INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

August 2007

The Department of State has received many inquiries from American citizens concerned about the plight of the children of Iraq and wondering about the possibility of adopting them. At this time, it is not possible to adopt Iraqi children, for several reasons.

In general, intercountry adoptions are private civil legal matters governed by the laws of the children's home country, which has the primary responsibility and jurisdiction for deciding what would be in the children's best interests.  The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has confirmed that Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States. 

Iraq does grant a more limited arrangement akin to guardianship; however, the U.S. Government is unaware of any non-Iraqis' being granted guardianship of Iraqi children.  In addition, even if an Iraqi court were to grant a U.S. citizen guardianship rights for an Iraqi child, the child would likely be unable to immigrate to the United States, unless the citizen could establish both that the child qualifies as an "orphan" as defined in section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, under Iraqi law, the "guardianship" order gave the citizen authority not only to care for the child but to bring the United States for the specific purpose of the child's adoption in the United States.  Since Iraqi law does not permit adoption, it is not clear that an Iraqi guardianship order could give this authority.  

The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by many Iraqi children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need.  However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children's situation.  It can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are.  It is not uncommon in a hostile situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation.  Even when it can be demonstrated that children are indeed orphaned or abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives.  Staying with relatives in extended family units is generally a better solution than uprooting a child completely.

There are still ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Iraq. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) say that what is needed most at this time are financial contributions.  Individuals who wish to assist can do the most good by making a financial contribution to an established NGO that will be well placed to respond to Iraq's most urgent needs.
The American Red Cross is working through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian assistance in Iraq.  The Red Cross and ICRC do assessments to determine needs and use monetary donations where the need is the greatest.  To contact them, call 1-800-HELP-NOW.  There is no mechanism to direct money to a specific child or person.  The website http://www.redcross.org/ has more information on directed contributions.  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Web site, http://www.usaid.gov/iraq, provides information on how individuals can assist.

"Interaction" is a Washington-based coalition of NGOs. Those interested in children's issues/orphans may go on the website http://www.interaction.org and look at the "Guide to Appropriate Giving" and to "Emergency Relief in Iraq" both on the home page.  Interested donors can read synopses on various organizations and in some cases make contributions.  Interaction can also be reached at 202-667-8227.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous.  (See the full text of the Travel Warning at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web site at travel.state.gov.)