The Irish-Azerbaijani couple who adopted a two-month-old Indonesian boy in 2001, and two years later handed him over to an orphanage, have been ordered by the High Court in Dublin to support him until he reaches 18. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The case of Tristan Dowse caused major public concern after it emerged that he had been left in an orphanage in Indonesia when his adoptive parents decided the adoption was not working out in 2003. He was a few weeks short of his second birthday at the time.
The boy, who is now four years old and is living with his natural mother in Indonesia, will receive a €20,000 lump sum, a monthly payment of €350 until he is 18, half of which will be invested for him by the High Court, and then a further lump sum of €25,000.
The Attorney General took proceedings last July on behalf of Tristan Dowse, an Irish citizen because of his adoption, seeking a declaration that Joseph Dowse from Co Wicklow and his Azerbaijan-born wife Lala had failed in their duty to care for and support Tristan, and seeking orders that they should do so. They took a counter action in August seeking to have his name removed from the register of foreign adoptions.
The hearing of both applications together took place in camera, as they involved a child. However, yesterday Mr Justice McMenamin ruled that much of the judgment should be made public.
While acceding to the Dowses' application that Tristan's name be removed from the register of foreign adoptions, he made clear that, as Tristan had been reunited with his natural mother, compelling the Dowses to take care of him outside Indonesia was not an option.
He will live with his mother in a city 350km north of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, and she will be his guardian while he retains his Irish citizenship and is a ward of the High Court. He will also retain succession rights to any estate of Mr and Mrs Dowse.
The judgment was welcomed by the solicitor for Mr and Mrs Dowse, Gus Cullen, and by the Adoption Board, which said his name will now be removed from the register.
It was also welcomed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, who said the judgment would ensure that Tristan's future was protected.