Adoption

What Is Adoption?
Adoption is a way of providing a permanent family to children who can no longer be brought up and cared for by their birth families. Articles 20 and 21 of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child identifies adoption as one of a range of options for the alternative care of children who find themselves unable to live with their birth families. When adoption is deemed the most appropriate way to uphold a child's right to live in a family environment, as well as to uphold other rights of the child, the adoption proceedings should progress steadily without undue delay (National Adoption Strategy for Children and Their Families 2019-2022).

Regulation Of Adoption Services
Accredited adoption agencies are regulated by the SCSA and offer their services in compliance with the Social Regulatory Standards for the Adoption of Children.

An Easy Read version of the Social Regulatory Standards is also available.

The Procedure And Services For Adoption
Where To Start
A person or a couple considering adoption should start by contacting one of the current accredited agencies in Malta. The accredited agency will set up a meeting during which an overview of the requirements and the procedure for adopting children is given.

Should a person or a couple wish to go for an intercountry adoption, the accredited agency will also provide information on the countries children can be adopted from.

The accredited agency will provide the prospective applicant/s with a comprehensive information package. The prospective applicant/s will be given time to go over the information before deciding whether they wish to proceed or not.

Once the prospective applicant/s decide to proceed and use the services of the accredited agency, they will be asked to fill in an application form. The accredited agency will inform the applicant/s whether they have been accepted within five working days from the date of application. If the applicant/s have been accepted, the accredited agency will invite them to enter into a written agreement. This agreement will list the adoption-related services offered by the accredited agency, as well as the financial costs of these services.

Preparing To Become An Adoptive Parent
The applicant/s will attend an adoption training course organised by the accredited agency. The course, which is spread over a period of time, explores and deals with subjects such as particular parenting skills adopted children require, the experience of children that have not lived with or were removed from the home of their birth parents, and the effect of this experience on the child. Adoptive parents can also seek further support for the children or for themselves. Furthermore, if a person wishes to discuss a particular subject in more detail, the accredited agency will arrange this on a one-on-one basis.

Training should be completed within a maximum of six months from the date of application with the accredited agency.

How To Become An Approved Prospective Adoptive Parent
Once the course is completed, the accredited agency's social worker will compile and draw up a Home Study Report. The Home Study Report is based on a series of interviews conducted by the social worker with the applicant/s and other supporting documents. The social worker will give and explain the findings of the report to the applicant/s. The applicant/s will then sign a declaration that they have understood the social worker's explanation in relation to the report.

The Home Study Report is then presented to the Adoption Board. The role of the Adoption Board is to assess a person's suitability and eligibility to adopt. The Adoption Board will base its decision on whether to approve a person or a couple as prospective adoptive parents on the Home Study Report as well as other reports and documents that it may request. The accredited agency's social worker will guide the applicant/s through this process.

Applying For Intercountry Adoption
Once the Adoption Board issues its approval for a person or a couple to be considered prospective adoptive parents, the accredited agency will take the necessary steps to start processing the adoption application and inform the Malta Central Authority accordingly.

The process of applying to adopt children varies from one country to another. In general, the accredited agency will compile a dossier of documents about the prospective adoptive parent/s so that they can be approved by the authorities of the particular country.

Once the prospective adoptive parent/s are matched with potential children, they will receive information about the children's medical status and background through the accredited agency or the Malta Central Authority.

The children's medical status needs clearance from the Maltese health authorities. The prospective adoptive parent/s can go through this information and decide whether to go ahead with the adoption or not.

The Legal Process In Intercountry Adoption
Once the prospective adoptive parent/s have been successfully matched with children, the accredited agency will guide them through the legal steps to be taken to formalise the adoption and will put them in touch with authorised entities that can support them through this process. The process of formalising an adoption varies from one country to another but will involve spending some time with the children and getting to know them.

In some countries, the adoption is formalised through a court decree issued by the country's courts. In this case, the adoptive parent/s will need to apply to the Maltese court to recognise the adoption decree and register the children as Maltese citizens.

Once the children are adopted, the accredited agency will provide the adoptive parent/s with all the necessary information about post-adoption support. Furthermore, follow-up on the children's progress will be undertaken by the accredited agency's social worker. The number of visits and their frequency is determined by the authorities of the country from where the children were adopted. The accredited agency's social worker will draw up a 'Post-Adoption Report' each time they visit, and sends this report to the authorities of the country from where the children were adopted.

Legal Matters That Govern The Adoption Of Children

  1. The procedure for adopting children is regulated by the Adoption Administration Act (2008) and Chapter 16 of the Civil Code.
  2. When considering adopting children who live in another country, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption (1993) also applies.
  3. In Malta, only accredited agencies or the Malta Central Authority can make arrangements for the adoption of children, irrespective of whether the children live in Malta or not. Private and independent adoptions are not allowed. A private adoption is when adoptive parents make arrangements and come to an agreement with a birth family for the adoption of children either through unauthorised intermediaries or directly. Such practice is considered an offence in the Adoption Administration Act (Article 26(1)).
  4. Children may only be adopted if it is considered to be in their best interest. This means that the country where the children live would have taken steps to help children live with their birth family and grow up in the community they were raised in. When this is not possible, alternative care arrangements, such as fostering or adoption by persons who live in the same country, are made. When the above arrangements cannot be made, the country where the children live may decide that it is in the children's best interest to be adopted by parents who live in another country.

This information was provided by the Social Care Standard Authority. Visit https://scsa.gov.mt for more information.

SCSA
469, Bugeja Institute
St Joseph High Road,
St Venera.
Malta
+356 25494000
info@scsa@gov.mt