Bulgarian Family Code

March 1, 2009

[FONT=Arial]Hello again, I'm homebound today - waiting for the promised snowstorm to arrive. I live in the southeast - when it snows everything comes to a grinding halt and we mostly sit home -with great anticipation - to see what happens. I've been meaning to start a thread on the changes to the Bulgarian Family Code for quite awhile but haven't had the time until today.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Below is everything I've heard about the new Family Code. If anyone has any additional news or thoughts on the subject please add to this thread. Two heads (or 5, 10, 15) are better than one. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]The Bulgarian Family Code is the "rule book" for international adoptions of Bulgarian children. New drafts of the Family Code have been proposed by the Bulgarian Cabinet and include ammendments that would allow more institutionalized children to be freed for adopted. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]The new Family Code addresses several issues at the same time - cohabitation, ending lengthy divorce procedures, and foreign adoptions. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]If passed by Parliament, this will be the first major revision to the Family Code adopted in 1985 (there were some minor changes made in 2003). A draft of the new Family Code was reviewed by Parliament in late September 2008 but because it deals with many complicated issues has been met by much controversy. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]In regards to child adoption, The new Family Code would allow children to be put up for adoption if parents have behaved as absentees, leaving their children in state institutions for six months continuously with no attempts to contact them. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Adoptions by foreigners would be allowed only if there are no suitable candidate adoptive parents within Bulgaria. A national register of adopters and an integrated information system on children subject to full adoption would be be introduced. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]The rules about adoption will apply not only to children who are Bulgarian nationals but also to children who are foreign nationals normally staying in Bulgaria. The criteria for selecting an appropriate adoptive parent would be set out in the code.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]And, thats all I know. I haven't heard any estimated dates for when the new Family Code might be approved or how long it would take for changes to go into effect if/when it is approved. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Susan [/FONT]