Adoptions from Bulgaria

Update April 2017 – Adoption Opportunities from Bulgaria are now a reality, real all about it on our page about Bulgaria.

Update April 2017 – This program is currently on hold

Adoptions from Bulgaria are fairly similar to the adoption opportunities in Malta. This is due to the fact that both states are parties to the Hague Convention which was signed in the Netherlands in 1993. Under the provisions contemplated in the said convention, for a child to be eligible for intercountry adoption, s/he must have first been ‘rejected’ for adoption by 3 Bulgarian families prior to the child being eligible for intercountry adoptions. Unlike is the case with adoption opportunities in Malta, for adoptions from Bulgaria, an applicant for adoption must be at least 15 years older than the person to be adopted but shall not be more than 45 years older than him/her.

A question which comes to mind is: who may adopt? The requirements for an adopter in Malta and Bulgaria are fairly contrasting. In Malta, both single and married persons may adopt and this also includes persons who are joined together by a civil union. However, for a Bulgarian adoption this is not the case. In Bulgaria a marriage is to be contracted between a man and a woman and therefore, whenever the law makes reference to a couple, it does so whilst keeping in mind same sex couples.

The Hague convention provides that all the necessary steps are to be taken and that all the forms of consent that are needed are taken into consideration prior to the adoption. After having taking into consideration such provisions, national legislation pertinent to the country of residence of the applicant for adoption shall apply.

The aim of adoption is to provide a stable and loving forever family to the minor child as well as to provide persons of various ages and from different walks of life to be able to raise a child as if it were his/her own or to allow the child to better integrate within the family dynamics in situations where the adopter is the spouse or partner of the parent of the minor child, this is obviously also the case for Bulgarian adoption.