Calls for immediate adoption from Ukraine orphans during the war are either blatant ignorance or deliberate fraud, the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy believes. This applies to publications in the mass media and social networks about children who lost their parents or lived in institutional care facilities near the sites of active hostilities and were evacuated to safer regions of Ukraine and abroad. The agency warns against violating children's rights and spreading misleading information and explains how to help a child properly.
The Ministry, through its resource, appeals to all concerned citizens, civil society organizations, and international organizations not to play along with fraudsters, not to succumb to emotional speculation, and to be guided solely by the best interests of the child, which are ensured by the current legislation governing adoption from Ukraine.
Adoption from Ukraine by foreigners
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If people are unable to realize the parental instinct naturally, they resort to adoption from Ukraine . And when the desire to have a child cannot be realized in theircountry, they look for opportunities abroad. For some foreigners, it is Ukraine that gives them hope of finding the happiness of a full-fledged family.
Of course, for this to happen, they have to go through a certain procedure. It is quite thorough and has its own peculiarities. In particular, you should be prepared for the fact that Interpol will be looking for dirt on potential parents.
Of all the issues regulated by the Family Code of Ukraine, relations with children are protected the most. And out of the 278 current articles of the Code, 42 (part seven) are devoted to Ukrainian orphans adoption issues. Cross-border nuances are even included in a separate section.
Ukrainian law regulating adoption
The key to adoption from ukraine is the best interests of the child to ensure stable and harmonious living conditions. It is with this criterion in mind that the following are determined: those who can be adopted ukrainian orphan, requirements for persons who can be adoptive parents, the procedure for obtaining the consent of the child and parents, filing an application, making a court decision, ensuring the secrecy of adoption orphans and other guarantees for new parents, legal consequences, etc. Legal basis for adoption from Ukraine:
- Constitution of Ukraine
- Family Code of Ukraine
- Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine
- Resolution on Adoption by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine #905
- Law on citizenship of Ukraine
How to adoption from Ukraine: key issues
In general, the procedure is as follows: citizens wishing to adopt from Ukraine submit a package of documents to the Service for Children's Affairs. Within 10 working days, this body checks the documents for compliance with the requirements of the law, draws up an act of inspection of their living conditions, considers the applicants' ability to become adoptive parents and prepares a corresponding conclusion that is valid for a year.
In case of a positive decision, applicants are registered as candidates for adoption from the Ukraine. After reviewing the information about children who can be adopted from Ukraine, potential parents are referred to the children's service at the child's place of residence to arrange a meeting with the child.
The meeting takes place in the presence of the facility staff and the children's service at the child's place of residence. After establishing contact with the child, the candidates apply to the children's service with a statement of their desire to adopt the child.
The service then prepares a conclusion on the feasibility of adoption and whether it is in the child's best interests. Since adoption from Ukraine is carried out on the basis of a court decision, candidates apply to the court at the child's place of residence for such a decision.
Adoption from Ukraine by a foreigner is carried out on the same grounds as for Ukrainian citizens (Chapter 18 of the Family Code), but with some peculiarities defined in Chapter VI of the Family Code.
Requirements for prospective parents and child
The adoption from Ukraine consists of many steps. There are a lot of requirements for the adoptive parents, the future adoptive family, and their documents at each stage of adoption.
When you decide to take in your family, and make thus happy, the orphan child, the first question you need to ask yourself: do I fit the requirements for adoptive parents in Ukraine? After all, having answered this question, you will immediately understand your chances for successful completion of the adoption from Ukraine process.
Age requirements for adoption from Ukraine
As a general rule, the minimum age for adoption from Ukraine is two months. This is the case when the child was abandoned in a maternity hospital. But foreigners are deprived of this opportunity. After all, they can adopt a child from Ukraine if he or she has been registered with the State Service of Ukraine for Children's Affairs for at least one year and has reached the age of five. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Adoption from Ukraine may be carried out earlier if:
- The adopter is a relative of the child
- The child suffers from a serious illness (there is a special list of diseases approved by the Ministry of Health)
- All siblings are adopted into one family, if one of them has reached the age of five and has been registered for a year
- Foreigners have expressed a desire to adopt a child who is a sibling of a child they have previously adopted
Priorities for adoption from Ukraine
Ukrainian legislation on adoption gives preference to Ukrainian parents. After all, a child can be adopted by a foreigner if there is no Ukrainian citizen willing to adopt him or her or take him or her into his or her family. At the same time, there is competition among foreigners. Thus, the preemptive right is granted to:
- Relatives of the child
- Citizens of states with which Ukraine has concluded an agreement on the provision of legal assistance. Since Ukraine recently suspended the CIS agreement with the Russian Federation, Russians have lost this advantage
Interpol check
The adoption from Ukraine by a foreigner additionally requires the consent of the State Service of Ukraine for Children. As part of its examination of the issue, this body sends a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check the candidates for parents for the presence or absence of compromising information in law enforcement agencies of other states and the Interpol General Secretariat.
Between 2014 and 2023, according to the Department of International Police Cooperation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 5780 checks were carried out on foreign nationals who were candidates for the adoption of children who are citizens of Ukraine.
That is, on average, 585 potential parents from abroad are checked per year. The report does not provide data on the success rate, but it is possible to draw conclusions about the number of candidates.
And, as you can see from the infographic, the number has decreased slightly over the past two years.
The graph shows in blue, how many children were adopted by Ukrainian citizens and in red by foreign citizens
Who can't adoption from Ukraine
So what information does Interpol check on potential parents? Obviously, it is about ensuring compliance with the requirements set forth in Articles 211 - 212 of the Family Code, which Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are not able to establish on their own. And in addition to the discovery of compromising material, which will obviously be a reason for refusal, there may also be surprises caused by the Ukrainian mentality.
If a person hides his violations of the law from the representatives of the guardians of the orphan child, and during the check in the registers of interpol will be found inforiation that he violated the law, he will be denied the adoption from ukraine.
Thus, the reasons can be divided into several groups.
- Restricted rights. Persons who have limited legal capacity or have been recognized as incapacitated or deprived of parental rights (unless these rights have been restored) cannot become adoptive parents. Also, those who have already been an adoptive parent, but this status was canceled through their fault, should not count on it. Stateless persons (stateless persons) are also considered to be limited in their rights.
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Unreliable due to health and social status. These are those who are registered or treated in a psychoneurological or narcological dispensary, abuse alcohol or drugs, do not have a permanent place of residence and permanent earnings (income), suffer from diseases listed by the Ministry of Health or need constant outside care for health reasons.
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Criminal record. This refers to those who have an outstanding or unexpunged criminal conviction for criminal offenses in accordance with the procedure established by law. The prohibition also applies to anyone who has ever been convicted of any crimes against life and health, freedom, honor and dignity, sexual freedom and sexual inviolability of a person, against public safety, public order and morality, in the field of trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors.
As well as for crimes under Articles 148, 150, 150-1, 164, 166, 167, 169, 181, 187, 324, 442 of the Criminal Code. In other words, although a person is considered not to have been subjected to criminal punishment after the conviction has been expunged or removed, this rule does not apply to adoption from Ukraine.
- Non-traditional values. Adoption from Ukraine by unmarried foreigners is prohibited. This is stipulated in Article 212 of the Family Code. The exception is when the foreigner is a relative of the child. There is also an explicit provision that adoptive parents cannot be persons of the same sex. Although Ukraine is committed to European integration, the Ukrainian Code defines marriage as a family union of a woman and a man only. This means that gay marriage, recognized under European law, is not suitable for adoption from the Ukraine.
- Discretion of state bodies. Another condition that reflects a purely Ukrainian approach to resolving any disputed issues is the discretion of officials. Thus, according to Art. 212 of the Family Code, in addition to the above restrictions on potential parents, "other persons whose interests are contrary to the interests of the child" cannot be adoptive parents. The law does not specify what exactly is included in this criterion. Therefore, in fact, any negative information collected can be (and will be) used as a ground for refusal.
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