In late March, the National Council of Justice approved the inclusion of applicants domiciled abroad (whether they be Brazilians or foreigners) in Brazil’s National Register of Adoption. Now, anyone living outside of Brazil can apply to adopt a Brazilian child or adolescent. The change is expected to significantly improve the chances of older Brazilian children and adolescents being adopted due to the increased pool of adopting parents.
The underlying issue, which isn’t limited to Brazil, is that individuals and couples seeking to adopt are typically interested in adopting babies or very young children. Consequently, as children age, their chances of being adopted decrease rapidly. Many children live their entire young lives without being adopted and are released from the system at the age of 18 without ever living with their own family.
Brazil is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention, so Brazilian children must meet the Convention’s requirements to be eligible for international adoption. One of the most important applicable rules is that Brazil must attempt to place a child with a family in Brazil before deciding that the child is eligible for international adoption.
Each Brazilian state has its own State Judiciary Commission for Adoption that is authorized to approve foreign adopting parents. Also, the entire international adoption process must take place within Brazil. As a result of the recent changes, these agencies now have access to applicants living abroad.
There are approximately 5,400 children or adolescents awaiting adoption in Brazil. Unfortunately, there are 30,000 adult applicants in the National Register of Adoption who have no desire to adopt available children or adolescents do to reasons that include their age or number of siblings.
The numbers illustrate the slim chances that older children have of being adopted in Brazil. According to the records of the National Register of Adoption, there are 617 children eligible for adoption who are under the age of 7. However, only 2% of Brazilian registered applicants are interested in adopting children in this age group.
There are approximately 305 8-year-olds available for adoption, but only 1% of applicants are interested in children of that age. Finally, there is zero interest in the adoption of children older than 9. It’s hoped that by allowing foreigners and Brazilians living abroad to adopt Brazilian children there will be a greater number of people interested in adopting from these older age groups.