Ireland and Vietnam sign agreement that will allow adoptions to resume

IRISH COUPLES will be able to resume adoptions from Vietnam from today

IRISH COUPLES will be able to resume adoptions from Vietnam from today. The Adoption Authority of Ireland will sign an agreement with Vietnam this morning to allow for the resumption.

Adoptions between the two countries were suspended in 2009 over fears about the legality of such adoptions and the circumstances under which Vietnamese children were placed for adoption.

About 200 Irish couples were left in limbo by the decision.

The Government yesterday hosted a family day at Farmleigh House, Dublin, for adopted children of Vietnamese origin. Among the guests were Vietnamese minister for justice Ha Hung Cuong and a delegation of Vietnamese officials.

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They will be party to the signing this morning.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said the emphasis of the visit was the finalisation of the administrative agreement that will copperfasten the inter-country adoption relationship between the central authorities for adoption of Ireland and Vietnam.

In the time that adoptions from Vietnam were suspended, Vietnam complied with the Hague Convention on international adoptions, which seeks to regulate the process worldwide.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times