made suggestions for improvement to the Family Ministry.

The agency’s comment comes after Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca last week called for a review of adoption to iron out deficiencies that could cause unnecessary hardships on prospective parents. She suggested Appoġġ set up an action committee to make proposals in this regard.

However, a spokesman for Appoġġ noted it already made such recommendations to the authorities, though it welcomed any specific suggestions for improvement.

“As a result of this, human resources within the adoption service where increased over the last months, helping to cut the waiting period applicants had to face before the adoption process could be initiated by the agency,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman also pointed out Appoġġ had only been providing adoption services since January 2008.

Dr Coleiro Preca made her point in Parliament during a debate on an adoption Bill, which brings into force a Constitutional Court judgment on a discrimination claim made by a married couple against the authorities.

The landmark judgment, delivered last year, ruled the law should remove the need for couples to have been married for at least three years before being able to adopt as there was no such requirement placed for unmarried couples or singles.

On average, 71 adoptions were made each year between 2004 and 2008, according to the National Statistics Office. Of 86 applications for adoption received last year, 75 were from couples, 10 from single women and one from a single man.

“The adoption process is a delicate, and sometimes lengthy, one and it involves various stages... This process is important to ensure prospective adoptive parents are well prepared for the whole adoption process.

This is done to prioritise the well-being of the adopted children, the agency spokesman said, insisting, however, suggestions were made as a matter of routine to improve the system.

The adoption process depends on whether the child is coming from Malta or elsewhere.

In cases of inter-country adoptions, the process depended on the system of the donor country.

The number of adoptable children varied between countries, as did the duration of the process.

Locally, the spokesman said, very few children were adoptable and, therefore, the waiting time to match a child with a family could take very long.