Legal problems related with international adoption: the experience of Lithuania

Abstract

The right of the child to grow up in the family is one of the most important rights of the child. It is guaranteed by the State, which takes the measures to implement it. In both national and cross-border adoptions, the right of the child to be adopted and the opportunity to grow up in a new family must be guaranteed. Adoption conditions are created for both citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and citizens of foreign countries, but the conditions diff er substantially. 2012 the entry into force of the law has had a signifi cant impact for the adoption of foreign nationals by the restrictions on international adoption. Diffi culties in the adoption process are manifested through the ineff ectiveness of laws. Th e permission for only married foreign couples to adopt only children with special needs, the lack of real access to a potential child before consenting to adoption only illustrates why the number of children willing to adopt in Lithuania, especially from abroad, is decreasing.