ANKARA - Social services experts and psychologists have reacted positively to the new adoption arrangement in general, though some argue that cultural differences might create an adaptation problem depending on the child´s age. Parliament has approved a law permitting foreigners to adopt Turkish children, hoping it provides a better future for kids.

A new law enabling foreign nationals to adopt children from Turkey has garnered support from the experts.

Foreign nationals, including foreigners who live in Turkey and meet the criteria set by Turkish laws, will be able to adopt children from Turkey, according to the new law, which went into effect upon being published in the Official Gazette.

The new law seeks to benefit children and stipulates that Turkish families will be given priority when adopting. If families or individuals eligible cannot be found to adopt the child in Turkey, the children will be allowed to be adopted by foreigners. The procedures will be carried out by Turkey’s Social Services and Children Protection Institution, or SHÇEK.

Social services experts and psychologists have generally reacted positively to the new arrangement, but some argued that the cultural differences, depending on the age of the children, might create an adaptation problem in the new country. "Growing up in a new culture is of course likely to create some difficulty for the adopted. But it is a preferable situation for the adopted children to live amid a family atmosphere rather than being brought up by an institution," child psychologist Emine Öztürk Kýlýç told the Daily News.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11222837.asp

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Good news for kids whose parents are dead or unable to support them. The next step is changing the law to make it possible for singles to adopt. I wonder though if gay people (married or not) ever can adopt...

I was waiting this law since long ... finally it arrives ... Thanks for posting it Trudy ... you made this day really special for me! 

It´s good news.  I wonder how many Turkish families adopt children?  Is it common? 

I am not so sure about this, why are there not enough people in Turkey who can or will adopt Turkish children?  Is it not a common thing?  

My worry is that you end up with the Madonna effect, not so sure it is right that children are taken out of their natural environment.  I know they adapt, but we are not talking about a third world country here, we are talking about a country that is looking for entry into the EU.

I am afraid I am the old fashioned sort and I believe that a child needs two parents, not a single parent by choice or gay parents.

 I agree with Libra.In my opinion all conditions should be provided to facilitate children´s growth in their homeland in terms of care,education,foster parents,etc...

And I do agree that a child needs two parents of opposite sex...

 You know I also wonder why she couldn´t adopt or foster a child here in the USA....there are children here who need homes.

Foster Care Facts

Nearly One Quarter of Foster Care Children Are Waiting for Adoptive Families
In 1999, the latest year for which totals have been finalized, there were about 581,000 children in foster care in the United States.[1] Twenty-two percent of these children -- about 127,000 kids -- were available for

 Lack of available foster parents

Based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services submitted as of January 16th, 2008, there are more than 500,000 children in the foster care systems throughout the United States (1). Currently the trend is showing more children entering the system than exiting, which is also known as aging out. Among the children who are currently placed, there are approximately 20,000 children who will emancipate or age out of the system this year (1). This is quite a frightening thought for these youths, who essentially have not been able to adapt a permanent and stable structure that would have prepared them for the challenges they would be facing as adults.

Maybe I´m being too hard on these celebrities...but...?

Nope, you´re not. I think it´s a perverted fad to adopt a child from the Thirld World Countries. There´s also one more peril of international adoption that should be pointed out - sometimes people who were rejected as foster parents/adopted parents in their homeland adopt children from poorer countries with less demanding adoption procedures. That may (although it doesn´t necessarily have to) mean that children end up with people who do not meet standards of adoption

i`s usually an option just for the couples who can`t have children biologically. It`s also common to adopt children of close relatives.

Totally agree, i dont think its a good news at all, i agree with LL, adana and alameda too

To me, by this law, children are treated more like merchandise!

Who want to adopt a child and not able to in his country, can get it from some where else, and this time legally too !

Buy what right, they take the decision to send the children away ?!

Ýf we are thinking about the childrend sake, then the point is how to provide a natural environment to those kids more close to the real one

And the real one wont be any combination other than Turkish child got Turkish parents, and live in Türkiye !

That is the normal thing as any other child from any other country, Brits, American, Egyptian, French, German, Ýtalian,Somalian...etc !

Ý dont like it at all !

I guess you have to divide it into two different groups:

(i) those foreigners who come to Turkey to get a child, and then take it away to their new country

(ii) those foreigners who live here long term, and who end up getting close to and looking after a child, but have never been allowed to formally adopt.

Most of your negative comments are about case (i).

I have three friends who fall under case (ii). Let me tell you the story of one of them.

One of their neighbours had a young toddler. She wasn´t coping very well. So they used to look after the child and babysit, and take the child out with there own children. Then one day the neighbour had to go into hospital. She asked them to look after her child while she was ill, as her husband was at work all the time. They did this. When she came out of hospital, she and her husband wanted to move to another city, but not take the child with them. She said "you help my child, would you be willing to look after her?" My friends were scared this could become a legal nightmare so they agreed, but only if social services were involved and said it was OK. Social services said you can only foster, foreigners cant adopt, even if the parents are willing.

So they have looked after C for nine years now. Every time mum visits it is clear she has a drink problem, and she cannot make a good relationship with C because she does erratic things that scare her. My friends love C and treat her like their own children. She is happy in the family. But they all know that anytime her mother can come and take her back, and that is very unsettling.

Not all adoption cases are like Madonna!

I see no problem with outside adoption IF there are not enough nationals willing and able to adopt. Why let a child rot in an orphanage just to ensure they stay in their homeland?

I have a friend (a single woman) who adopted a Chinese girl.  This child was in horrible condition when she was adopted.  She was sickly, she could not stand to be touched or held because in the orphanage she was left in her crib day after day….only picked up to be fed or changed.

Three years later, the girl is absolutely thriving!  Her mother has ensured that she is aware of her Chinese culture and kept her Chinese name.  I can’t help but wonder what her fate would have been if someone from the outside hadn’t come to give her the love and nurturing that she was lacking in the orphanage. 

As for the anti - single parent/anti-gay adoption folks out there …..how many horrible parents have we all seen that fit the bill of two parents, opposite sex?  PLENTY!  A loving home is a loving home….straight, gay, or single! 

 Why not add a bit of drama, I am not anti, just don´t agree with it 100% .

I don´t agree that everyone who wants to adopt should be able to.  Perhaps the answer is to come up with some international standards?  Really, I don´t know.  But I do know that if you are willing to take a child out of a less than ideal environment and provide love, security and a wonderful home....its  a good thing! 

As for Madonna and other celebrities.....I often wonder why they are not willing to adopt children from their own countries as well.  Since money is no object for most of them, I think it must be easier for them legally. 

 Hmmm I see your point about GG´s plans Elisabeth...

I fail to see the drama but it seems you want to make some.  What´s so dramatic about calling it like I see it.  Did I single you out? 

But if you want to shed light on your own comments, you did say that you are old fashioned and you believe that a child needs two parents, not a single or gay parent.   That would point to signs that you are against adoption by these groups...hence "anti".

Great post GG!   And isn´t the well being of a child not much more important than the sexual orientation or marital status of the parent(s) to be? As if a single parent automatically doesn´t have friends who are married, as if growing up in a family where two parents are gay a child never will meet people of the opposite sex! Come on, better (a) loving gay parent(s) or a single parent then an orphanage or a straight couple fighting like dogs, abusing or neglecting a child.

Totally agree! It´s probably best to try to keep the child in their own country so that they grow up with their cultures, etc....that isn´t always possible to pass on to a child if they are taken out of their native country. But....what if there is no one in their own country who is willing to adopt them. Definitely better to grow up in a Loving Home with Loving Parents/Parent...than in an orphanage feeling very unwanted and unloved!!

 The word "anti" is a bit dramatic ............. it is just not my way of doing things but I don´t have a problem with those who do. 

In my opinion the rights of the child is not the primary consideration in many of these cases (single adoptions, gay adoptions etc etc) but the selfishness of the person (s)  doing the adoption.

Sure. And when you got your child(ren) it was not selfish? You thought ´Hey, how can I help the world with this baby?´ - Nonsense!

 My opinion = nonsense

Your opinion = nonsense

therefore we are equal with our opinions  

Free to Orwell: some is more nonsense than others.

Ýt takes 2 persons to make a child, male and female, not something else

And that is the normal nature healthy environment for any child, even if the home was a loving home and it lack one of those elements, that would effect the child psychological health.

That is how things are, that is what science said, and that is also the reason of many social problems you can find in the community where the percentage of single parent is much.

Of course if you ´general´ were put into a situation that you are a single parent, one would do his best for the sake of his/her child

But if we are to establish a good environment for a child, then we wont start from second best, we should build normal one for them where they can have healthy life there

And that would be in a family with both parents, not a single one.

Of course, the fate of that kid wouldnt be nice at all, but the question, why should it be an outsider ?!

Your friend was good and has a good understading thats is why she kept her name and educated her about her culture

But how about others, who want to buy a child because they couldnt do it back home ?

Would they educate the child about his/ her culture and be as good as your friend ?

Ý doubt it !

 Yes Marion, but how such case can be fixed ?!

Ý mean would the state agree on adoption for foreigners and make them sign papres never to leave Türkiye untill the child be old enough to understand her culture so she never forget her roots and who she is ?!

Ýts not logic.

The case of that parent is not normal really, who would leave his child for nine years, and if she had to, then she should have left her to her family or something

But clearly she is not a normal person

They can make an agreement between them and the mother, legal one that she cant take the child away from them at any time and they raise her as their own child but at same time she keeps her name and identity till the time child be old enough to decide where she wants to live and with whom

So the kid wouldnt be adopted and lost her identity and at same time the mother cant take her whenever she likes after leaving her all that time !

Just a thought!

But allowing adoption for foreigners is like the State selling her own children, im sorry but that is how i see it.

I am available for adoption, any under 35 lesbians with maternal instincts?

Both parents already deceased, no possibility of come backs.

 mwaaaaaaaah!!!

her selfishness doesnt know the borders.

 rubbish. ooops, forbidden words

 As you well know!! 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion femme  - even if you don´t agree with it!  Actually I don´t either - I think if it is a question of culture over a horrible existence in  - for example - a war-torn country or a country where children are literally left to rot´ in archaic orphanages - then getting them out of there wins over worries about whether they will lose there ´cultural background´ every time.  My opinion.

Anyway...could you make your post a little more polite please? Thanks

Thank you femmeous

No, I did not get any applications so far.

hmmmm    cultural background...... what about that? is a person without any ethnic cultural background is a less person?

culture, nation, all that blah blah. well, let them rotten in the orphanange then but with a pride of nation that cant give them a better childhood.

According to the Un Child Rights Convention signed by almost all countries in the world the interest of the child is the main point on which country policies must be focused.Some countries don´t have sufficient laws and structures to provide children with their basic needs -care,love and education.And if this ability of the country fails an international adoption seems to be rightful to be considered.In case an abandoned child cannot be brought up by relatives,or community members acting as foster parents or any other family willing to provide all basic needs for this child and all other options better than orphanages,to which I strongly oppose ,are exhausted international adoption  with agreement to national and international laws is the best option .

Another problem is the age  and health condition of adopted  to be children.Most of future foster families are interested in babies and toddlers with excellent health conditions.

Infertility and childlesness are the main reasons in many cases for foster parents to look for a child  preferably small enough,who will fill emptiness in their life and help them create happy family.And if this happens both - a child and parents can benefit.

But on the other hand not all kids that can be adopted are under  age of 3 years old and  in excellent health.My admiration goes to any parent who decides on adopting such a kid in order to help him/her enjoy happy,careless childhood and provide medical care,no matter if  single or married parents are.

Just adding to my original post,I am not against adoption even by foreigners but I do think

that the more attention should be given to the needs of the child by first trying adoption or foster care locally in child´s homeland  and my thought refers to pretty well functioning countries  with decent per capita not to the countries affected by wars,conflicts,etc...

 You are like a broken record (heard that somewhere lately) and it is tiring and annoying (sorry someone elses words).

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! 

 1. I hate femminism coz femminists burned the bras.

2. I disagree with foreign adoption because of madonna.

3. I dont believe in historical records and facts because Im not a creationist.

4. Hello, coz my name is libra.

5. Mwaaahh, kiss my fat ass!

F*** you make me laugh Carry on picking on me all you like, you just make yourself look stupid..........

can you as a mod use F... word?

you dont seem to be in a mood to laugh. f... you seem to be angry

 Does "F...." actually count as THE "F" word?  It seems like F..... could mean anything....foul, fork, flop, fake, fear, flip....ect....

 And what about a man called Fred? Should a name like that be F*** as well?

 ......fine, flat, free, fish () ... vs, vs.

 fat fat... fool

 ....or to quote that great British band ´The Who´  -  ´Why don´t you all f-f-f-f-fade away´? 

 fanfasticfull

 FABULOUS!!!

 i have managed to squeeze 3 F in one word. femme rulez

 Dear fluffy femme, that´s not too difficult, is it?

 fantfastifful is longer. anyway ffemme rulezzzzzzzzz