There were 54 successful applications, mostly from foreign countries, for adoptions in 2018 – a 10-year high, Minister for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity Michael Falzon said as he officially opened the National Adoption Strategy for public consultation on Tuesday.

Out of these 54 applications, 38 were for children from India, 8 from Slovakia, 7 from Portugal and 1 from Thailand.

The strategy is based on 25 recommendations which are planned to be implemented by 2022, and the prime objective of it is to facilitate adoptions while ensuring that everything is done with the best interest of children, who – Falzon said – must never be treated like commodities – at heart.

Falzon said that prospective parents applying for inter-country adoptions had benefitted from a €10,000 government grant to cover part of the expenses that they faced due to the adoption process.

The minister also noted that the government had concluded an agreement which would pave the way for adoptions from Bulgaria, and that discussions were underway for a similar agreement with Moldova as well.

Asked about adoptions from Russia, Falzon recognised that the number of successful applications had dropped dramatically since 2017, which is when same-sex couples were given the right to adopt.  He said that talks with the Russian government were underway to resolve the issue which, he said, was down to Russia’s different adoption laws.

With regards to local adoptions involving parents living in Malta, Falzon said that one of the major obstacles as the applications could only be considered if the prospective parents had been fostering the child for at least 10 years.  This, however, was being reduced to five years and in exceptional cases a court could waive the period completely.

The Executive Chairman of the Social Care Standards Authority Matthew Vella emphasised that the strategy was written in its entirety in tandem with accredited agencies, professionals and persons who are going through or have completed the process of adoption. 

Submissions for this public consultations document which can be downloaded from www.konsultazzjoni.gov.mt can be made until May 3.