`They hoped we'd go away - but we didn't'

Hilary Kavanagh is one of those adopters who just won't go away. In October 1994, when she first applied for an assessment, the Eastern Health Board advised her there would be a six-month waiting list. In June 1995, she was contacted by the board, who informed her and her partner, Frank, that they would have to marry.

That done, in August 1995, the couple made an appointment with the EHB for September. Then Hilary got pregnant. But she still wanted to adopt, and when the board wrote to congratulate her on the pregnancy, they said that her application would be suspended. She could reactivate it when her child was 15 months old. Fast forward to November 1996, when Hilary's son Robbie turned eight months old. She wrote to EHB, saying she still wanted to adopt.

The waiting list was now longer than when the couple had first applied, the board informed her, and she would have to wait until Robbie turned 15 months old.

In October 1997, when Robbie was 19 months old, Hilary told EHB that the couple were ready to start their assessment. They were informed that they would have to reapply and re-queue.

"We were in disbelief," says Hilary. She and her husband wrote to their social worker and the administrator of childcare services, recounting their correspondence about the case, but they were told that the board's decision stood.

"They hoped we'd go away," says Hilary, "but we didn't."

They were called for their assessment in February 1999. "We had a really nice social worker, and we were not offended by the questions, but we learned nothing from the process," says Hilary. "You cannot be careful enough, but I don't know what they achieved during this lengthy period."

In December 1999, they received their declaration of suitability from the Adoption Board. They adopted Alex in Romania in June 2000.

THAT same month, as soon as she arrived back from Romania, Hilary joined the queue for her second assessment. She was assigned number 74 on the waiting list.

In October, she was told that she was now number 82. The ERHA said the list had been renumbered, and reminded her that her adopted son must have been in the family home for 12 to 15 months before she could adopt again.

"I would advise newcomers to change their religion or move out of Dublin," says Hilary. (Pact, which was formerly known as the Protestant Adoption Society, is a voluntary group registered with the Adoption Board.)

It can provide adoption services, including assessments, on a small scale. It follows identical assessment procedures as the health boards, and the Adoption Board.)

What really angers her is what she regards as the lack of accountability on the part of senior civil servants at the health board. She adds: "The thing I find the saddest is that most of the obstruction is from your own country."