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American parents will be allowed to adopt Vietnamese children again, authorities said yesterday, ending a six-year ban imposed after allegations of baby-selling and fraud but with new restrictions.
Two American agencies had been awarded licences but new US adoptions would be limited to children over the age of five, sibling groups and those with special needs, the US State Department said.
Americans have been unable to adopt from Vietnam since a 2008 ban imposed due to US embassy concerns that many adoptees had been trafficked or given up after their families were coerced.
Vietnam denied these claims but agreed to suspend adoptions with the United States.
The communist country has since ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of inter-country adoption, and revised its domestic law on adoption.
"The United States welcomes Vietnam's efforts to enhance its child welfare and intercountry adoption system," the State Department said in a statement.
It named Dillon International and Holt International Children's Services as the American agencies newly authorised to facilitate adoptions in Vietnam.
Nguyen Van Binh, director of the international adoption department at Vietnam's Ministry of Justice, confirmed it had granted licences to the firms.
There were now a total of 36 foreign adoption agencies operating in Vietnam, he said, from countries including France, Italy and Sweden.
Tad Kincaid, founder of Ho Chi Minh City-based Orphan Impact, welcomed the restarting of adoptions with new restrictions as "a good step".
"It makes sense to focus on children who are hardest to place, as they are most likely to spend their entire childhood in an orphanage," he said.


American parents will be allowed to adopt Vietnamese children again

A young girl looks at visitors inside a state-run orphanage in Ba Vi district, in the outskirts of Hanoi. Photo: AFP

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Asia

American parents will be allowed to adopt Vietnamese children again, ending a six-year ban imposed after allegations of baby-selling and fraud but with new restrictions.
