Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption: Status and Recent Developments

Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption:
Status and Recent Developments
Douglas Reid Weimer
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Summary
On April 1, 2008, the United States became a full member of the Hague¹
Convention on Intercountry Adoption (hereinafter “Convention”), and the Convention
entered into force in the United States. As a result, the Convention now governs
intercountry adoptions between the United States and other Convention member
countries in accordance with the provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA).²
In order to comply with the Convention membership requirements, the United States had
signed the Convention, the Senate had given its advice and consent to the ratification of
the Convention, and Congress had approved legislation (the IAA) for the
implementation of the Convention. In addition, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) had
a number of duties and responsibilities, summarized below, which were required to be
completed prior to the formal ratification and the entry into force of the Convention.
Backgr ound³
On May 29, 1993, at The Hague, 66 nations approved the final text of a multilateral
Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption, popularly known as the “Hague Adoption Convention” (hereinafter
“Convention”).⁴ The purpose of the Convention is to establish uniform standards and

¹ See Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption at [http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/
convention/convention_462.html] at the U.S. Department of State website.
² P.L. 106-279, October 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825. Codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 14901 to 14954.
³ For a discussion of the Convention, the implementing legislation, and the process of ratification,
see CRS Report RL30979, Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and International Adoptions.
⁴ A full text of the Convention is available at the official Hague Conference website at
[http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.listing]. Then go to Convention # 33.
Various conventions are administered by the Hague Conference, and the Hague Convention on
Intercountry Adoption is Convention # 33.

procedures that will protect the rights and interests of adopted children, birth parents, and
adoptive parents involved in intercountry adoptions.
The Convention mandates that each signatory country establish a national Central
Authority on adoptions. The Central Authority is to oversee the Convention’s
implementation in the signatory country⁵ and will have an ongoing role in the country’s
international adoption process. The Convention has three primary features. First, it
reinforces the protection of children’s rights concerning international adoption. Second,
it establishes a mechanism for the cooperation of signatory countries in international
adoption. Third, it ensures the recognition of adoptions undertaken and certified through
the Convention provisions.
The Convention entered into force among participating countries on May 1, 1995.⁶
At the present time, the Convention has entered into force in 75 countries.⁷ The United
States completed the formal ratification procedures on December 12, 2007, and the
Convention entered into force on April 1, 2008, in the United States.⁸
The United States and the Convention
For the Convention to be fully operative in a participating country, there are three
steps which must be fulfilled in sequential order. First, the country must sign the
Convention. Second, the country must have a domestic ratification, acceptance, approval,
or accession procedure.⁹ Third, a formal filing/deposit is required. The instruments of
approval (the domestic form of approval) from each country are required to be deposited
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which serves as
the depository of the Convention.¹⁰
The United States became a signatory to the Convention on March 31, 1994, which
fulfilled the first step. The Convention was transmitted to the Senate for its advice and
consent on June 11, 1998.¹¹ The United States Senate gave its advice and consent to the
United States’ ratification of the Convention on September 20, 2000.¹²

⁵ See S. Treaty Doc. 105-51 at v-xv for a summary of the provisions of the Convention.
⁶ See Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption at [http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/
convention/convention_462.html] at the U.S. Department of State website.
⁷ The Hague Conference maintains an updated list of participatory countries on its website at
[http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=69]. Other information about
the Convention and the various participating countries is available on this website.
⁸ See the U.S. Department of State website: [http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/
convention_3900.html ].
⁹ See note 7. The domestic approval process varies substantially among the Convention countries.
¹⁰ See article 43 of the Convention.
¹¹ On June 11, 1998, the Convention was read for the first time in the Senate, and together with
the accompanying papers, was transferred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. See^th
S. Treaty Doc. 105-51, 105 Cong., 2d Sess. (1998).
¹² 146 Cong. Rec. S8866-8867 (daily ed. September 20, 2000).

The Senate provided two specific qualifications in its advice and consent to the
Convention. One qualification, discussed below, concerned the approval of adoption
service providers by federal and state authorities. The second qualification required that
the President was not to “deposit the instrument of ratification for the Convention until
such time as the federal law implementing the Convention is enacted and the United
States is able to carry out all the obligations of the Convention, as required by its
implementing legislation.”¹³
On September 20, 2000, the Senate passed the domestic implementation legislation
— the International Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA).¹⁴ The legislation had previously cleared
the House on September 18, 2000, and was signed into law by President Willliam J.
Clinton on October 6, 2000. The legislation established the domestic administrative
framework for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention.¹⁵ Under this
framework, the United States opted to permit private agencies to perform adoptive
services that are given to the “Central Authorities” under the Convention.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS), as the Central Authority for the United States
(USCA),¹⁶ has many administrative, oversight, and other functions under the Convention.
Various administrative actions were required by the DOS to put these functions in place
before ratification could be completed. These administrative actions are summarized
below.
The DOS Federal Regulations
On February 15, 2006, the DOS published the final rules on the accreditation and
approval of agencies and persons concerned with the international adoption process in
accordance with the Convention.¹⁷ The first body of regulations concerns the approval
and accreditation of adoption service providers who wish to provide services in adoption
cases subject to the Convention (Part 96). The regulations set out the procedures and the
standards that will be used in the approval and the accreditation process.¹⁸ The second

¹³ Id. at S8866.
¹⁴ P.L. 106-279, October 6, 2000, 114 Stat, 825. Codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 14901-14954.
¹⁵ For a discussion of the IAA legislative background, see CRS Report RS20679, H.R. 2909:
Hague Convention Implementation Legislation; CRS Report RL30342, Hague Convention
Implementation Legislation: Comparison of H.R. 2909, S. 682, and Administration Draft; and
CRS Report RL30309, Intercountry Adoption Convention Implementation Act of 1999: Summary
and Analysis of S. 682.
¹⁶ See CRS Report RL30979, Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and International Adoptions.
For a comprehensive examination of international child adoption procedures, see CRS Report
RL31769, Immigration: International Child Adoption.
¹⁷ Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption; Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000;
Accreditation of Agencies; Approval of Persons, 71 Fed. Reg. 8064 to 8161 (February 15, 2006)
(codified at 22 C.F.R. pt. 96).
¹⁸ Id. at 71 Fed. Reg. 8062 to 8161. Effective March 17, 2006. Although the rules became
effective in 30 days, the Convention did not. See 71 Fed. Reg. 8064.

body of regulations concerns the federal government’s preservation of Convention records
(Parts 97, 98).¹⁹
Implementation of the Convention
On its website,²⁰ the DOS summarized the extensive preparations that were necessary
to be completed prior to Convention implementation and formal ratification. These
included the following: 1) establish and staff the Central Authority within the Office of
Children’s Issues, Bureau of Consular Affairs; 2) promulgate regulations to (a) establish
requirements/procedures for the designation and monitoring of accrediting entities, (b) set
the standards that must be met for non-profit adoption agencies to qualify for Convention
accreditation and for other agencies and individuals to qualify for Convention approval,
(c) govern the registration of smaller community-based agencies for temporary
accreditation, and (d) provide the procedures and requirements for incoming and outgoing
Convention adoptions involving the United States; 3) establish a case-tracking computer
system for intercountry adoptions; 4) designate entities to accredit non-profit U.S.
adoption agencies to provide adoption services for Convention adoptions and the related
approval of adoption providers; 5) prepare designated accrediting entities to (a) process
applications for Convention accreditation and approvals and registration for temporary
accreditation, (b) deal with complaints, and (c) continuously monitor the compliance by
accredited agencies and approved persons with the requirements of the Convention, the
IAA, and the regulations; 6) oversee preparations by accrediting entities and the USCA
of the first list of providers authorized under the Convention to offer and provide adoption
services for Convention adoptions; 7) establish education materials and programs about
Convention adoptions; and 8) deposit the U.S. instrument of ratification and entry into
force of the Convention between the United States and other party countries.²¹ The DOS
completed these preparations in late 2007.
On December 12, 2007, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura
Harty deposited the United States’ instrument of ratification of the Convention at a
ceremony in The Hague. As a result of this action, the United States is now a full member
of the Hague Adoption Convention, which entered into force for the United States on
April 1, 2008.²²
The DOS has various ongoing responsibilities with respect to the Convention and
intercountry adoption. Annual reports to Congress are required by the IAA concerning
certain aspects of the Convention and the IAA implementation. These reports are to be

¹⁹ Intercountry Adoption — Preservation of Convention Records, 71 Fed. Reg. 8161 to 8164.
Effective March 17, 2006. See above.
²⁰ See DOS website at “Preparations for U.S. Implementation of the Hague Convention,”
[http://travel.state.gov/family/adop tion/convention/convention_2332.html ].
²¹ Id. At this time, the precise status of some of these preparations is uncertain. The DOS
periodically updates its website to reflect its activities related to Convention implementation.
²² See note 1.

available to the general public and to the Central Authorities of other countries, beginning
about one year after the Convention enters into force in the United States.²³
Prior to Convention implementation, adoptions and placements for adoption made
in the United States were subject only to state law and procedures, and were not subject
to any federal law. IAA and Convention compliance provide new responsibility for state
authorities, and necessitate close cooperation and coordination between the DOS and state
authorities in order to guarantee that the United States meets its treaty obligations with
respect to intercountry adoptions.
Conclusion
The United States became a full member of the Convention, and the Convention
entered into force on April 1, 2008. The Convention now governs intercountry adoptions
between the United States and other Convention member countries in accordance with the
provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act.
Prior to ratification, the DOS had numerous duties and responsibilities connected
with the implementation of the Convention. The DOS has a continuing role in the
operation of the Convention, and has various oversight, reporting, and record-keeping
requirements. The DOS maintains a comprehensive website that describes its progress
with these activities.²⁴

²³ See note 20.
²⁴ See note 8.