Adoption and Kafala

Adoption is the formal, permanent transfer of parental rights to a family other than a child’s own and the formal assumption by that family of all parenting duties for the child. Where a child’s parents are living and their parental rights have not been terminated, they must provide informed consent for adoption. In some countries it is not culturally acceptable to give the parental rights to a non-family member, and therefore alternative long-term care options must be pursued e.g. kinship care. In some Islamic countries, the term ‘Kafala’ in Islamic law is used to describe a situation similar to adoption, but without the severing of family ties, the transference of inheritance rights, or the change of the child’s family name.

Given the permanency of adoption, it should be used very carefully and only when it is in a child’s best interests. In some cases difficult choices must be made between keeping a child in a temporary care situation in the hope of eventual family reunification, and a child’s developmental need for permanent attachment and care within a family environment. Adoption should not be considered an option in an emergency context. In the case of family separation in an emergency all tracing activities must be exhausted before adoption can be considered.

The long term care of a child requires thorough assessment and planning, and should include the participation of all those affected, especially the child in question. The choice for adoption must meet the child’s long term needs and wishes, and enable their healthy development into adulthood. Wherever possible, children should remain with siblings and encouraged to maintain contact with relatives. All adoptive placements should be in keeping with applicable national law and international standards.

Ideally adoptive parents should come from a similar cultural and religious background to the child, so that the child can retain her heritage and sense of identity. This will be more likely when the adoption is within the country of the child’s origin. The child care policies of a country must therefore provide mechanisms for formal state adoption procedures, and provide workers to support this process. Intercountry or cross border adoptions should be used with caution since the child is likely to grow up in unfamiliar surroundings, and may therefore be more isolated and exposed to risk. When intercountry adoption is in the best interests of a child, international protection agencies should ensure standards are met and procedures should be in keeping with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

This section of papers includes country and policy examples of the use of adoption and guidance on practice.

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Children looked after in England (including adoption), year ending 31 March 2017

UK Department for Education, 31 Mar 2017

This Statistical First Release (SFR) provides information about looked after children in England for the year ending 31 March 2017, including where they are placed, their legal status, the numbers starting and ceasing to be looked after, and the numbers who go missing or are away from their placement without authorisation.

Country Care Review: Malawi

Better Care Network, 06 Mar 2017

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories after early life deprivation: the young adult follow-up of the longitudinal English and Romanian Adoptees study

Prof Edmund J S Sonuga-Barke, Mark Kennedy, Prof Robert Kumsta, Nicky Knights, Dennis Golm, Prof Michael Rutter, et al. - The Lancet, 22 Feb 2017

This study used data from the English and Romanian Adoptees study to assess whether deprivation-associated adverse neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes persist into young adulthood.

Navigating uncharted terrain: Domestic adoptions in Kenya

Denise Stuckenbruck, Jini L. Roby – Wiley, 16 Feb 2017

The qualitative study in this article explores adoptions in Kenya: its motivations and barriers and if an increase in domestic adoptions would be in a child’s best interest.

Country Care Review: Georgia

Better Care Network, 03 Feb 2017

The Committee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Country Care Review: Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Better Care Network, 03 Feb 2017

Country Care Review: Central African Republic

Better Care Network, 03 Feb 2017

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Childhood in Africa: An Interdisciplinary Journal (Volume 4 . Issue 1, Spring 2017 )

The Institute for the African Child, Ohio University, 01 Feb 2017

This issue of Childhood in Africa includes several articles related to children's care, including 'Embedding social justice in Ugandan adoption and legal guardianship cases' and 'The care and support of vulnerable children by foster care families in Uganda: Lessons in social justice and social protection.'

Post-adoption support and interventions for adoptive families: Best practice approaches

Julie Selwyn - German Research Center on Adoption (EFZA) , 2017

This rapid literature review was commissioned by the German Research Centre on Adoption (EFZA) located at the German Youth Institute in Munich (Germany). The overall aim of the review was to consider the support needs of domestic and intercountry adoptive families and the evidence for effective interventions. Step-parent, relative and domestic private adoptions were excluded.

From Intercountry Adoption to Global Surrogacy: A Human Rights History and New Fertility Frontiers

Karen Smith Rotabi and Nicole F. Bromfield, 2017

Extracting on chronologic data, this book discusses the politics and practice of intercountry adoption starting with the state international adoption to in the 1950s continuing to present-day adoption practice and protections.