Chapter 10 - Conclusion

Summary

The purpose of this book has been relatively simple: it has sought to determine how best to protect the rights of children in intercountry adoption in Europe by providing content to the principles set out in international law. In doing so, it has provided practical examples from European jurisdictions of the issues that can arise in establishing appropriate legislation for intercountry adoption, and how these can be improved upon by using a children's rights framework.

It has not been the intent to advocate uniform rules across Europe, but to expand on international human rights law principles to provide more detailed guidelines for conducting the intercountry adoption system in conformity with the best interests of the child. There are many areas in which uniform laws would not be beneficial; an example of this was seen in Chapter Three in the discussion of the in-country waiting periods for children before placement in intercountry adoption – the length of time that domestic alternative care is considered will necessarily depend on the individual situation in the jurisdiction in question. Where domestic foster care and alternative accommodation is well developed, then longer periods are justified in order to give the child the highest chance of a placement that ensures continuity of culture, ethnicity, language and religion, subject to difficulties for young children concerning attachment. On the other hand, where there are few domestic foster care or adoptive placements available, and the child will otherwise be living in substandard institutional care, shorter time periods must be advocated. In this situation, this book has proposed general guidelines that states must consider when developing their legislation, and when deciding what length of waiting period best suits their particular situation.

There are other issues discussed in this book that are more conducive to a prescriptive approach, for example services for adoptive parents such as preadoption counselling, post-adoption services, and psychological and legal assistance for birth parents. While the implementation of such services will depend on the financial resources of the state, the aim of the system and the principles behind it will remain unchanged.