Ethica» An Independent Voice for Ethical Child Adoption

Vietnam update: No new adoptions at this time

July 2, 2009

From the Department of State Office of Children’s Issues:

June 2009

U.S. citizens cannot register a new adoption in Vietnam at this time. The Government of Vietnam has stated its intention to introduce new adoption legislation and to institute reforms in the adoption process, and has indicated that the anticipated new legislation and implementing regulations may take effect in 2011. Establishing new procedures and ensuring that they are effective will take additional time. Adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents should not seek or accept new referrals from Vietnam at this time.

On October 15, 2008, the Governments of Vietnam and the United States jointly announced that new intercountry adoptions between the two countries could not be processed until a new bilateral agreement is reached or Vietnam accedes to the Hague Adoption Convention. (Vietnamese law requires that a bilateral agreement or international convention must be in place; a previous agreement between Vietnam and the United States expired September 1, 2008.) This decision was based on evidence of significant irregularities, fraud concerns, and the lack of sufficient legal safeguards in Vietnam’s current adoption process.

Nearly all adoptions for which an official referral was issued before September 1, 2008 have now been processed to completion. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and Vietnamese officials are assisting families whose cases are still pending. Questions about these cases may be sent to hanoiadoptions@state.gov. In response to U.S. Government inquiries, the Government of Vietnam has reviewed its position on second referrals and has reaffirmed that second referrals will be permitted only when the child originally referred for adoption has died. In light of ongoing police investigations and the Vietnamese Government’s current focus on revising their adoption laws and procedures, the U.S. Government accepts this decision on second referrals as final.

The Governments of the United States and Vietnam are seriously concerned about the inconsistencies and deficiencies that led to a mutual decision not to renew our previous bilateral agreement. Vietnamese criminal investigations and U.S. field reviews revealed evidence of child buying, including forged or altered documents, cash payment to birth mothers (for other than reasonable payments for necessary activities), coercion or deceit to induce the birth parent(s) to release children to an orphanage, and children being offered for intercountry adoption without the knowledge or consent of their birth parents. Vietnamese criminal investigations into certain intercountry adoptions are still on-going as of June 2009.

The United States continues to meet with Vietnamese officials to discuss intercountry adoption. Talks in Hanoi and Washington, D.C. have focused on the broad range of child welfare responsibilities encompassed by the Hague Adoption Convention, the principles underlying the Convention, and the practical requirements for implementing procedures that the Convention requires. During these meetings, representatives from both countries acknowledged that intercountry adoptions from Vietnam to the United States cannot resume until fundamental reforms are in place to ensure a transparent child welfare system that has the best interests of the children as its first priority, and that protects the fundamental rights of all parties.

The United States welcomes action by the Government of Vietnam to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for any illegal activities related to intercountry adoptions. The United States also strongly supports Vietnam’s efforts to establish a comprehensive child welfare system that includes the option of intercountry adoption for children when family preservation or domestic alternatives are not possible. The United States Government cannot predict how long it will take for the Government of Vietnam to implement reforms sufficient to address the problems which led to the current halt in intercountry adoptions to the United States.