Launch of three adoption resources for birth parents and health professionals who provide services to parents considering adoption

A series of booklets explaining the adoption process for birth parents and to assist health professionals dealing with birth parents, was launched today.
Barry Andrews TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, welcomed the publication of this series of booklets, which serve to bring clarity to what is an inherently emotional and often complex process. The Minister stressed that any decision to make a child available for adoption should not be entered into lightly and that the best interests of the child must always be central to the adoption process.

Produced collaboratively by groups directly involved in providing a service to parents considering adoption, the three booklets, which were funded by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, provide user-friendly and straightforward information for people who are considering placing their child for adoption. The first booklet provides an introduction to the adoption process, the second outlines the legal process of adoption in detail, while the third is a workbook for parents who are deep in the adoption process to consider the implications of the adoption.

Previous research commissioned by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency suggests that for health professionals to be able to present and discuss adoption to those considering or choosing adoption, resources are required to provide clear written information on adoption as well as effective referral and follow-up systems.

Speaking today, Margot Doherty of Treoir, one of the eight groups who assisted in producing the booklets said: “The process of adopting babies born in Ireland has changed considerably over the last number of years. In the past, adoption was carried out in secret with no possibility of mother and child keeping in touch. Now most adoptions are open or semi-open with parents and children remaining in some sort of contact. In addition, fathers of children being placed for adoption are now required by law to be consulted about the adoption. These new resources aim to present information on the adoption process in a clear and simple manner. They are designed to inform parents who are considering placing a child for adoption.”

To date there has been very little written information on adoption for birth parents and the purpose of these booklets is to fill this information gap. The booklets will be widely distributed to health professionals who work with pregnant parents who are considering the outcome of their pregnancy, such as crisis pregnancy counsellors, social workers, general practitioners, public health nurses, and maternity hospital staff.

Katharine Bulbulia, Chair of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, which funded the resources, added: “The number of babies available for traditional non-family adoption has fallen dramatically in recent decades and adoption is rarely the chosen outcome of a crisis pregnancy. For some individuals and couples this option is explored as part of the decision making process, however, the decision to place a child for adoption is immense and requires a considerable amount of thought and reflection.” Ms Bulbulia added: “These new booklets will provide a valuable resource for those who feel that ultimately they are unable to parent their child and are considering the many and complex issues that must be addressed before a decision is made to place a child for adoption. The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is delighted to fund these materials and commend the collaborative work of all of the eight organisations who were involved in producing these accessible adoption resources.”

The eight groups involved in this project were the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Cúnamh, the HSE, the National Maternity Hospital, Pact, the Rotunda Hospital, Treoir, and the University College Hospital, Galway.

For further information please contact:

Margot Doherty
Assistant Chief Executive Treoir
01 – 6700 120
0872263164

Enda Saul
Programmes & Communications Manager
Crisis Pregnancy Agency
01 – 814 6292
0857172008

Editor’s Notes:
Closed adoption is where there is no contact at all between parents and the adoptive family.

There are two choices in having contact following adoption:
• Open adoption involves face-to-face contact between parents, the child and the adoptive family. This can take place with the support of the adoption agency or you can agree it yourself with the adoptive parents.

• Semi-open adoption (or ‘letterbox’ contact) is where information can be shared through the social worker in the adoption agency. There is no face-to-face contact between parents, the child and the adoptive parents.
Any contact arrangements made between both sets of parents are not part of the legal adoption process.

Details of Adoption Resources
1. The first of the booklets, Introduction to adoption for birth parents, outlines briefly what is involved in adoption for birth parents – how long it takes, who is involved, changing your mind, contact following adoption etc. Introduction to adoption for birth parents is also available in Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, Polish and Romanian on www.treoir.ie/publications/html.
2. The second booklet, Adoption in Ireland today for birth parents considering adoption outlines the process of adoption in detail – who can place children for adoption, who legalises the adoption process, giving initial consent, giving final consent, the obligations of consulting fathers etc.
3. The final booklet, Workbook for parents in the adoption process, is for parents, both mothers and fathers, who are deep into the adoption process with adoption social workers and encourages parents to examine in detail the implications of both placing a baby for adoption and parenting the baby.