Vietnam and US to resume adoptions

Vietnam and the United States will resume limited intercountry adoptions, both nations said on Friday, six years after a ban was imposed because of allegations of widespread baby-selling and children offered without the consent of their birthparents.

Under the new agreement, US residents will be able to adopt children with special needs and those over 5 years of age.

Adoptions will resume "soon" once the Vietnam government announces which US-based adoption service providers are authorized to represent US parents, the US embassy said in an advisory to journalists announcing a media event to discuss the intercountry adoptions.

Nguyen Van Binh, director of the adoption agency at the Ministry of Justice, said two US agencies would be given licenses next week to operate in Vietnam.

Before the ban in 2008, Vietnam was a popular destination for US residents wanting to adopt children.

But the popularity led to concerns within the US embassy that the demand had spawned a poorly regulated industry supplying young, healthy babies to prospective parents who were prepared to pay large sums of money. This raised ethical questions.

In 2009, a report on adoptions in Vietnam confirmed those allegations. It said cash payments by adoption agencies to orphanages led them to seek out children for adoption, often without proper checks into their backgrounds or family circumstances.

Some US lawmakers and international adoption lobby groups have urged Vietnam to pass stronger laws and do a better job monitoring the process so that adoptions could resume. The US embassy said the agreement was a "success in the bilateral relationship".

There is limited demand among prospective adoptive parents for older children or those with special needs, meaning monitoring for violations should be easier. US senators who visited Vietnam last year said allowing for special-needs adoptions would be seen as a first step to resuming all adoptions.

Demand for intercountry adoptions has risen in recent years. For singles wanting a child, or couples unable or unwilling to conceive, the idea of adopting a foreign baby from an orphanage in a poor country is attractive. But programs in several developing countries, such as Haiti and Guatemala, have been beset by scandals and allegations of baby-selling.

In September 2012, officials from Ireland and Vietnam signed an agreement to restart adoptions, which had been halted in 2009.