There has been a cultural shift, in recent years, regarding intra country adoption. Nations have found a growing trade in buying or stealing children, for the purposes of having them adopted by wealthy western individuals and, as a consequence, are attempting to limit this growing economy through a process of intra country adoptions at first instance.
This change in policy also came at a time of a growing shift towards preserving the cultural identity and heritage for each child.
Earlier this week Australia announced additional adoption programs with Poland and Latvia. It is hoped that programs will also be developed with Bulgaria and Vietnam. These programs, whilst helpful, don't make it substantially faster or easier to adopt children from these countries, in circumstances where there is still a commitment to intra country adoptions in the first instance.
These children are spending years in orphanages, waiting for the necessary administrative process before the options of intra country adoptions are considered. In fact, the process is so frustrating and difficult that the Government has recently announced that Life Works, a counselling service, will receive $3,500,000 over four years to assist families and children who are going through the intra country adoption process.
There need to be significant changes to make the process faster and simpler but this only comes with increased funding and education about the process and matters involved.
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