Legal concerns stall couple’s adoption plans

THE Adoption Board has told the High Court it has concerns about whether Ethiopian law on adoption is compatible with Irish law, including whether such adoptions terminate the rights of natural parents.

Such concerns have raised doubt over whether children adopted from Ethiopia may ultimately be registered as citizens here and the situation has yet to be fully clarified, the board said.

The board expressed its concerns yesterday during the hearing of a challenge by a couple to decisions by the board that, the couple claim, are preventing them adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia.