Changes in Adoption and Foster Care Law
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Friday, September 12
The Parliamentary Health Commission has made changes in the Adoption and Foster Care Law. A discussion of the draft law will begin in September. However, changes have already led to a divergence of opinion.
The main disagreement was caused because of age restrictions. According to the new law, a person over the age of 50 will no longer be able to adopt a child. However, if one of the couple is under 50, exceptions will be allowed.
Authors of the draft law do not exclude more changes in the draft before its adoption.
The amendments might concern the age restriction as well. For example, age determination between those adopting and the adopted must not be greater than 50 years.
An additional change will be related to be the rule of giving up a child in direct adoption. A person who gives up their own child will no longer be able to choose future parents for the child.
The registration procedure is planned in order to refine and implement special training courses for potential parents.
Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Georgia Sascha Graumann said that this is very sensitive topic and it must be worked out carefully to avoid future complications.
“The number of people who want to adopt a child is much higher than the number of children who may be adopted. The deprivation of parental status must also be done very carefully, and the family who wants to adopt a child must be completely studied,” stated Graumann.
Head of the NGO Every Child Andro, Dadiani called the restriction in age discrimination. According to him, such restriction might affect the adoption of children over 14.
Physiologist Ketevan Tavartkiladze stated that every single case must be viewed individually.
“The age restrictions are requited, as people under 50 might use old-fashioned methods of upbringing,” said Tavartkiladze.
According to official statistics, the number of people who want to adopt a child is over 3,000, while only 200 children have been adopted during the last several years.
