MY wife and I are US citizens. We would like to adopt a child from Slovakia, either a girl or boy between 5 and 10 years old. Can you advise us on adoption procedures?
In Slovakia, international adoption is restricted between countries that have signed the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect to inter-country adoption.
Unfortunately for Americans hoping to adopt a Slovak child, the US is not a party to the convention. According to Centrum pre medzinárodnu právnu ochranu detí a mládeže, the Centre for International Legal Protection of Children and Youth (CIPC) in Slovakia, the US has yet to make a decision regarding ratification. The CIPC is unable to predict when or if the US will eventually extend its signature.
To find out if your home country is party to the convention, please visit the CIPC website: www.cipc.sk.
If you are a citizen from a country that has ratified the convention and you wish to adopt a Slovak child, the first step is to contact an adoption agency in your home country.
After concluding that you are suitable and capable of adopting a child, the agency will prepare a complex social report for international adoption on your behalf. Documents required include birth and marriage certificates, copies of valid passports, medical reports, appropriate background checks, confirmation of income, tax returns and, photographs. All of the documents must be notarised as originals and be officially translated into Slovak.
With the above-mentioned documents in hand, you can start coordinating with an adoption agency in Slovakia.
Slovak adoption agencies give preference to local placement of children. International adoption is considered only when there is no family in the country of origin willing or capable of taking the child. Slovak citizens who wish to adopt a child from another country must undergo the same procedure as foreigners wishing to adopt a child from Slovakia.
Ivona Telekiová, the general manager for Relocation s.r.o., a Bratislava-based company (ww.relo.sk) can answer your questions at surviving.slovakia@spectator.sk.
