GOAL: PROTECTING CHILDREN & FAMILIES Hague Convention Ratification Will Mean Major Changes By 2008 BY rosemary cafasso arents hoping to adopt internationally are now on the threshold of a whole new world, thanks to something known as "the Hague.'' The Hague is actually the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, an international treaty that the United States is expected to ratify by year's end. Once it is ratified, the Hague will govern adoptions that take place between the United States and other Hague countries with a set of standards and procedures that must be followed. "For people already in the process, they probably won't see any changes,'' s Lappen Davis, director of Etsky Consulting in Bolton and a Hague trainer and evaluator for the Council on Accreditation. "But for new people, those families will see marked differences.'' By the start of 2008, parents seeking to adopt a child from a Hague country will be required to work with an agency that is nationally accredited and, therefore, has the blessing of the United States State Department. (For a list of Hague and non-Hague countries, go to www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/ convention/convention_2959.html. Then select Fact Sheet: Implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption). Currently, two organizations - the Council on Accreditation and the State of Colorado - are conducting the accreditation process and it is expected that many agencies, including several Massachusetts-based organizations, will have this seal of approval at the start of next year. The Hague is intended to protect three parties: the child from the sending country, the biological family, and the adopting family, said Richard Klarberg, president and chief executive officer of the Council on Accreditation. "One of the tragic consequences of not dealing with an agency that meets these criteria is a family will adopt a child and not recognize the challenges they face and the impact of that can be catastrophic.'' With accreditation, "we are trying to raise the bar of quality services for vulnerable people and the key word is vulnerable,'' Klarberg added. Agencies that are accredited will have adopted the new Hague rules and conduct business in a standard and transparent manner. That means a parent working with an accredited agency has more assurance that the adoption will be conducted ethically. Plus, parents will be able to evaluate agencies and assess costs in a true "apples-to-apples'' comparison, something that hasn't really been possible until now. "It is very significant,'' said Leah O'Leary, executive director of A Red Thread Adoption Services, Inc. in Norwood. "For the first time, we will see national standards for ethical adoption and insistence that adoption agencies are run with transparency, good business practice and good social work standards. We haven't had that before.'' While the Hague will likely empower parents by creating a standard and transparent system, it is also bound to challenge families with its many new rules. There are at least two significant changes to international adoption that could actually cause parents to alter their adoption plan and a series of other changes that will impact how they proceed with their adoption. The first of the two major changes is the requirement that once the United States ratifies the treaty, it can no longer conduct adoptions with countries that have also signed the treaty but not yet implemented its provisions. Right now, that means adoptions with Guatemala, an immensely popular country for international adoption, will be halted at the end of this year if that country does not implement Hague provisions by that time. "Overall, the Hague is a very positive thing,'' said Kevin Ferguson, who along with his wife Kelley, had planned to adopt from Guatemala but recently shifted to Ethiopia. "You want to do what is in the best interests of the child and that is certainly what we want.'' But Ferguson, who lives in Arlington, said he and his wife grew increasingly concerned about Guatemala as reports surfaced of adoption problems in that country. Then, with the Hague ratification looming, the couple decided they needed a new course of action. "I was just no longer comfortable with it,'' Ferguson said. Another family is choosing to stick with their plans for a Guatemalan adoption, but they said it hasn't been easy. "It has caused anxiety,'' said Marybeth Hay, a mother from Whitinsville. She and her husband are planning to adopt a daughter from Guatemala. They already have a son from Guatemala who is two. They are in the early stages of the adoption process for their second child, but the Hays believe they will "beat the clock,'' and get their daughter home before the doors close on Guatemala. "As a parent, you need to step out of your personal feelings and look at the Hague globally and say, this is for the greater good,'' said Hay. "For the greater good of all children, it is a good thing. Personally, it is freaking me out.'' The second major change that will result from ratification of the Hague concerns families with various medical histories or nontraditional family structures. These families could be shut out of countries with restrictive requirements because the Hague will enforce more full disclosure of family backgrounds to foreign countries. According to several adoption professionals, it is not uncommon for agencies to present documentation to a foreign country that puts a family in the best possible light. Going forward, agencies will be required to create one home study document that is then provided to all parties in this country and abroad, said Lappen Davis of Etsky Consulting. The past practice of providing a modified or abbreviated home study to a sending country will no longer be allowed. At a recent professional workshop on the Hague Convention conducted by Lappen Davis, attendees completed an anonymous survey that included a question asking if they had ever either omitted data or disguised information on a home study going to the country of origin. Several said they had. "It isn't a common practice,'' said Lappen Davis, "but college pranks and so forth have been omitted'' from home studies. "Now, it all has to be stated in full disclosure.'' But the heart of this issue, noted Lappen Davis, concerns gay and lesbian families. Certain countries, such as China, will require prospective parents to indicate their sexual orientation in a home study. In the past, it was possible for a same sex couple to adopt by having one partner adopt as a single parent. Now, in a case such as China, full disclosure will be required. Beyond sexual orientation, China has a new set of guidelines released just last month that even specify a prospective parent's weight. The Council on Accreditation's Klarberg added that "what we have seen over time is issues regarding post-placement reports. The sending country says we want to know about the child's placement and agencies have kind of ignored or downplayed those reports. What's happened is the sending country has said, we will shut our doors.'' Klarberg said the issue is not whether we agree with stricter regulations, but "keeping the adoption doors open.'' In addition to these big changes, the Hague will usher in a series of procedural changes that will alter how parents proceed with their adoption. Some of these changes include the following: + Inter-agency relationships. Parents will need to do more up front work to be certain that if they will be working with more than one agency that all parties are accredited and will work together. Under the Hague, a more formal structure for agencies, with one serving as the primary provider, will be put in place. Parents need to know before moving forward if their agencies will continue to work together under the new rules. + Standard fee structure. As part of becoming accredited, agencies must move to a standard fee reporting structure, so that all agencies will provide fee information in the same manner. This should be a big boost to parents, who may have found it difficult to decipher fees from some agencies. "When people do research, the often don't know if agencies are calling things differently,'' said Ilze Keegan, executive director of the Florence Crittenton League Adoption Agency in Lowell. "That can be deceptive. Things like letting people know specifics on fees will be very helpful.'' + Training. Because of the Hague, training also will be changed. First, parents will be required to receive 10 hours of training and, secondly, they will be directed to take certain courses. Currently, the amount of training required can differ from agency to agency and, in many cases, parents can make their own choice of training materials. + Costs. Some observers said there could be moderate cost increases to the overall adoption cost because of the Hague. Agencies will be spending a minimum of several thousand dollars to go through the accreditation process and that doesn't factor in any additional expenses an agency might incur, such as adding staff, to bring its operations up to Hague standards. Agencies interviewed said they expect any costs passed onto clients would be minimal and Etta Lappen Davis agreed those costs probably won't be significant. Overall, agencies and parents alike said there may be some initial growing pains, but the Hague should bring many long-terms improvements to international adoption. "I would hope the Hague enables families to have a more predictable adoption process," said Betsy Hochberg, director of Adoption Resources in Waltham, which is part of the Jewish Family & Children's Service of Greater Boston. "That would be a positive.'' Rosemary Cafasso is an award-winning freelance writer from Massachusetts, who writes frequently on adoption-related issues.