Child adoption talks with Slovakia and Poland are underway as other countries are “closing their doors one by one” to Maltese parents.

The news comes after The Sunday Times of Malta spoke to two couples whose time is running out.

“Our stomach is in knots. The end justifies the means; however, we feel we are running out of time and all the doors are closing one by one,” Jim* told this newspaper.

Jim, 38, has been married to Claudia*, also 38, for more than 10 years.

They attended a preparatory course with State support agency Appoġġ last summer, carried out home visits and submitted all the necessary reports.

They are now waiting for approval from the Adoption Board, and in the meantime they are evaluating their possibilities and urging the government to branch out to other countries.

Another couple that spoke to this newspaper said Cambodia halted its agreement with Malta last year.

“Our only other option is Russia, which is twice as expensive while the process takes much longer.

“Adopting from Albania or the Philippines can take three years,” Paul*, 33, said.

His wife Jane*, 37, said they were appealing for the government to deal with more countries that could offer adoptions at reasonable prices and within a reasonable timeframe.

PN general secretary Chris Said with his wife Linda and their two daughters, Anastasia and Andrea, whom they adopted from Russia. They also have a younger son, Benjamin.

Paul and Jane have been married for five years. When they realised they could not have children they took the emotionally and financially challenging decision to adopt, and just when they were ready, they found the “doors closed”.

A Family Ministry spokesman said that although the Cambodian government signed The Hague Adoption Convention in 2007, it has not adopted all the regulations of the Convention, so the agreement between Malta and Cambodia could only resume when it implemented all the regulations.

The Maltese government is currently in talks with Slovakia and Poland and hopes agreements will be reached in the near future.

Media reports that Russia was concerned about the Civil Unions Bill and the possibility that children would be adopted by gay couples drew further concern.

There are no children up for adoption in Malta, while the possibilities to adopt from abroad are thinning out

Last month the government said Malta and Russia ironed out issues with adopting Russian children.

But this week, prospective Canadian parents expressed concern that their adoption was at risk as Russia’s high court issued a memo appearing to prohibit sending adoptive children to countries recognising same-sex marriage.

Both couples that spoke to this newspaper said they were worried that local discussion on the Civil Unions Bill was shifting the focus from the challenges that prospective parents already face.

“There has been a lot of discussion, but what is the actual situation? There are no children up for adoption in Malta, while the possibilities to adopt from abroad are thinning out,” Jane noted.

“We are not against gay adoption or the Civil Unions Bill in any way, but we are concerned by the direction the discussion is headed,” Claudia said.

Her husband added that it just lengthened an already long and tiresome process: “It is very difficult for a couple to accept they cannot have children, and it is also hard to decide to adopt.

“After that, you go through a process of intensive formation and reporting. Dealing with the fact that there aren’t many places we can adopt from and seeing available ones halted or paused is another ordeal.

“We do not mind where children come from – we don’t even pick the gender – we welcome whatever God sends,” he added, urging the government to expand its discussions with other countries so that when “one door closes, not all doors are shut”.

Adopting children from Malta is difficult as biological parents do not give up their children for adoption, so prospective parents are put on a waiting list.

In 2012, then justice minister Chris Said said that the government was looking into introducing a so-called open adoption system, which would encourage natural parents to allow their children to be adopted while adoptive parents take legal responsibility.

Two years earlier, then social policy minister Dolores Cristina had also insisted that children who had no hope of ever being reunited with their natural parents should be adopted.

Family Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said the new government was looking into adoption options for children in homes and foster families.

She launched a National Commission for the Development of Strategy and Policy for Children, which will also be responsible for drawing up the long-awaited Children’s Act to look at long-term solutions.

Currently, there are 439 children in foster care, out-of-home care and residential care.

*Names have been changed