wildphelps
Apr 7th, 2008 - 8:25 PM |
Re: Adopting a Polish Child
Taken straight from the Polish Embassy (Washington) Website. There is a Polish Consulate in Chicago on Lake Shore Drive just south of North Ave (It's around the corner from the Archbishop's mansion) if you want more answers. The staff there doesn't speak English very well, and they are reluctant to give out information, but all the best...
Is it nice in Chicago right now?
Adoption in Poland
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
Adoption in Poland is regulated by the law of February 25, 1964, The Family and Guardianship Code (Journal of Laws No 9, item. 59, amended). Provisions of the Code are in a compliance with the Convention on Child Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on November 20, 1987.
The child, due to his physical and mental immaturity, needs a special care and attention that includes the proper legal protection. The fundamental and the most important goal of the adoption is the child's welfare, which consists of, among other factors, his right to preserve the continuity in the child's education of his ethnic, religious, cultural and language identity. To serve best the interest of the child, the court examines the moral attitude, the financial and the social status of the future parents. The court also takes into account the proper age relations between a child and future parents and examines their qualifications, capacities and psychological and pedagogical skills.
Only a minor is eligible for adoption, who by law is a person under 18 years of age.
The person interested in adopting a child should file a motion for adoption to the appropriate Guardianship Court in Poland.
As a rule, in adoption cases, the Polish court applies the national law (lex patriae) of adoptive parents, however, provisions of the Polish law should be observed with regards to the consent of the adoptee or his legal guardian.
The most common form of adoption is the joint adoption by spouses, however, adoption by a single unmarried person or adoption of a stepchild are also possible. As a principle, it is not possible to adopt a minor by one of the spouses without the consent of the other spouse.
To complete an adoption, the consent of the parents or legal guardians of the adoptee, except where parents are unknown, their whereabouts are impossible to establish or they were stripped of parental authority, is required.
The child's consent is required only when the adoptee is 13 or over years of age. Each time, however, the court should hear even a child younger than that if he can understand the meaning of the adoption.
Adoption creates the relation between an adoptive parent and an adoptee identical to one between biological parents and their children. An adoptee acquires rights and obligations resulting from blood (family) relation towards relatives of an adoptive parent, while at the same time rights and obligations resulting from blood relation towards his relatives cease to exist, as well as rights and obligations of his relatives towards him.
An adoptee acquires the last name of the adoptive parent. By a court order the last name of the adoptee could be composed of his previous family name and the name of the adoptive parent. There is also a possibility of changing the first name of the child. The court order can accommodate wishes of adoptive parents.
II. FOREIGN ADOPTION
Polish family law calls for the principle of priority of the "domestic" adoption over the "foreign" one. The foreign adoption means that a minor Polish citizen domiciled in Poland is adopted by a person domiciled abroad, so his domicile shall change. The priority of domestic adoption does not apply only in cases when an adoptive parent is either related to the adoptee or he earlier adopted the brother or the sister of the child. In such cases there is mandatory adjudication by the same criteria as applied when a motion for an adoption is filed by a person domiciled in Poland. The foreign adoption may take place only after exhaustion of all possibilities of finding a family in Poland for an adoptee.
Evaluation of children for foreign adoption can be done only by the adoption centers indicated by the Minister of National Education. At present, such an authorization was granted only to the Public Adoptive-Guardian Center in Warsaw (ul. Nowogrodzka 75, tel. 011 48 22 621-1075, 622-0370, 0371 or 0372).
Polish adoption centers can cooperate in the field of evaluation of Polish children for possible foreign adoption only with foreign adoption agencies licensed by the laws of their respective countries to conduct international cooperation in the field of preparing an adoption. Duly licensed adoption agencies may transfer information about candidates for adoptive parents only to those centers. Currently in Poland such an authorization was granted to:
Public Adoptive-Guardian Center in Warsaw (ul. Nowogrodzka 75, 02-018 Warszawa, tel. 011 48 22 621-1075, 011 48 22 622-0370, 0371 or 0372, e-mail: poaowa@poczta.onet.pl )
National Adoptive-Guardian Center of the Society of Children's Friends (ul . Krakowskie Przedmieście 6, 00-325 Warszawa, 26, tel. 011 48 22 425-4677 or 4688, fax 011 48 22 827-7813, e-mail: koao-tpd@wp.pl )
Catholic Adoptive-Guardian Center (Warszawa, ul. Grochowska 194/196, tel/fax 011 48 22 818-5430, e-mail: katolickiosrodek@interia.pl, katolickiosrodek@adopcja.org )
III. FORMAL RQUIREMENTS, PROCEDURE
The request - petition for assistance with an adoption should be accompanied by several documents (originals or certified copies):
birth certificates
marriage certificate
police clearance certificates
certificate of financial standing
proof of citizenship
medical evaluation
home study certified by the local social services
the consent of appropriate authorities for a foreign adoption
recommendation of a licensed adoption agency.
All documents should be translated into Polish by a licensed sworn translator. At the request of the court, other documents may be required.
Before a child is evaluated for a foreign adoption, his personal data cannot be revealed to potential adoptive parents. Contact with a child at this stage is also not allowed. However, before the issuance of the final adoption order court sets mandatory period of personal contact of prospective adoptive parent with a child on the territory of the Republic of Poland. Such a contact shall be long enough to allow the judge assisted by specialized social agencies to evaluate the adequacy of selection of both parties and may be realized in the form of charging prospective parents with the direct custody of the child.
Upon the issuance of the court order, the appropriate Vital Statistic Office (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) prepares a new birth certificate for the child, reflecting changes in the names of the adoptee and his parents. The original birth certificate is sealed and kept confidential and cannot be released unless requested by the court.
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