France Jean-Marie Colombani gives his proposals to improve adoption in France and abroad

March 19, 2008

Comment: A small article from the website of the French newspaper 'Le Monde' announces the publication of the “critical report” on adoption in France. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, asked Jean-Marie Colombani, the last director of 'Le Monde', to make a study into the conditions of adoption in France. The report denounces the inefficiency of the adoption system in France compared to other countries. Mr Colombani blames the 2005 French adoption rules reform because they reduced the power of central authority.

The author of the article reports the Colombani's denounciation of the “failed expectations” due to the no completion of half of the adoptions procedures. The small number of national adoptions is also pointed out by the author of the report and in his opinion it is due to the the fact that in France the well being of children does not take precedence over blood relationships.

'Le Monde' reveals the report recommendations to “put back everyone into his role” within a two years period with a powerful central authority which will coordinate the actions of accredited organizations for adoption. A new accreditation procedure will be tested with collective preparation of the candidate families and the institutions and the imposition of a maximum of 45 years between the age of the child and the youngest of the couple which wants to adopt. At the end of the two year process, if the experiment is positive, it is proposed to infer the procedure in writing it into the legislation and to put in place a central agency for adoption.

According to the Terre des hommes specialist in international adoption, the conclusions of the French report are based on an analysis which goes against the general ethics of international adoption. And, of course, against the recommendations set out by Terre des hommes in its recent publication “Adoption, at what cost?”

The French report can be downloaded here