From Viet Nam News:
Ha Noi ”” According to the latest version of the draft law on adoption, only children under 16 years can be offered for adoption.
The National Assembly Standing Committee, the provision would be congruent with the country’s legal system and international laws.
Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said the fee was congruent with the 1993 La Haye Convention on adoption.
During their discussion of the adoption law yesterday in the capital city, NA deputies also touched upon the termination of the relationship between the adoptive parents and adopted children.
“Emancipation is only acceptable when a child reaches the age of maturity,” stated the draft law.
Deputy Nguyen Minh Hong, from Nghe An Province, did not agree with the provision that children should only be adopted by foreign couples when there are no Vietnamese parents who want to adopt them.
“We should be most concerned with the child’s welfare and whether the child is being cared for or not,” said Hong.
Pham Thuong Luong, from Yen Bai Province, proposed that the law should have a provision prohibiting immediate relatives like grandparents or siblings adopt their family member.
“Such an act is popular with ethnic minorities,” said Luong.
Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy, from Da Nang, agreed with Article 12 of the draft law which specifies a fee table for adoption.
“This is a very sensitive issue that’s why everything should be transparent, particularly the fee so we can avoid the problem of child trafficking,” said Thuy.
Read the entire article here.
2 Responses
Am I reading this right? That a member of the committee wants to PROHIBIT family members from adopting their own orphaned relatives? How does this help children in need? Wouldn’t this be the best placement for them… staying in their family of origin?
Please, please, someone tell me I am completely misunderstanding this!
Elizabeth,
We had the same reaction to that quote. Based on something I heard at a forum about international adoptions recently, I would guess that some in the government prefer inter-country adoptions because they can charge higher fees. Additionally, this quote, “Such an act is popular with ethnic minorities” sounds to me like a dig at the marginalized and impoverished, whom he clearly doesn’t think have the wherewithal to provide for extended family.
Interestingly, another perspective I heard on this quote is that it may be referring to immediate relatives living overseas – in that they would be using adoption to skirt immigration quotas. I honestly don’t know what Mr. Luong meant, but either way I hope his suggestion is not incorporated into the new law.