Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Intercountry adoption from Estonia to Swedenadopters' and specialists' points of viewSince 1990`s Estonia has been a part of intercountry adoption system.Following the Convention On Protection Of Children And Co-operation In Respect Of IntercountryAdoptions introduced in Hague in 1993, Estonia has signed contracts with United States of America, Sweden and Finland.Currently Estonia is working with Swedish adoption agencies, however there is no information how the adoptive parents experience international adoption process between two of these countries.The aim of the present paper is to fill the gap in this knowledge and according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.This thesis aims to describe co-operation between Estonia and Sweden and how are the child`s best interests followed in the intercountry adoption process from the perspective of adoptive parents in Sweden and the views of a ministry official in Estonia.To reach the aim of this study, I set two research questions: (1) how the main theories describe the development of adoptees, and (2) how does the fact that they are intercountry adoptees may affect their life.The world intercountry adoption regulations and specifies the processes of intercountry adoption in Estonia and Sweden are overviewed.Qualitative research has been applied in the current study.Data have been collected in three face-to-face interviews with adoptive parents from two Swedish families and a specialist from the Ministry of Social Affairs in Estonia.Current study shows that the preparation of the adoptive parents for receipt of the child in Sweden is very thorough and the intercountry adoption system is built up following the needs of the child.Based on the experiences of Swedish adoptive parents the process in Estonia is not yet fully fixed.The recommendations to promote the intercountry adoption process and to better well-being of the children is to compose regulations concerning Estonian intercountry adoption process, prepare the children for adoption and insure high quality for all the adoption cases in Estonia.
Author: Helen Karu
Language: Estonian
Topic: Child Welfare and Adoption
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2114798438