In the wake of media reports of major child adoption rackets, the government has passed new terms and conditions so as to make the inter-country adoption process more transparent.

After the implementation of new terms and conditions, the Adoption Recommendation Committee, formed under secretary of the Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare, will formally approve and give the final decision on application of adopting parents, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Prakash Kumar Adhikari, a legal officer of the ministry, told the daily that the orphanages will no longer be involved in the matching process.

Under the new terms, the orphanages will only have to submit a list of eligible children meant for adoption, and adopting parents need to select from the same list provided by the ministry.

Also, the parents willing to adopt are required to contact the ministry either through authorized international adoption agencies or through concerned embassies located in the capital and that no other broker or facilitator will be involved in the process.

Adhikari said that this provision will reduce the lengthy process and make it more transparent particularly on the issued of fees. He also said that prospective parents would not have to be burdened with paying extra money and taking approval from other ministries.

Altogether 2,201 Nepali children have been adopted by foreign parents so far mostly by families from Germany, Italy, the US, France and Spain, according to the ministry’s record. nepalnews.com ag May 12 08