Popular rumor says: "There are no alien children." This is probably why adoption is considered the most preferable form of family placement for minors left without parental care. This is a legal procedure, as a result of which the same rights and obligations arise between the adopter and the adopted one as between the blood parent and the child. In each country, it has its own characteristics. The article will consider the nuances of adopting children in Belarus.
General points
Despite the new course of social policy in the country, the number of adopted children who fall into the families of citizens of the Republic of Belarus is insignificant, compared with how many children remain in the orphanages. According to some reports, 500-600 children of different ages acquire a family each year, while several thousand children are in boarding schools and the same number are brought up in specialized conditions.
The authorities approach the issue of adoption of children in Belarus with a high degree of caution and responsibility, therefore the activities of guardianship and trusteeship bodies are aimed at activating and stimulating citizens in this matter. The authorities are ready to provide all the necessary information to people who are going to decide on such a serious step. It is enough to seek advice from the education department at the place of residence.
In Belarus, adoption of children is divided into two types. In the first case, couples or single citizens become parents of a child completely alien to them. Most often, the child is adopted from the baby’s house. In Belarus, this model of registration of family relations is called national. Another form of procedure is also common: when a man or woman becomes the official parent of the child of his spouse from a previous marriage, this is a civil adoption.
Who can apply for adoptive status
To give the baby his last name and accept him as a full member of the family, potential parents will have to go through a multi-stage adoption process. In Belarus, a child deprived of guardianship is under the protection of the state, so those who want to become the mother or father of an orphan will have to cite a number of arguments and prove their worth, willingness to take an unborn child.
The requirements that are imposed on potential adoptive parents can hardly be called too stringent and impossible. According to the adoption rules in Belarus, children are transferred to full and single-parent families. However, the following categories of citizens cannot apply for paternity and motherhood:
- persons suffering from alcohol or drug addiction;
- persons deprived of parental rights in respect of at least one of their biological children, or who have violated their guardian (guardian) duties at some time;
- persons who have been convicted.
Some citizens cannot be adoptive parents for health reasons. A married couple in which one of the spouses is legally incompetent by court order will also be denied the possibility of adopting a child from the baby’s house. In Belarus, they do not give the right to formalize guardianship of children to persons who do not have a permanent residence and real estate in the property that meets all sanitary and technical standards. Deprived of the possibility of adoption are unemployed citizens who do not have an income that provides a living wage for themselves and their children. If the persons are not in an official marriage, they will not be able to become parents of the same child together.
Notarization of his consent will be required to formalize guardianship of an orphan who has reached the age of ten.
Court Preparation
The Marriage and Family Code of the Republic contains rules on the procedure for passing the adoption of children in Belarus. First of all, candidates must undergo a medical examination to confirm that their state of health will not threaten the child and will provide full care for the adopted. Along with the medical report, the applicant for the role of an official parent must obtain a certificate from the place of work, military or public service containing information about the position held, income of the citizen for the previous year.
The next step is the appeal of the potential adoptive parent to the guardianship authorities of the local administration in order to draw up an act of examination of the applicant's living conditions. You can get this document after the actual visit by specialists from the education department at the place of residence where the potential adoptive parent lives. Employees study not only housing conditions, but also study the relationship between spouses, evaluate the readiness of each household for living with a new family member. The applicant will be able to receive the certificate of inspection of living conditions within one month after the application is submitted, which is submitted together with the following documents in the form of copies and originals:
- passports of both spouses or an unmarried candidate;
- certificate of marriage or divorce (if any);
- the aforementioned medical report on the health status of the adoptive parent;
- certificate of employment;
- document confirming the ownership of the premises;
- certificate of no criminal record;
- certificate from the court of residence that the citizen was not deprived of parental rights and is not limited to them.
The guardianship and trusteeship authorities invite each potential parent for an interview after submitting an application and a package of documents for adoption in Belarus. Photos of children who need a family will be shown to potential parents only after a successful interview. During the meeting, the candidate must pass a series of psychological tests.
Training for future adoptive parents
Documents are not the only thing needed to adopt a child in Belarus. Every citizen who wishes to become a parent is required to take a course for adoptive parents at the National Adoption Center. Each lesson is held in the form of preparatory talks at no cost. Typically, the course consists of eight lessons of three hours, during which parents are told about the possible difficulties of the upcoming adoption of the child.
In Belarus, documents are checked within two months, but in practice it usually takes longer. After successfully passing the bureaucratic procedure and receiving the act of examining the living conditions, the potential adoptive parent can proceed with the search for the child to whom he will become the legal representative and parent.
Database of children for adoption in Belarus
Information on orphans and babies deprived of parental care can be obtained from the local department of the National Adoption Center. Persons who have undergone a preliminary psychological examination and examination of living conditions are provided with information about children that meet the stated criteria: gender, age, and external data. Kids are selected in the republican data bank in Belarus. During adoption, a characteristic, information from the biography, including information about the biological parents, is applied to the child’s photo. If the child is interested in the adoptive parents, they are given a direction for acquaintance and meeting with the baby.
Acquaintance with potential adopted children does not oblige parents to anything. Sometimes people do not immediately find a child that suits them, especially when it comes to schoolchildren and adolescents. A referral to an orphan meeting may be issued multiple times. At the same time, there are no lines for adoption of children in Belarus. From the photo it is impossible to say whether a particular child is suitable, whether the candidates will find a common language with him. This requires a full-time acquaintance. If the meeting did not leave a positive impression, parents will wait for other invitations.
Not the last role in this matter is played by the opinion of the adopted person. The position of a child older than 10 years is of fundamental importance: if he does not agree to go to a foster family, adoption cannot take place. At an earlier age, psychologists make a conclusion. They observe how they react to future parents, how they communicate with them, whether they enjoy meetings, etc.
Court proceedings
After the parents decide on the candidacy of an orphan, whom they will be ready to accept into their family, documents are submitted for the adoption of the child. In Belarus, this decision is made by a district or city court at the request of the adoptive parents. You can apply at the place of residence of the child, and at the place of permanent residence of the parents. The lawsuit indicates the data of the applicants and the adopted child. In the text of the document, it is important to cite circumstances that allow substantiating the request of candidates for registration of guardianship.
In addition, the claim may indicate a request for a change in the surname, name and patronymic of the adopted. If desired, parents can even change the date or place of his birth in order to ensure the secrecy of adoption. The only thing to consider is that the date of birth can be changed for no more than three months and only for a child under the age of one.
The application should be accompanied by the same documents that were required to obtain an act of inspection of living conditions (this paper must also be attached to the lawsuit). The adoption of a child, according to the legislation of Belarus, is considered in a special manner. The applicant must pre-pay the state fee in the amount of two basic units. Guardianship authorities and the prosecutor must take part in the judicial proceedings. Mandatory is the presence of potential parents.
The lawsuit is considered by the court within two weeks after registration with the judicial office. The hearing is closed. Based on the results of the consideration of the application, the judge makes a reasoned decision to satisfy the request or to refuse adoption. It is possible to begin the final stage of adoption no earlier than the decision becomes legal.
What to do after the trial
After receiving a positive decision in the adoption case, the adoptive parents must proceed with the registration of this legal act. To do this, you must contact the registry office at the place of residence or the place of the court decision. To register the fact of adoption, the following documents will be required:
- statement;
- passports of adoptive parents;
- birth certificate of a child;
- copy of the court decision on adoption.
All registration actions are free of charge. If, by a court decision, the parents received the right to change the date or place of birth of the child, this must be indicated in the application. Children over ten years of age can change the data only with their personal consent. In addition, the court may allow the act of birth to be changed: instead of biological parents, adoptive parents are entered there, as a result of which a new birth certificate is issued. Civil registry offices are obliged to keep data on the registration of adoption or amending the documents of the child in the strictest confidence. This information is confidential.
Features of secret adoption
In the Republic there are about seven thousand children who live in foster families. It is difficult to single out any specific features of the adoption of children in Belarus. Most potential parents try to take in newborn babies or preschool children, usually 3-4 years old. Some adoptive parents do not try to make a secret of adoption, gently and delicately explaining all the nuances to the child. Others, on the contrary, are doing everything so that the child does not find out that he is not their own.
Psychologists still recommend not to hide the fact of adoption. From the earliest years, you need to explain to the child, for example, that he used to live in a different place, with other children, but his parents felt bad without him, and when they finally found him, they took him to him, and now they are alone with the child a family. It is best to conduct a similar conversation in a playful way. In any case, this is better than living in constant tension, trying with all my might to hide the fact of adoption and tell the child a lie, which, as you know, sooner or later will be revealed anyway. At the same time, despite the recommendations of specialists, only the adoptive parent decides on further behavior. Each adoptive parent decides for himself what he will inform the child about and what not.
And although, according to Belarusian laws, none of those informed about the fact of adoption has the right to disclose this information. But when the child reaches the age of majority, he has the right to independently receive all the information regarding his birth or adoption. To do this, he will need to contact the education department at the place of residence. This institution will inform which court the case was examined. Further, he will need to make a request to the archive and get all the information related to the issue of adoption and these (biological) parents.
Social benefits and benefits for foster children
Many are interested in the issue of material support in case of adoption of children. Is seniority in Belarus considered, do you pay any benefits, what additional preferences can foster parents expect? All measures of state support that are used when biologically related children are born are also appointed in the event of adoption. In addition, adoptive parents can apply for monthly cash bonuses until the adopted child reaches 16 years of age.
Persons who have formalized guardianship of an orphan are entitled to the following types of benefits:
- maternity benefits (due to women who have adopted a baby under the age of three months);
- A lump sum paid in connection with the birth of a child (the size depends on how the account has become a child in the family);
- monthly allowances for childcare up to three years.
The first payment, which is assigned to foster parents, is made out at the place of official employment or at the Employment Service. The size of the payment depends on the size of the salary and seniority. In addition, a woman is entitled to paid leave for 70 calendar days from the date the court passed the adoption decision.
A lump sum allowance for adoption of a child is not provided for in Belarus. However, adoptive parents may qualify for the same payments that are due to citizens in connection with the birth of a child. It is worth noting that they can be issued in a social security certificate or at the place of work, until the baby is six months old. If the adopted child is the first for the parents, 10 living wages are allocated for him, if the second, third or subsequent - 14 fixed amounts.
Monthly payments for caring for a child under three years of age are also assigned. In this case, the length of service is considered in the same way as in the case of maternity leave to care for your own child. Parents who raise a foster child alone are entitled to a premium of 75% if the child is not yet another 1.5 years old, and 40% if the age of the adopted child is from one and a half to three years. The allowance for children over this age is not paid, with the exception of disabled children. If the child at the time of adoption had the right to pension in connection with the loss of the breadwinner (the death of one or both parents), the law retains the right to receive these payments in the future.
State policy on adoption
In the National Adoption Center, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, specialists note a tendency to reduce the number of families who want to adopt someone else's child and love him as their own. The reason for this is the ill-conceived policy of the state and insufficient social guarantees for adoptive parents.
To identify the full range of reasons that affect this state of affairs in the country, deep psychological and sociological research is required. The Belarusian people are sympathetic and compassionate, but conflicting stereotypes have emerged in society regarding adoption issues that do not allow people to decide on this serious step. Many are simply not sure that they will cope with all the difficulties that may arise in the process of raising an orphan.
According to the results of numerous surveys, it becomes clear that potential adoptive parents are more alert and responsible to adoption issues than to the birth and upbringing of their natural children. The factor of material instability cannot be discounted. Most of those who are mentally prepared to adopt a child in their family are not able to decide on this step due to low income and lack of financial well-being.
, , , . . , , . , , , . , , , , , .