Up to 25 couples waiting to adopt a baby

Potential adoptive parents can expect to wait two to five years for an assessment to be carried out.

There are currently 20 to 25 couples and single people waiting to be matched to a baby for domestic adoption, the Irish Examiner has learnt.

However, most of those applicants will not be successful because there are only around five to seven infants placed for adoption every year, according to the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

The level of domestic adoptions has fallen dramatically in recent decades.

More support has been put in place to support lone parents and struggling families. New figures also show there were 102 domestic adoption orders granted last year.

That includes step-parents, long-term foster carers, and infant adoptions, while the authority received 110 applications.

The information, which has been provided by the authority, does not give a breakdown of the number of lone parents who adopt every year.

It said that could potentially identify a lone parent and therefore “cannot be released in order to protect confidentiality”.

Assessments for a declaration of eligibility and suitability are carried out by an adoption social worker in Tusla, or other agencies such as Pact.

Potential adoptive parents can expect to wait  two to five years for an assessment to be carried out and then approved by the authority.

In a statement, Tusla said, “The guidelines are underpinned by the Adoption Acts including the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017. The result of this constitutional change and the arising legislation is expected to result in more children and much younger children being adopted from the care system. Previously in cases where birth parent(s) were not consenting to the adoption, Tusla was required to prove that the child’s parents had for whatever reason been unable to exercise their constitutional rights and responsibilities for the child up to their 18th birthday.

“Tusla has a duty to assess all applications for assessment of suitability and eligibility under the Adoption Act 2010. All those who have a declaration of eligibility and suitability are considered for each infant placed for adoption. The decision to place a child for adoption with a prospective adoptive parent is based on the needs of the child, the wishes of the birth parents and is authorised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland.”