This week as I was making a list of things we'd need to do at the beginning stages of our upcoming adoption, I discovered there's something new out there in the world of adoption regulations. It's called the Hague, and it's affecting families adopting from Ethiopia. More on that below, but first let me tell you a little about the Hague.

What Is It?

The Hague Treaty was completed in 1993, and has been signed by many countries around the world. The purpose of the treaty is to ensure ethical adoption practices around the world, and to protect the children being adopted across national boundaries. Through their participation, the U.S., China, Guatemala, and more than 60 additional countries have signaled their intention to legitimize international adoption by agreeing that:

--Every child has the right to a permanent family, even when that family is in another country.

--Adoption of children between countries should take place via agreed-upon procedures that are ethical and orderly.


Main Points of Treaty
(source: Adoptive Families: Hague Convention)


--The new regulations will govern only international adoptions from other Hague countries. Adoptions will continue as always from non-Hague countries.

--Adoption agencies will be required to complete an extensive accreditation process. There is some speculation that this will raise the cost of adoption, but the full impact is not yet known.

--Adoptive families will have access to a national database of verified complaints about adoption agencies/providers.

--The immigration process will be changed so that children to be adopted will be assured entry into the U.S. even before the adoption is complete in the sending country. It is unknown how this will affect the timing of the immigration process.

--Sending countries will agree to maintain background records for all children placed in international adoptions. This will possibly give adoptive families access to more of the child's history.

How Does It Affect Adoptive Families?

These new requirements are expected to be put into place in late 2007 or early 2008. At this point, Ethiopia is not on the list of signing countries. However, this treaty may still affect families adopting from Ethiopia.

Here's how.

Many adoption agencies are already preparing to meet the Hague accreditation standards. They will be requiring new things of all their families, not just the ones adopting from Hague countries. I discovered that with this next adoption my husband and I will need to complete ten hours of education time. Both our local homestudy agency and our Ethiopian adoption agency require this. In fact, part of( AAI's application fee now goes towards several hours of educational DVD's to help adoptive families meet these requirements.

It appears to be up to the individual agencies at this point to determine what constitutes acceptable education. To meet this new need for education, a variety of websites have been created that offer adoption education for a fee. You would probably be wise to check and see just what your agency finds acceptable.

I blogged awhile back about one of the older of these websites: Adoption Learning Partners. I recently completed several of their courses and found them to be very helpful.

Especially valuable was a two-hour course called "Journey Of Attachment" It features a series of scenarios with five children demonstrating different attachment issues. You answer mutiple choice questions, and are shown how your choices will affect each child's ability to attach. I found it extremely helpful and engaging. In my opinion, this course would benefit any adoptive parent. You can take the courses on this website for free, then pay about $15 a credit-hour if you want a certificate to prove you took the course.

Other online education sites include:

Online Adoption Education Classes

Adoption Education