Couples seeking to adopt from abroad are hitting a brick wall, and the number of adoption registrations last year, at 27, was down by almost half of previous years. This year just seven adoptions were registered by April.
A number of countries have closed their adoption borders, and no date has been set for the signing of an agreement between Malta and Russia.
Couples who have been trying to adopt over the past year and adoption agencies told Times of Malta that, until 2013, adoptions from Russia were relatively easy and the process did not last more than a year.
“However, soon after the civil unions law was passed [allowing same-sex couples to adopt] international adoptions became increasingly difficult,” one couple said.
Although the Russian authorities decide on the prospective parents of a child to be adopted, they fear that, in the case of re-adoption – when something happens to the original adoptive parents – the child could be given to same-sex parents.
“With Ethiopia and Cambodia also closing their doors, we are practically stuck,” the couples and agencies said.
Family and Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia said the problem was not related to the Civil Unions Act; and his viewpoint on the situation differed from that of prospective parents and adoption agencies.
He said Malta had always assured the Russian authorities that, in the case of re-adoption, their authorisation and approval would be sought again.
“That is solved. There is a clear political agreement on how we will be functioning. [The fact that the agreement with Russia is not signed] is tied to the other things.”
Asked whether the “other things” he was referring to included the fact that Malta was supporting EU sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, Dr Farrugia replied: “We are upping pressure so that the Russians sign the bilateral agreement.”
Dr Farrugia said he would soon be leading a delegation to Cambodia to sign a memorandum of understanding, even though the country had closed its doors to the adoptions market.
He will also be heading to Vietnam to sign an agreement he said would “hopefully” offer as many children as Cambodia used to.
Visits to Albania and Bulgaria are also planned to iron out administrative issues at a political level.