Ukraine adoption program

Program Criteria
Children available:
Boys and girls from 14 months old are available, as are older children. Sibling groups and, rarely, twins are available. Children must be registered with the Ministry of Education for 14 months are eligible for international adoption. Prior to the 14 months domestic adoption is preferred. Generally, more boys are available.

Parental Requirements:
Parents must be at least 25 years old and 15 years older than the child. Couples must be married and and not same sex. No single applicants are accepted.

Why Children are Available:
Many families and single women do not have the resources to care for children, and have little choice but to relinquish them to the care of the state. As well, parents convicted of crimes or who have been judged unfit parents can have their parental rights terminated.

Family Background:
If birth family information is known it will be provided with the child's documentation.

Medical Information:
The children undergo a full medical workup, including various blood tests. Once in the Ukraine, the prospective parents may take their proposed child for further medical tests.

Wait Times:
Wait times are shorter for children over 3 years old. Typically an invitation to come to the Ukraine to select a child is received by the family three months after their dossier is submitted. Actual travel time is about two months later.

In-Country Time Required:
Only one trip to the Ukraine is required. The average length of stay is about 5-6 weeks.

Child's Citizenship:
Upon entering Canada, the child will have Permanent Resident status. Canadian citizenship is not automatic and must be applied for by the parents. The child may hold dual Canadian-Ukrainian citizenship until 18. NOTE: A new procedure will streamline the child's citizenship process. For the latest information contact TDH Ontario or check the Citizenship and Immigration Canada web site.

Post-Adoption Requirements:
Parents must register the child at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa within one month of the child's arrival in Canada. The Ukraine also requires that one follow-up report per year be submitted until the child reaches 18.

Costs:
Costs change often due to the fluctuation of the Canadian dollar and fee changes implemented by government agencies in Canada and abroad. Please contact TDH directly for a current cost estimate.

Documents Required
This is a brief description of the documents required by the Ukraine. TDH will provide more details and assistance.

Original homestudy done by an Adoption Practitioner, a copy of the Practitioner's license and the Letter of Approval from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Personalized letter of application for adoption addressed to the Ukrainian authorities (form provided by TDH)
Power of attorney in the name of the agency's representative in Ukraine (form provided by TDH)
Police clearance issued by the RCMP
Medical certificate (form provided by TDH) and copy of doctor's license
Original marriage certificate, issued by the Registrar of Civil Status
Legal commitment to produce and send follow-up reports, and to register the child at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa within one month of child's arrival in Canada
Letter from the municipality confirming ownership of your house and specifying its value, or a lease plus a letter from the owner of the property specifying the number of rooms and the amount of the rent
Photocopy of the photo pages of each parent's passport (both passports to be copied on one page)
Employer's letter, on company letterhead, indicating employee's position, the length of employment, and the annual salary for each adoptive parent
Letter from Citizenship and Immigration Canada confirming sponsorship of a child to be adopted

Ukraine flag Ukraine Program

The following is a brief description of the Ukrainian program, as offered by TDH Ontario. For more in-depth details, contact TDH Ontario. Please note that due to the nature of international adoption the information here may change without notice.

Ukraine has taken a strong line in a fight against corruption in adoption. Facilitators and agencies are not allowed to engage in identifying children for eventual placement. By limiting families to only adopting children who have been registered with the Ukraine State Department of Adoption and Child Protection (SDA) of the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports in Kiev, and by allowing any approved family to adopt any available child, specific children cannot be reserved for specific families. This has largely removed financial incentives to "adoption facilitators" and makes it impractical for them to attempt to coerce birth parents or forge documents for specific children. Any family can adopt any legally available child.

The SDA reviews each dossier. The TDH representative in Ukraine will verify that the dossier has arrived safely and is being processed. If the documentation is found to be in order, the application will be approved, and the adoptive parents will be sent a letter to come to the SDA. This process normally takes 20 working days.

During this waiting period in Canada, the family will be referred to medical/psychological consultants who could be available to consult with the family on a long-distance basis when they are in the Ukraine to help them make their decision on the suitability of the child.

Once in the Ukraine, the parents meet with the adoption authorities, and will be told which children in the database of adoptable children meet the criteria in their homestudy. The parents have the opportunity to study the dossiers of the available children and may visit one or more of the children at the orphanage where the child resides. They will receive a formal referral letter from the SDA.

On arrival in the region of the orphanage, the parents must go to the Tutorship Body, to receive permission to visit the child. At the orphanage, they can spend as much time with the child as they wish, and will receive detailed information on the child's medical and social history, development, and learning habits.

If the parents decide that this is the child they wish to adopt, they may take the child to a pediatrician to confirm their decision. They must also, by obligation, take the child to one of the Designated Medical Practitioners in the Ukraine, specified by the Canadian Immigration Services.

Once formal notice of acceptance of the child is given to the Ukrainian authorities they will issue the necessary approvals allowing the applicants to adopt the child. A date for the court hearing is set to legalize the adoption. The adoption decision is a judicial one, with the effect of the rupture of the bonds between the child and his/her family of birth, and the creation of a new bond of filiation between the child and the adoptive parents. The child retains his/her Ukrainian nationality. On the request of the adoptive parents, the tribunal will change the surname, name, and patronymic of the child. There is a 10 day waiting period before the final adoption decree is issued.

3-year old girl from Ukraine

New birth certificate and travel documents are obtained for the child, and the process of Canadian Immigration is completed with the submission of these documents to the Canadian Embassy. With the issuance of the Canadian visa, the child may return to Canada with the adoptive parents. Follow-up reports, legalized at the Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate, must be submitted by the parents until the child reaches the age of 18.

At present, adoption does not automatically confer Canadian citizenship on the child. The adoptive parents must make an application for sponsorship of a child to be adopted with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. TDH provides guidance and the necessary forms for this.

About the Ukraine
With an estimated population of 48,000,000, Ukraine is one of the largest of the former Soviet republics. The nation's capital is located in Kiev (Kyiv). Ethnic Ukrainians make up 70% of the population with the remainder including Russians and Jews. While Ukrainian is the official language, citizens are often bilingual, speaking Russian, Romanian, Polish, or Hungarian.

In the past, Ukraine suffered from the economic hardships of Soviet rule. Government corruption and inefficiencies and a general breakdown of infrastructure left it with severe economic problems. This created a large economic underclass. While the Ukraine is now a democracy and the economy is improving, many families and single women do not have the resources to care for children, and have little choice but to relinquish them to the care of the state.

As well, parents convicted of crimes or who have been judged unfit parents can have their parental rights terminated. There are almost 25,000 children in orphanages in Ukraine. About 7,000 children are adopted every year, 2,500 being placed internationally.

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