Number of adopted children in Moldova is increasing

353 Moldovan children were adopted in 2007 (173 by couples and 180 through second-parent adoption), said the Ministry of Social Protection, Child and Family (MSPCF) in reply to an inquiry by Info-Prim Neo. According to MSPCF, the tendency registered over the last three years shows that the number of children adopted by Moldovan citizens is on the increase, with 320 children being adopted last year. The proportion between domestic and international adoptions is 4:1. At the same time, no cases of adoption of children from abroad by Moldovan citizens were recorded last year. Although according to the domestic legislation the upper age limit for adoption is 18, the tendency is to adopt little children, who more likely to integrate with the adoptive family. There are frequent cases of adopting more than a child, as the Moldovan adoption laws prohibit separating brothers and sisters, with few exceptions (incurable diseases, physical deficiencies, children from different fathers who hadn’t lived together). A single case of disrupting a domestic adoption out of health reasons was recorded in 2007. Families disrupting an adoption will no longer have the right to adopt. There were no cases of terminating parental rights of adoptive parents. At present, about 70 Moldovan families who intend to adopt children are registered with the MSPCF. This figure does not fully reflect the total number of applicants, because, according to the legislation, families first appeal to the local guardianship body. In Moldova, adopters must be married persons, of both sexes, no younger than 25 and no older than 50 years, with some exceptions. In order to adopt a child, a Moldovan citizen should submit a relevant application to the local guardianship body together with a set of documents (identity documents, marriage certificate, certificate from the place of work and the size of the salary, criminal record, medical certificate). The legislation does not stipulate selection criteria for adoptive parents. In establishing whether the adopters and the child are compatible, the guardianship body must take into account the supreme interest of the child, the adopter’s requirements and other characteristics, depending on each separate case. The application for adoption is submitted afterwards to the legal body from the place of residence of the child or of the adopter. Then, a judge will either reject or approve the application for adoption. The latest evaluation of Moldovan residential institutions, performed as part of a UNICEF project, revealed that in 2006 11,500 children were looked after in 67 residential institutions. Of them, 10,000 children had one or both parents alive, 1,500 were orphans.