The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

February 15, 2004

The United States is currently in the final stages of implementing legislation for the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. The United States’ implementation of the Hague will likely occur sometime in 2004.

05/01/03 Information from the Department of State re: Hague regulations

The Department of State transmitted two proposed regulations on intercountry
adoptions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We sent:

* The proposed rule on the accreditation and approval of
intercountry adoption service providers under the Intercountry Adoption Act
of 2000 (IAA); and

* The proposed rule on the Department’s preservation of Hague
Convention on Intercountry Adoption records.

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) posted a notice,
indicating that it had received the proposed rules on April 17, 2003, on its
website at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library. Information on OIRA’s review
process and the procedures for disclosing information about proposed
regulations under review also is available on the OMB website. We have
offered to brief OMB on the proposed rules and will continue to work with
OMB to move these proposed rules to implement the Hague Convention on
Intercountry Adoption and the IAA forward to publication for public comment
in the Federal Register.

OMB has up to 90 days to review the proposed rules. Once the proposed
rules have been reviewed by OMB, the Department will then proceed to publish
the proposed rules in the Federal Register for public comment. The
Department expects to publish the proposed rules for a 60-day comment
period. Any interested person or organization may comment on the proposed
rules when they are published in the Federal Register, and information on
where and how to send comments to the Department also will be included in
the Federal Register. The Department must publish answers to the comments,
give consideration to the input, modify the proposed rules as necessary, and
publish the rules as final rules in the Federal Register.

Update: 04/21/03

The Department of State delivered the draft regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on 04/17/03. The OMB has ninety days to review the regulations. If any significant problems are discovered, OMB could return the regulations to the Department of State for revision. However, most feel this is not likely to happen as OMB has been involved in reviewing the draft regulations.

Once the OMB approves the regulations, they will be published in the Federal Register and a sixty day public comment period will ensue. All interested parties in the adoption community, including adoptive parents, birth parents, adoptees, adoption and legal professionals, are encouraged to carefully review the regulations and submit comments during the public comment period.

What is the Hague Convention?

The Hague Convention is a multilateral treaty, adopted on May 29, 1993 at The Hague. The Convention covers all adoptions between countries that become parties to it and sets certain internationally agreed-upon norms and procedures which Convention countries agree to follow when performing intercountry adoptions.

Has the United States ratified the treaty?

No. The United States signed the Treaty in 1994; and in 2000 the Congress passed the implementing legislation. However, ratification of the Treaty will not occur until the final implementing regulations are completed and the documents are deposited with the Hague. The Treaty will then enter into force for US adoptions on the first day of the month following a three-month waiting period.

What changes will occur under the Hague Convention?

Agencies that perform intercountry adoptions in Hague countries will be required to obtain accreditation. The accreditation process is designed to ensure that agencies operate to certain standards, provide Hague required services, and remain under the oversight of the State Department, which has been named as the United States Central Authority.

Proposed requirements for Hague-accredited agencies include:

  • Every agency that wishes to be accredited must be state licensed;
  • During accreditation, agencies must disclose debarments or loss of licensures, formal written complaints, disciplinary actions, and past or pending investigations. Agencies must also state whether they have operated under any other name previously;
  • Agencies must have liability insurance of at least one million dollars for each occurrence.

Upon initial contact with an agency, the family must receive, upon request:

  • All policies and practices including general eligibility criteria, applicable fees and information about the mutual rights and responsibilities of the clients and the agency;
  • The contract, or a sample contract, that the family will be expected to sign;
  • The parties with whom the prospective adoptive family can expect to work with in both the United States and the child’s country of origin; the responsibilities of those parties; and the usual costs associated with their services;
  • The agency’s disruption rate of its placements for intercountry adoption;

In addition, the agency:

  • Shall have a written policy prohibiting child-buying;
  • May not require the family to sign a blanket waiver of liability;
  • Shall make a written schedule of fees available and the agreement under which the fees will be charged, reduced or refunded. The agreement shall include costs of each part of the adoption process;
  • Must pay their employees only on a salary or a fee-for-service basis (rather than a contingency basis); and must be responsible both legally and financially for their overseas agents;
  • Must have adequately trained and supervised personnel;
  • Must provide pre-placement training for parents;
  • Must provide all information available on the child, and if it isn’t available, document the efforts that were expended to obtain the information;
  • Must retain case files permanently.

Where can I find more information about the Hague Convention?
The State Department offers an information sheet about the Hague Convention. Information about the process and the current status of the Hague regulations (and a copy of the current proposed regulations) is available at The Hague Adoption Standards Project Website.

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