Agreement would allow adoption from USA

An agreement to allow Irish couples to adopt from the USA is expected to be signed in Washington today.

The Irish Examiner understands that a delegation headed by children’s minister Frances Fitzgerald and Adoption Authority chairman Geoffrey Shannon travelled to Washington at the weekend for the signing of the deal. The wording of the final draft document for the agreement was agreed between the two countries in April. Under that wording, it was agreed that Irish couples will only have their adoptions recognised here if a number of provisions are satisfied:

A relevant authority in the US provides a letter showing why the child could not be timely placed with suitable prospective adoptive parents in the US, detailing what steps have been taken to support this finding;