Lithuania
This is a small program with only 60 children requiring an overseas adoptive placement each year from Lithuania. Lithuania is a signatory to the Hague Convention.
The Lithuanian Authorities advised that they are limiting the number of applications from overseas countries. Each financial year, Queensland is only able to forward 2 files of approved prospective adoptive families to Lithuania.
Specific eligibility criteria
- Prospective adoptive parents must be under 47 years of age when their application is forwarded to Lithuania for consideration.
- Lithuanian law does not allow the court to make an Adoption Order for prospective adoptive parents over 50 years of age unless there are exceptional circumstances. There may be some flexibility in relation to couples where one partner exceeds the upper age limit if they are willing to accept a child with a disability.
- Special needs children include children with health problems and/or sibling groups of three or more children.
- There are no limits on the number of biological or adopted children already in the family. However, couples must provide evidence that their financial situation allows them to care for another child.
- There are no restrictions on religious practices. Lithuania is predominantly Roman Catholic. The adoption agency may require information about some non-mainstream religions if they are not aware of them.
- Applicants must be married. However, no specific length of marriage is specified.
Information about children requiring adoptive placements
- This adoption program focuses on local adoption. Offers of placements are made to local Lithuanian families in the first instance.
- If a placement can not be made with a local family, intercountry adoption will then be considered as an option.
- At this time, priority shall be given to Lithuanian nationals residing abroad, and to foreign nationals of a Lithuanian descent.
- A person is considered as being of Lithuanian descent if their parents or grandparents, or one of the parents or grandparents are/were Lithuanian, and the person considers themselves to be Lithuanian.
- The Lithuanian Central Authority has confirmed that placements are sometimes required for children with special needs over the age of three years. There is very little chance that children under the age of three years would be placed through this program.
- The waiting time is over two years and longer for a placement of a healthy child.
- Couples interested in adopting through this program need to consider very carefully their capacity to parent a child who may have a complex range of needs associated with living in an institution - for example, developmental delays, institutionalised behaviours, language difficulties and attachment difficulties.
Costs
- The costs for this program are significant and include translation of the file, preparation of documents including notarisation and an apostille (document certification) issued from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for each document.
- Costs for a representative who will arrange medicals, travel arrangements and facilitate the adoption process will also arise.
Further information
For further information on the individual country programs, refer to overseas country information or contact our Adoption Services Queensland Unit.- Last updated
- 26 October 2007