Adoption during wartime: genuine care or ulterior motives

The full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine made its terrible corrections in the life of every Ukrainian. But, perhaps, children who lost their parents due to hostilities suffered the most. Each such child needs a new home, love and support from adults. The state and society are simply obliged to support such children, provide them with safety, care and upbringing. Adoption is the best way to achieve this goal. But at the same time, next to noble deeds, less honest intentions can be manifested. War changes public priorities and, unfortunately, there are cases when instead of helping the child, in fact, they look for a way to avoid mobilization or take advantage of government benefits. How to recognize genuine care from the heart and hidden selfish motives?
The war brought with it not only devastation, but also increased the number of orphans and children left without parental care. According to the Ministry of Social Policy, there are about 70,000 orphans and children deprived of parental care in Ukraine. Of these, 7,415 were registered only during the past year. In particular, 13,000 children were left without parental care, and 1,759 of them became orphans due to ongoing hostilities.
“But I am not sure that these statistics correspond to reality, because many territories were occupied and we do not have access to these territories, information about them. Accordingly, we do not know whether those children are there with them, and it is impossible to count them at all”, – explains the complexity of the situation, Darya Kasyanova, head of the board of the Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights and national director for the development of programs of SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine.
How is the adoption of children
Many children have been moved from residential homes or have simply lost contact with their guardians, making it much more difficult to track them down and provide them with the help they need.
For data The National Social Service Service of Ukraine (NSSSU) currently has 15,610 children registered for adoption. Only in the first half of 2024, 469 children were adopted, which is significantly higher than last year.
To date, there are 1,996 families and citizens who wish to adopt children. And this is an excellent indicator that the topic of adoption is actively popularized among Ukrainian society. It is also worth noting that the adoption procedure itself has now become somewhat simpler. Now, families who are in the process of adopting a child have the opportunity to take them in before the court’s decision is made. For this, only two conditions must be met:
- submission of an application for adoption of a child to the court;
- receiving a positive opinion of the regional state administration or the executive body of the city or district council in the city about the feasibility of adoption and compliance with the interests of the child
Prospective adoptive parents must take training courses on raising orphans and children deprived of parental care and obtain a certificate. Its validity period was extended to 24 months. Now you can get a certificate within 5 working days, instead of 10, as it was before. It has become easier to arrange guardianship or adoption if one of the spouses is in the service. From now on, the person who serves will be able to submit such a conclusion within 15 calendar days after his return.
All information about children in need of care is now concentrated in the children’s services not only within the city, but throughout the region. All applicants who are enrolled in the CSD will receive an invitation to an appointment to review the child’s information as soon as the child is enrolled. Children’s services at the regional level will see information about children registered in other regions and in the centralized register. All this will significantly speed up the process of meeting orphans with their future parents.
“Today, 2,155 orphans and children deprived of parental care are abroad due to forced evacuation as a result of Russian aggression. And our goal is not only to return them home, to Ukraine, but also to guarantee their safety and find families for them!”, – reported on his Facebook page, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Children, Petro Dobromilskyi.
The largest number of Ukrainian orphans is located in Poland, Germany and Turkey. As Vasyl Lutsyk, head of the NSSSU, reported, the National Social Service held 10 meetings with representatives of foreign countries with the aim of returning Ukrainian orphans to Ukraine for adoption within the limits of our legislation. In order to adopt a child who is abroad, the candidate is currently overcoming certain difficulties. First of all, this is a significant distance, and in the conditions of war, not everyone has the opportunity to financially overcome this obstacle. And secondly, the bureaucracy of foreign countries, which significantly delays the process of checking candidates’ documents. NSSSU is doing everything possible to speed up this procedure and ease the path of future adoptive parents, which is already thorny and stretches for thousands of kilometers, depending on the location of the child.
Important attention is also paid to establishing contact between the child and future parents.
“You can get to know your child both when you go abroad and online. Such a system already works. During communication via video call, the child gets to know the potential parents, and then they can take her to a new home.” explains Petro Dobromilskyi, head of the State Service for Children.
Foreign experience
The problem of raising children who have lost their parents is solved differently in the EU countries and the USA. For example, in France, Italy and Germany there are quite strict requirements for adoptive parents. The adoption procedure is complex and unfolds in several stages:
- verification of suitability of adoptive parents;
- collection of necessary documentation;
- conducting an interview with future adopters;
- decision making by the court.
The adoption process is carried out taking into account the interests of the child, since the rights of the child play an important role in many EU countries.
When checking candidates, the following criteria are taken into account:
- state of health;
- stable income;
- no criminal record;
- willingness to raise a child.
In the USA and Great Britain, the system of foster education of children (from the English “foster caring”) is widespread. Foster education is the education in specially prepared families of orphans, children deprived of parental care and those who find themselves in difficult life situations, for a long period of time and with preservation of contact with biological parents, if they are alive.
After the authorities confirm the fact that the child is left without parents, a special agency begins to take care of its fate. The Department of Child and Family Services is immediately looking for a family to take over the child’s custody. To obtain such a right, the family must first obtain a license from the state in which they live. Expectant parents must meet all requirements established by the Department of Social Security in the state of residence.
The period of stay of a child in a foster family is 2 years. During this time, US special services are looking for the best candidates for adoption. If it is impossible to live in a foster family, children can be placed in children’s shelters designed for 3-5 children or orphanages.
The foster system in the USA is popularized in every way, and families who have decided on guardianship are supported – both consultatively and financially. On average, support for a foster family is USD 1,000 per child per month, depending on the state.
Only those families can become foster parents in Great Britain, where the parents will meet the clear requirements of the working group of the National Foster Education Association of Great Britain and the Rules for placing children in foster care.
EU countries and the USA are often accused of bureaucracy. But every document required by this or that institution really works. Clear control ensures optimal fulfillment of requirements and provides an opportunity to provide children who have lost their parents reliable protection and the best conditions for development.
For example, foster care in the United States and Great Britain involves as many agencies as possible in the adoption process and is one of the most effective alternatives to raising children in public care institutions.
“Even in the best shelters, children lose their sense of family. Every month of a child’s stay in a shelter harms his psyche. Imagine the years she spends there”, says Chuck Johnson, president of the National Adoption Council in Washington, DC.
And this approach has its results. The USA is a country where there are almost no homeless children. So, probably, such a successful adoption experience is worth taking note of.
On the dark side of guardianship
Unfortunately, among friendly families who are ready to shelter disadvantaged children and give them their love, care and warmth, there are often those who have useful motives.
“When it became known that under the new law on mobilization, guardians and adoptive parents will be able to count on postponement, we started a real boom.” – says Nataliya Ibrahimova, Director of the Kyiv Regional Center of Social Services.
An “interesting” trend has appeared, among families that have not had children before and are applying for adoption, there are also those who already have two children, or women who are already pregnant with their second child. And such cases make up 50% of the total number. Even men who have two or three children each show their desire to become guardians, while their women write a statement that they do not mind. Such families have no clear motives, but only trump their rights.
So how do you learn to distinguish between a sincere desire to help a child and a cunning plan to use a child as a cover?
“Previously, in the training manuals, we described all the risks in detail: why one or another person should not be given a child and why he or she is not able to raise it. That is, we put filters at least a little. But, unfortunately, in the spring of 2024, the Ministry of Social Policy developed two new documents – Resolution No. 331 and order about making changes to some documents on issues of adoption, and in this order, the training certificate was reduced to a minimum – it’s just that such and such has completed training and the certificate is valid until such and such a date. That is, we can only write whether a person can be an adopter or not, without any comments”, – indicates the shortcomings in the system due to the concessions of Mrs. Ibrahimova’s Government.
Such concessions do not allow social services to carefully select future parents for orphans. Because each of their refusals becomes the basis for filing a lawsuit against them on the part of applicants for adoption. But even such refusals are not able to block dishonest candidates. After a year, they will apply for adoption again.
It is likely that the lack of clear mechanisms for the selection of candidates endangers the future life of children, whom fate has not spared. And this cannot be allowed. After all, adoption is a huge responsibility, which should be based on decency and sincere intentions of the candidates for parenthood to help disadvantaged children. The state and society must support those who take on such a responsible burden and really want to give the child a new family.
Children’s homes cannot be turned into bazaars, where children are distributed like toys. It is worth being vigilant about cases where adoption becomes a tool for profit or evasion of mobilization. After all, when the war is over, you can’t come and return the child with the words, “thank you, I don’t need it anymore.” It is extremely important to ensure transparency and close supervision in the implementation of the adoption process in order to guarantee the best interests and a secure future for our children.