Ethiopian-Australian Intercountry Adoption Program under threatFriday 4th December 2009 | 6:25 AM« Back to ListingThe Australian-African Children's Aid Support Association (AACASA) is extremely concerned about a decision by the Attorney-General to suspend the Ethiopian-Australian adoption program. Gaylene Cooper, President of the Association, says that the Attorney-General is responding to a new requirement from the Ethiopian government but cannot understand why the two governments need to suspend adoptions while they sort out the details and paperwork. She says that she doesn't mind the grogram being reviewed: It's just that we don't understand why they need to suspend the program whilst the review takes place. The Attorney-General's Department explicitly states that it is not aware of any illegal practices in relation to the program. Yet they are halting the program. This is a bit like stopping the trains while reviewing the rail network. Alex and Rod, two high school teachers working and living in Canberra, first began inquiring about intercountry adoption in 2003. They entered into the Intercountry adoption program with ACT Government expecting the whole process to take no more than two to three years. Little did they know that six years on, because of government reviews and changes to the program, they are still waiting. Alex says that their family is so distressed and upset by this current suspension: It has been incredibly frustrating and heart-breaking. Through the adoption process we are encouraged to connect with the country that our child is to be adopted from. In 2004 we chose Ethiopia as that country. Since then, we have immersed ourselves in the culture of Ethiopia and become very close to many children from Ethiopia that now call Canberra home. We see these little children and imagine that one day we will also complete our own family with our Ethiopian-born child. The Australian-Ethiopian adoption program is very rigorous and time-consuming. Adoptive parents do not enter into the program lightly and are supportive of the program's processes that ensure that parents understand as much as possible about intercountry adoption. The rights of the child under the Hague convention are also upheld through the ethos of the program. As Alex and Rod patiently wait for the wheels of government to slowly turn, they can only hope that a child will one day join them in Australia.
Contacts:
Gaylene Cooper, AACASA President: 0427 272 061 Press release published by Seeking Media. http://www.seekingmedia.com.au/ |
