THE newly passed Adoption Bill has been heavily criticised for failing to include information and tracing rights for more than 42,000 adopted people and birth parents.

A NEW adoption agency to facilitate inter-country adoptions for Irish people is scheduled to launch in September.

COUPLES desperate to adopt a child from abroad can wait from 10 months to four years to be assessed, depending on where they live.

HUNDREDS of Irish couples hoping to adopt a baby from abroad have every right to feel aggrieved over delays in vetting their applications or resolving inter- country difficulties.

COUPLES eager to adopt foreign children are facing delays of five years, because of a bottleneck in waiting lists.

DELAYS of up to four years in assessing the suitability of couples seeking to adopt overseas children is causing unnecessary stress and pain, a conference heard yesterday.

LORNA and Sean Fleming will never forget the moment they first held their Vietnamese adopted child Kiana-ha in their arms.