The Ministry of Justice has released appraisal documents for a draft revised Law on Adoption, proposing a series of significant changes aimed at strengthening child protection and improving adoption procedures.

The draft legislation introduces new requirements regarding both children eligible for adoption and prospective adoptive parents.

Proposed maximum age gap of 50 years

Regarding children eligible for adoption, the draft retains existing age requirements while adding provisions related to family circumstances. Under the proposal, only abandoned children, children who have lost both parents, or children without caregivers as defined under child protection laws would be eligible for adoption.

According to the drafting agency, the change is intended to ensure that children are not unnecessarily separated from their biological families.

The draft also proposes lowering the age at which a child's consent must be sought before adoption from nine years old to seven years old, strengthening children's rights to express their views on matters affecting them in accordance with the Law on Children.

Current legislation generally limits adoption to children under the age of 16, except in cases involving stepchildren or adoption by close relatives such as uncles, aunts or grandparents. Existing law also requires adoptive parents to be at least 20 years older than the adopted child.

A notable change in the new draft is the introduction of a maximum age difference between adoptive parents and adopted children. Under the proposal, adoptive parents would generally be permitted to be no more than 50 years older than the child.

In special circumstances, a larger age gap could be allowed if it is determined to be in the best interests of the child.

The Ministry of Justice said the proposal is designed to avoid excessive age differences that could create significant psychological and generational gaps between parents and children, potentially affecting a child's development.

The provision would also help ensure that adoptive parents are capable of caring for, supporting and educating the child until adulthood.

An earlier draft released in March proposed that adoptive parents be at least 20 years and no more than 45 years older than the adopted child, effectively limiting adoptive parents to under 61 years of age. The latest version therefore represents a more flexible approach.

The draft further specifies that adoptive parents must either be a single individual or a legally recognized married couple under Vietnamese law, except in cases involving adoption of a spouse's biological child.

Another addition would prohibit adoption by individuals who have received suspended prison sentences and remain within their probationary period for crimes involving violations of life, health, honor or dignity, domestic violence offenses, or crimes related to marriage and family relations.

According to the drafting agency, the provision is intended to ensure adoptive parents can serve as positive role models and prevent situations in which adoptive children are left without proper care should their adoptive parents later be required to serve prison sentences.

Addressing the risk of child trafficking

The draft law also proposes a new mechanism under which competent authorities would be responsible for introducing children to prospective adoptive families in both domestic and international adoption cases.

The measure is designed to ensure tighter oversight of adoption procedures and eliminate negative practices in which prospective adoptive parents independently seek out children and negotiate directly with biological parents or caregivers.

Authorities believe such arrangements may involve monetary exchanges or other material benefits and could create risks of child trafficking.

The Ministry of Justice noted that assigning child-matching responsibilities to government agencies would align Vietnam's practices more closely with international standards and recommendations from the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

Regarding the legal consequences of adoption, the draft largely maintains existing provisions stating that, from the date the adoption is finalized, biological parents no longer retain rights and obligations related to care, upbringing, financial support, legal representation, compensation matters or management of the adopted child's separate property.

However, the draft removes a provision that currently allows biological and adoptive parents to agree otherwise.

The drafting agency argued that because adoption establishes a full legal parent-child relationship between adoptive parents and the adopted child, biological parents should no longer exercise rights or obligations that have already been transferred to the adoptive parents.

The change is intended to avoid conflicts over parental rights and responsibilities.

According to the Ministry, the rights and obligations of biological and adoptive parents should be clearly defined in law to reflect the state's position regarding legal relationships involving adopted children.

The ministry also emphasized that adoption should generally be reserved for children who cannot remain with their biological parents, including orphans, abandoned children and children without caregivers.

As a result, allowing biological parents to continue exercising parental responsibilities after adoption would not be practical.

Additional grounds for terminating adoption

In addition to existing grounds for terminating adoption, the draft proposes new circumstances under which adoption may be ended.

These include situations where an adopted child becomes an orphan or a child without caregivers under child protection laws.

Examples cited by the drafting agency include cases in which adoptive parents die before the child reaches adulthood, suffer from serious illnesses, or receive lengthy prison sentences that leave the child without adequate care and support.

Tran Thuong