Children’s rights should take priority over the rights of their biological parents, a national conference about fostering and adoption heard yesterday.
Why was it so difficult to adopt Maltese children, and why were fostered children forced to meet their biological parents even when they did not want to, an adoptive mother asked at the conference, organised by the Nationalist Party.
The woman, who has adopted two children – one from Romania and another from Malta – said that biological parents were at times given “too many rights”.
This issue cropped up throughout the event which was held in the run-up to the Nationalist Party’s drafting of its policy on the family and children’s rights.
“Children’s rights should take priority especially as they are in vulnerable situations. Children’s rights come before the rights of their biological parents and unless they are safeguarded, children could end up losing their rights,” Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said at the conference, adding that he did not understand why amendments to the Child Protection Act had been shelved for two years.
Dr Busuttil also called for dignity for all people involved in the process, warning against ancillary rights for foster parents.
Stability and a sense of permanency were called for
A woman who fosters three children noted that it was traumatic for children to be forced into meeting their biological parents when they did not feel like doing so, calling for better understanding about the matter from the authorities.
Shadow Social Policy Minister Paula Mifsud Bonnici meanwhile called for stability and a sense of permanency for adopted children.
She said that while on one hand there were children who had been abandoned by their parents or were living in challenging situations, there were prospective parents who were willing to adopt children as they did not have any of their own.
This issue was also brought up during the conference by a ‘lucky’ 44-year-old who was adopted as a toddler. She said it was painful to see children who resided at the same home where she had been abandoned as a newborn and who did not share her same lucky fate because of current legislation.
Dr Mifusd Bonnici meanwhile also praised the Church for the support it has given to children over the years, adding that however, the love provided to children by a family was still important in their upbringing.
This was reiterated by Fr Savio Vella, a Salesian priest who is responsible for Dar Osanna Pia, which shelters young men without a family who are finding it difficult to get back on their feet.
These adolescents were going through the most challenging time of their life, either because they were coming out of a children’s’ home or had been abused by relatives or the system itself, he said.
“At the house, which acts just like a foster house, these youths come to terms with their reality and gradually build their own future to be able to live independently. These adolescents no longer have the opportunity to build a relationship with their family,” Fr Vella said.
At the home they were helped into believing in themselves and become independent, he added, noting that a growing challenge for society was that the number of youths depending on social benefits was on the increase.