Adoptions (Macedonia) (Hansard, 17 June 2002)

§ Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been adopted from Macedonia in the last 10 years for which figures are available: and if he will make a statement. [62557]

§ Jacqui Smith
The Department does not collect figures on the total number of children being brought from overseas for adoption each year. Figures are only held for those adoptions involving a home study assessment in the UK.
Department records indicate that only one adoption application for Macedonia has been processed in the last 10 years.

§ Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the procedures involved in adopting children from Macedonia. [62558]
154W

§ Jacqui Smith
The procedures for adopting a child from Macedonia are broadly the same as for adopting a child from any overseas country. Before any person may adopt a child they must first be assessed by an approved adoption agency as being suitable to adopt. As part of the approval process a home study report is prepared and presented to an adoption panel for approval. Following this, the report is then endorsed by the agency's decision maker and forwarded to the Department where a certificate of eligibility to adopt is prepared in line with the Adoption of Children from Overseas Regulations 2001.
In the case of an application to adopt a Macedonian child, the completed home study and the certificate of eligibility to adopt are sent to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in Macedonia. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy will then seek to identify a suitable child for the applicants. If a match is made, the applicants may then make arrangements to travel overseas and adopt the child. The applicants will then apply for entry clearance, in the normal way, to enable them to bring the child into the UK for the purposes of adoption.
On their return to the UK the applicants must notify their local social services department of their intention to adopt with 14 days. As Macedonia is not included on the list of countries whose adoption orders are recognised in the UK, an application will need to be made to a UK court to re-adopt the child.