Statement on the interpellations of Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Sofia Hovsepyan on the adoption process

In response to the questions and statements that Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Sofia Hovsepyan gave and made in regard to the adoption of foreign children during the session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on 17 January 2019, we would like to inform that, upon the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, in 2008, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia was recognised as the central body of the Republic of Armenia acting within the scope of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption. Based on this, the organising of intercountry adoption is within the scope of competence of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia. We would also like to inform that the relations and process regarding future control over the destinies of children adopted in foreign states are clearly regulated. In particular, point 64 of Annex No 1 — approved by Decision No 269-N of the Government of the Republic of Armenia of 18 March 2010 — establishes that the Central Body shall — once a year up to the expiry of five years of adoption — apply to the central body or accredited organisation of the particular foreign state for the purpose of obtaining information on the living conditions of a child adopted from the Republic of Armenia and transferred to the territory of the foreign state.

The central bodies and accredited organisations of the foreign state co-operating within the scope of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption of 29 May 1993 are aware of the aforementioned procedure established upon the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia regarding the provision of information about the living conditions of an adopted child; as a rule, the central bodies and accredited organisations present the necessary information to the Central Body without making an additional inquiry from the Central Body.

The reports on the living conditions of adopted children, which include a study of the living conditions of a child prepared by the competent authorities of the co-operating state, information about and photos of the health condition, are obtained, examined and kept by the Central Body.

It should be mentioned that, to this day, the Central Body has not received any negative report or information on children adopted by foreigners, the living conditions of children adopted abroad are ensured, the children receive necessary medical care and are under the supervision of the competent authorities of the given state.

The absence of problems in the intercountry adoption sector is also due to the fact that the Central Body organises intercountry adoption of children primarily with member states to the Convention that have a proper internal system for the protection of and control over exercise of the rights of the children. In particular, the Central Body co-operates with the central bodies of the United States of America, Italy, France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Germany, England, Austria and Greece.

 We would also like to inform that, as prescribed by Annex No 2 approved upon Decision No 269-N of the Government of the Republic of Armenia of 18 March 2010, for the purpose of protecting the rights and interests of adopted children, the Central Body shall provide information about child adoption to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia for implementation of the powers provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia shall forward information about an adopted child to the relevant consular office of the Republic of Armenia located in the place of permanent residence of the adoptive parents.

The consular office shall record-register the child adopted and transferred to a foreign state and submit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia each piece of information obtained in regard to the child.

Moreover, the Central Body shall, in co-operation with its partners and with the support of the latter, constantly be in contact with adopting families, including at the invitation of the central bodies of the co-operating country, pay visits to the families of adoptive parents for the purpose of seeing and directly interacting with the adopted children. We would also like to inform that, although a compulsory procedure for visits is not provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, representatives of the Central Body have paid visits to the co-operating states for the purpose of meeting with the children adopted and transferred to a foreign state, based on the invitations of the central bodies or accredited organisations of foreign states, with funding from those central bodies and accredited organisations. We also deem it necessary to emphasise that the protection of confidentiality of the data of an adopted child is guaranteed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia; consequently, the Central Body is not entitled to present any individualised information about the fact and process of intercountry adoption and the child to persons not involved in the process. 

It is also necessary to take into consideration the fact that intercountry adoption is the major tool through which the right of children deprived of parental care and not adopted by citizens of the Republic of Armenia to live and be brought up in a family is ensured. We would like to inform that, as of January 2019, more than 240 children are record-registered by the Central Body and have not been adopted by citizens of the Republic of Armenia.

The Central Body of the Republic of Armenia fully hopes to find families for these children, irrespective of geographical territory and national belonging.