The Adoption Board's register, up to December 2005, has 3,378 entries of foreign adoptions to Ireland. The intra-country adoption movement gained momentum about 15 years ago when babies began to be adopted from Romanian orphanages.

The adoption route to Romania is now officially closed. Ireland has a bilateral agreement with the Philippines, Vietnam and China, and Irish families are increasingly finding their way independently to Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Ethiopia.

The Adoption Board has commissioned the Children's Research Centre, Trinity College, Dublin, to undertake a research project on inter-country adoption outcomes in Ireland since 1980. It aims to evaluate the pre- and post-placement needs of adopted children, and to identify what contributes to successful outcomes. Its findings are due out later this year.

The Intercountry Adoption Association (Ireland) is a voluntary group set up to support parents pre-and post adoption through workshops, a quarterly newsletter, meetings and a helpline service. Tel 01-4759505, www.iaaireland.org