Special adoption system

Give more children the chance of being raised in happy homes

Children unable to live with their biological parents because of abuse or economic circumstances will grow and develop in a homely environment — increasing this possibility is desirable.

A subcommittee of the Legislative Council has compiled draft revisions of the special adoption system. The revisions would, in principle, lift the upper age limit until which children could be adopted to under 15 years of age from the current benchmark of under 6 years. The government will submit a bill to revise the Civil Code as early as the ongoing ordinary Diet session. This would be the first revision to the system since it was introduced in 1988.

About 44,000 children across the nation are being cared for by society, with 80 percent of them living in welfare facilities. The number of children being raised in a caring family environment needs to be increased as much as possible.

Under the special adoption system, the legal relationship between a child and its biological parents is terminated. It is this point that differs from regular adoptions and when a child is cared for by foster parents. A family court approves this arrangement after a test adoption period of six months or longer. Because the child is regarded as the actual child of the adoptive parents even on the koseki family register, this system has the huge advantage of guaranteeing a legally stable relationship.

Presently, most adopted children are aged up to 2, and each year only about 500 to 600 adoptions are finalized. Many children of elementary school and junior high school age who live in welfare facilities for many years have no prospect of returning to their family. Encouraging use of the special adoption system by expanding the number of children it covers is a reasonable step.

Subcommittee members were split in their opinions over how far the upper age limit should be lifted. This was due to concerns that the older the child, the harder it becomes for them to form a relationship with the adoptive parents.

However, it is also true that significantly hiking the upper age limit is the only effective method for reducing cases in which an adoption falls through because of the age restriction. There are also expectations the revisions could encourage more foster families that have good relationships with a child to switch to the special adoption system.

Drawing the line at age 15 was a realistic decision given that, under the Civil Code, children of that age can carry out some legal actions, such as agreeing to enter into a regular adoption by their own will.

Under the current system, would-be adoptive parents who file to adopt must prove the biological parents cannot provide conditions suitable for raising the child. This requirement is an onerous burden, and there has been some confusion in which biological parents withdrew their consent for the adoption at the last minute even though they once gave it.

The draft revisions also make it possible for the head of a child consultation center to initiate such an application. This process would be divided into two stages. First, a decision would be made on whether the biological parents are capable of raising their child. These parents would become unable to withdraw their consent two weeks after agreeing to the special adoption. Following this, a screening would determine if the adoptive parents have the appropriate qualifications.

Revisions to the system will hopefully eliminate some of the factors causing would-be adoptive parents to hesitate in filing an application.

Support will also be essential for adoptive parents who take an older child under their wing. Local governments offer foster parents training and chances to interact with other foster parents, but there are few such opportunities for adoptive parents who have become the “real” parents of a child. Providing an environment in which adoptive parents can raise a child without concerns will also lead to the child’s happiness.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 31, 2019)