N° 241 – Intrafamilial intercountry adoption: Is the child always at the heart of the process?

As recommended by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, Arts. 3, 8 and 20) and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (Guidelines), in situations where a child can no longer be cared for by his or her parents, priority should be given to a placement within the extended family, in order to maintain some continuity in ‘upbringing and (…) the child’s ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background’ (UNCRC, Art. 20). Unlike national contexts where these placements can be informal, at international level, it often becomes essential to formalise them due to immigration requirements for the child to be able to cross borders. There are many legal and administrative mechanisms for this, including intrafamilial adoption, which currently seems to be the preferred route. However, is this always the solution that best meets the interests of the child? How can we ensure that intrafamilial intercountry adoption remains a child protection measure and not a way of circumventing tighter immigration procedures? Should these adoptions be subject to simplified procedures or rather additional scrutiny?