A credit scheme launched today takes adoptive parents closer to having the same rights as biological parents, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia said.

The scheme, targeted at parents who leave their jobs in order to raise and get to know the children they have adopted, will be “refunded” by the government in national insurance contributions for up to four years. This scheme, already in place for biological parents, has been put in place for adoptive parents as from today.

Whilst biological parents benefit from the four-year National Insurance (NI) credit scheme within a timeframe of six years following the child’s birth, adoptive parents will benefit from the same scheme and the same timeframe, however starting off from the date of adoption. The six-year timeframe is extended to 10 years if the child has a disability.

The scheme has been developed specifically to encourage the “process of adopting parents to get to know and take care of their children,” Dr Farrugia said, as well as to further encourage the idea of adoption. 

Since January 2017 until now, seven children were adopted, a high rise from the low count of six children adopted in total last year. According do Dr Farrugia, 30 couples have also “matched” with children and are currently undergoing the process of adoption. 

Out of the seven children adopted in 2017, four are from India and three from Slovakia. Last year Slovakia was also a popular country chosen to adopt children, with half of children adopted being Slovakian. 

Dr Farrugia also stated that the government has now reached agreements with Vietnam and Cambodia whilst adoption is now open in Chile. There are also discussions with Poland and preliminary talks with Latvia, Czech Republic and Brazil.