Adoptions from Liberia on Hold

Yesterday the US Department of State issued a notice on Liberian Adoptions, which says in part:

On January 26, 2009, the Government of Liberia suspended adoptions because of allegations of mismanagement and corruption in the adoption process.  The U.S. Department of State cautions American citizens against filing an application to adopt a child from Liberia while the moratorium on adoption remains in effect. The U.S. Embassy remains in frequent contact with adoption officials, but there is no indication when the moratorium might be lifted.

Since the suspension went into effect, the Liberian Government has formed an Ad-hoc Central Adoption Authority to have oversight over adoptions and is working to pass adoption legislation focused on strengthening existing laws and preventing abuses of the system.  The U.S. government strongly supports the Liberian Government’s efforts to strengthen its adoption laws and regulations to provide greater transparency and safeguards for prospective adoptive children, their birth parent(s) and prospective adoptive parents.  

The Government of Liberia has informed the U.S. Embassy that it will not process any adoption cases during the suspension, including those that were in progress before the suspension was announced, and that it will not permit adopted children depart Liberia.  They have also indicated that no new adoption applications should be accepted by adoption service providers, no referrals of children to prospective adoptive parents made, and no adoption petitions filed with the Liberian court while the suspension is in effect.  The Liberian Government has made no provisions for the grandfathering of cases under the existing laws.  Therefore any case in which a full and final adoption had not been completed prior to January 26, 2009 is effectively on hold.

Meanwhile, an Oklahoma case of child abuse by adoptive parents against a sibling set of five they adopted from Liberia has not made the national news here in the US, but I'm sure it's on the minds of Liberian authorities.