Who Can Be Adopted from Uzbekistan

Uzbek man.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

In addition to U.S. immigration requirements, Uzbekistan has specific requirements that a child must meet in order to be eligible for adoption:

Relinquishment: Minimum legal requirements must be met prior to the issuance of an adoption decree by a court. One such requirement is that a child who has been placed with social services by his or her parents must remain in an orphanage for at least one year before becoming eligible for adoption. However, if there is a legal finding that the parents are “missing,” “deprived of parental rights,” “legally incapable,” or “deceased,” the one-year rule does not apply. In the case of missing parents, a competent authority must make a reasonable effort to locate the birth parents to satisfy U.S. and Uzbek law.

Abandonment: The Ministry of Internal Affairs (police) must document all instances of children reported as abandoned or found, including the party that claims to have found the child (often the director of a clinic or maternity hospital). Following documentation of abandonment, the Ministry of Health (for children under age 3) or the Ministry of Public Education (for children over age 3) will assume tutelage of the child.

Age of Adoptive Child: For the purposes of adoption in Uzbekistan, a child must be under 16 years of age by the time the adoption is completed. Under the law of Uzbekistan, the age difference between the adoptive parent and the adoptive child must be at least 15 years, except in cases where the child is being adopted by a step-parent.

Sibling Adoptions: Siblings generally must be adopted by one adoptive family, except in cases where health or other considerations prevent them from being raised together.

Special Needs or Medical Conditions: There are no special requirements for children with special needs or medical conditions.

Waiting Period or Foster Care: Absent an earlier legal finding of abandonment, one year must pass from the date the child was found abandoned before s/he becomes eligible for adoption.

Caution: Prospective adoptive parents should be aware that not all children in orphanages or children’s homes are adoptable. In many countries, birth parents place their child(ren) temporarily in an orphanage or children’s home due to financial or other hardship, intending that the child return home when this becomes possible. In such cases, the birth parent(s) have rarely relinquished their parental rights or consented to their child(ren)’s adoption.

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