Liberia and the Hague Convention

Boy grinding sugar cane.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Liberia is not party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). Therefore, when the Hague Adoption Convention entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008, intercountry adoption processing for Liberia did not change.

Currently there is a moratorium on new adoptions and all approved adoptions must be approved by the ad-hoc adoption committee before the children may leave the country. Any prospective adoptive parent who is in the process of adopting from Liberia should contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Liberia at the following e-mail address.

In July 2008, the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare began carefully reviewing all adoption cases submitted to them for approval. This change occurred because the Government of Liberia noticed an increasing number of cases in which adoptive parents decided to terminate their parent/child relationship with Liberian adoptive children. The Liberian Parliament is considering a revised adoption law, which was proposed in November 2007. If enacted, the new law would provide additional safeguards to protect adoptive children, birth parents, and prospective adoptive parents.

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