Madam, – In recent days there has been coverage in the media about the fact that the bilateral agreement between Vietnam and Ireland pertaining to adoption has been allowed to lapse (Dáil Report, News, May 8th).
There are almost 300 couples/individuals – registered as far back as May 2008 with the adoption mediation agency responsible for adoption from Vietnam – who find themselves caught up in the current impasse. A queue of new applicants ready to register is already starting to form. While we have a voice and are beginning to have it heard we should not, of course, forget the children currently in orphanages who surely deserve the good homes and family lives awaiting them here.
We are one such couple who, having undergone the assessment required of us, now find ourselves in the dark about what is going on. Those, like us, who have been e-mailing and writing to our politicians are receiving from Fianna Fáil representatives the same rhetoric that the Minister of State for Children is offering. We hope that behind the scenes, he is furiously working to resolve this issue.
We would urge Minister Andrews to show enough courage and vision to find a solution to the current impasse. While we commend his talk of improving waiting times in the future, that is of little consolation to those of us currently caught up in a situation not of our making. – Yours, etc,
DEBORAH KEEGAN and
MICHAEL ROONEY,
Ballisodare,
Sligo.
Madam, – We are waiting almost three years for our baby through international adoption (we are not allowed to adopt within Ireland as I was told I am too old – 39 years at the time). This is the only option left to us now to start a family. Before this we had three years of unsuccessful fertility treatment.
We have our house ready for our baby, believing we would be in Vietnam with a view to adopting a child from there by the end of 2009 or early 2010. However, this has all changed since until Ireland’s bilateral agreement with Vietnam was allowed to run out (Dáil Report, May 8th).
We have put baby gates on our stairs, our child’s room is ready and I have bought clothes for my little girl (to cheer myself up and to help me cope with the waiting). Not a single day goes by that I do not think of my baby.
I imagine what she may look like and I make plans like any pregnant woman – except this is not just nine months of waiting, this is six years. Not a day has passed since the lapse of Ireland’s bilateral adoption treaty with Vietnam on May 1st that I do not cry when I see young happy families or babies, as I do not know if I will ever have what they have.
My hopes are slowly being shattered. My friend has just had a beautiful baby girl and I am delighted for her but unable to buy her a gift as I can’t bear to go into a children’s shop.
This has been one of the most stressful times of my life, and only the most committed and determined can even embark on this journey through international adoption. It is a “leap of faith”. We have been rigorously assessed and had every aspect of our lives exposed to scrutiny in order to prove that we will be fitting, capable and loving parents. We have no problem with any of this process (even its length) as we thought we would have a great gift at the end of it.
But now I am genuinely worried and very, very angry.
It appears the Minister of State for Children, Barry Andrews did not start serious negotiations regarding the bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam until the end of 2008. Why did he not start them this time last year?
We have all known for the past five years that the agreement would run out on May 1st 2009. Why was the draft bilateral promised to the Vietnamese and only sent to them on March 6th, 2009? Why was a delegation (and not Mr Andrews himself) only sent to Vietnam in the week beginning April 20th, 2009, just a week-and-a-half before the deadline?
This is outrageous, and this issue now needs to be addressed by the Government.
I am sick of listening to the Fianna Fáil politicians stand up for the Minister for Children and defend him. He has failed us miserably and caused much heartbreak for thousands of families. He surely now must do all he can to sort out this sorry mess before the Dáil breaks up for summer.
I am worried that if it is not sorted out very soon it will be after the Dáil resumes in October before negotiations restart. This would add years to our wait and, more importantly, would mean that children would remain in orphanages for much longer. This would increase the possibility of institutionalisation and attachment issues and the health of these babies would be affected.
What would the Minister do then, if we eventually got to adopt? Would he help us with the medical costs of treating these children? I don’t think so.
We all want this process to be as transparent as is possible and as the Minister stated, we want “to strengthen the protection of children in intercountry adoption between the two countries”.
This human issue is affecting many people at this time, while our Government sits back and does nothing. – Yours, etc,
ADRIENNE KEARNS,
Tirargus,
Co Donegal.