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Printet: 08-09-2010 23:02

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International Adoption in Denmark
Until the middle of the 20th century, most adoptions in Denmark involved Danish children, who were adopted by Danish parents. However, since then adoption in Denmark has for various reasons changed from being a national matter into being mainly an international matter.

Since 1970, more than 15.000 children have been adopted by Danish parents through intercountry adoption. In the recent years approximately 600 adoptive children have arrived to Denmark every year, the equivalent of one percent of children born in Denmark per year.

Basic principles in regard to adoption in Denmark
The basic principle in regard to adoption in Denmark is that the adoption must be in the best interest of the child. This consideration for the child and its future is the superior principle in all adoption activities. 

In order to ensure and promote the welfare of the child to be adopted all prospective adoptive parents must be subject to an examination, and for almost all prospective adoptive parents an adoption course is manda-tory before adopting a child from abroad. 

The basic legislation regarding adoption in Denmark is stipulated in The Danish Act on adoption.

The procedure in regard to approving applicants as prospective adoptive parents is described below in the paragraph “Danish rules on approving prospective parents”.

The Danish Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs has authorised two private non-profit organisations to act as adoption placement agencies for adoptive children who are not Danish nationals. According to Dan-ish law, intercountry adoption should preferably be performed through these adoption placement agencies. However, when somebody wants to adopt a child, to whom the applicant is closely related, or if there are other special reasons, the Danish Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs, Department of Family Affairs, can allow the adoption to be performed without assistance from an adoption agency.

Denmark has ratified The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of In-tercountry Adoption, and the convention entered into force in Denmark on November 1st, 1997. It should also be noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force in Denmark on August 18, 1991.

Danish Adoption Authorities
The Danish Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs, Department of Family Affairs, lays down the Danish rules on approval as a prospective adoptive parent and on the procedures in regard to this matter. The De-partment is also appointed as the Central Authority according to the Hague Convention.

Besides, the Department authorizes the adoption placement agencies, and oversees the agencies’ fulfilment of the conditions in their authorizations.

Finally, the Department arranges the pre-adoption courses as described in the section “Danish rules on ap-proving prospective parents”.

Joint Councils have been set up at the five regional state administrations in Denmark. The joint council makes the decision at first instance of whether or not an applicant can be approved as an adoptive parent. The secretariat of the joint council performs the actual investigation including the interviews with the appli-cant. Furthermore, the joint councils decide in some cases whether or not a specific child can be adopted by an applicant, who has already been approved as a prospective adoptive parent. A joint council consists of three members; a social worker, a lawyer and a physician.

The National Adoption Board: www.adoptionsnaevnet.dk was set up in 1976 in order to deal with com-plaints over decisions made by the joint councils. The National Adoption Board consists of 10 members with different professional backgrounds.

The duties of the Board also include supervising the work of the joint councils and their secretariats, ob-serving the national and international development in adoption matters, collecting information concerning adoption, negotiating with authorities and organizations in other countries and conducting information ac-tivities. The National Adoption Board also takes part in the supervision of the adoption placement agencies.

Finally, the Board makes the matches between Danish children that are given away to adoption and Danish applicants who wish to adopt a Danish child.

Danish rules on approval as prospective adoptive parent
The secretariat of the joint council in the county of the applicant carries out a thorough investigation of the applicant, before the approval can be granted. The results of the investigation are presented to the joint council, which is the authority competent to decide whether or not the applicant can be approved as a pro-spective adoptive parent.

The investigation is divided into three phases.

The first phase

• the age difference between the applicant and the child should not be more than 40 years. 
• applicants, who want to adopt a child together must have lived together for at least 2,5 years and must be married.
• the physical and psychical health conditions of the applicant must not imply a risk that the adoption does not turn out to be in the child’s best interest.
• the applicant’s home must be fit to house a child.
• the applicant must have proper economical conditions.
• the applicant must not have a criminal record, which implies that the applicant is not fit to be a adoptive parent.

The applicant can only go on to the second phase of the investigation, if the joint council has decided that the applicant fulfils the general conditions or if - under specific circumstances - the applicant is granted an exemption from the rules.

The second phase consists of a pre-adoption counselling course, which is mandatory to all applicants, who have not previously adopted a child from abroad. The purpose of the course is to supply the applicants with information concerning different aspects of adoption, and to provide a basis for the applicants themselves to assess, whether or not they possess the necessary resources to adopt a foreign child. The course consists of one weekend session and one Saturday or Sunday.
 
The third phase consists of one or more interviews with the secretariat of the joint council. The purpose of this phase is to investigate if the applicant possesses the individual resources to adopt a child. At the end of the third phase, a home study report about the applicant is put before the joint council and the final decision on approval is made.

The adoption placement agencies
The following adoption placement agencies have been authorized by the Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs:

AC Børnehjælp (AC International Child support)
Elkjærvej 31
8230 Åbyhøj
Phone: + 45 86 12 65 22
Fax: + 45 86 19 78 53
E-mail: adoption@a-c.dk
Web-site: www.a-c.dk

DanAdopt (Danish Society for International Child Care)
Hovedgaden 24
DK-3460 Birkerød
Phone: + 45 81 63 33
Fax: + 45 45 81 74 82

In order to be approved as a prospective adoptive parent the applicant must as a general rule register at one of the above mentioned agencies before the beginning of phase 3 of the investigation.

The task of the adoption placement agency is to create a contact between a Danish prospective parent and a foreign child, who - according to the rules in the child’s state of origin - has been given up for intercountry adoption, and to secure that the adoption is carried out in a proper way legally and morally.