Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali has caught herself in the middle of sensational newspaper admits that her dad offered her up for $300, 000 (R2.6 million).

The girls father, Rafiq Qureshi, allegedly put his daughter on the market and blamed her movie star status for his decision to sell her.

According to media reports, Qureshi was visited at his home in Mumbai, India by an undercover reporter for the U.K. newspaper the News Of The World, who claimed to be acting on behalf of a wealthy Arab sheik who wanted to adopt the child.

Qureshi allegedly told the journalist, “We are considering Rubina’s own future. Obviously if you wanted to adopt we are willing to discuss this matter, but her parents would also expect some proper compensation in return. We are talking of around £50,000 for this to happen. We can discuss everything about this deal when we meet. There’s a lot of interest in Rubina, she’s become very famous.”

But, in a further call, he allegedly told the reporter he planned to sell his daughter to the highest bidder and he was expecting $300 000 from the sale.

A source tells the newspaper, “Rubina’s family are furious that despite the film doing so well and their pretty daughter becoming so famous, they are still living in such rough conditions… Dad Rafiq is streetwise and knows that soon his daughter’s success will be forgotten and her moment of fame will be over. He has a family to feed and simply can’t afford it. He is keen to find a rich family to bring up Rubina but only if they are willing to help the whole family to get out of the slums.”

Officials at children’s charities have expressed their concern over the case, and have pledged to help Ali.

Save The Children’s Adrian Lovett says, “Save the Children pays tribute to the News of the World for highlighting this awful reality. We will do all we can to help Rubina.”

What an awful story! Those of us at heat Towers with children, can not even comprehend the idea of wanting to sell our offspring!

LILONGWE (Reuters) – U.S. pop star Madonna is still keen on adopting a second child from Malawi, despite a court ruling in the southern African country preventing her from doing so, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Madonna, who lost an appeal against a High Court decision refusing her bid to adopt a four-year-old girl named Mercy James, said she wants to provide education and a family environment for the young girl.

“I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and healthcare possible. And it’s my hope that she like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country,” Madonna told the Nation on Sunday newspaper in an emailed response to questions.

“Though I have been advised that I cannot publicly discuss the pending appeal regarding my desire to adopt Mercy, I do want to say how much I appreciate the level of support that I have received from the people of Malawi and my friends around the world.”

Malawi’s government came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old child, David Banda, in 2006, with critics accusing it of giving her special treatment by skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children.

Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, has already lodged a notice of appeal against the decision earlier this month but by last week the courts had not yet granted a date for the hearing.

In her ruling, Judge Esimie Chombo warned against celebrity adoptions, saying they could lead to child trafficking.

“Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect,” she said.

Madonna has entertained millions around the world with sexy high-energy performances and songs like “Material Girl” and “Papa Don’t Preach,” and created controversies along the way.

The star, who was divorced last year from British film director Guy Ritchie, is one of the music industry’s most successful singers, with album sales of more than 200 million.

The Regional Development Council (RDC) recently passed a resolution endorsing to the local government units (LGUs) the Adopt-a-Malnourished Child Project.

The project is originally a brainchild of the provincial government of Southern Leyte . Because of its success and easy replicability in other areas, Governor Lerias has thought of seeking RDC endorsement of the project to other LGUs through the Social Development Committee (SDC) of the RDC. Earlier, the SDC deliberated on the project and after agreeing to its laudability, the project was then elevated to the RDC for further deliberation. The RDC, during its ExCom and Advisory Committee meeting last March 15 in Pasig City , also found the merits of the project, concurred with the SDC endorsement, and passed a resolution endorsing it to the LGUs for adoption regionwide.

The Adopt-a-Malnourished Project is an alternative way of helping solve the malnutrition problem in the region. Recognizing the government’s limited resources, it seeks sponsors who are willing to adopt a malnourished child. By “adopt”, the sponsor shoulders expenses for the deworming, supplementary feeding and micronutrient supplementation of a severely malnourished child.

The project is implemented following six simple steps: 1) The Provincial Nutrition Committee (PNC) selects the children to be adopted based on the latest results of the Operation Timbang (OPT), 2) Funds are solicited from potential benefactors using a leaflet with built-in sponsorship form, 3) The PNC treasurer receives the money from the sponsor and issues receipt then deposits money in a trust fund for the Project, out of which food supplements and other medical supplies are bought, 3) The PNC turns over the supplies to the Municipal Nutrition Committee (MNC), which is in-charge of distribution to the target beneficiaries, 4) The Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs) do the supplementary feeding, supervised by the rural health midwife, 5) The Municipal Health Officers (MHOs), assisted by the midwives, make a monthly monitoring and physical examination of the children, and finally 6) A progress report on the growth and development of the children is submitted to the MNC, PNC and the sponsors. A working committee must be organized to run the project.

For Southern Leyte , the Project has already helped 19 malnourished children since it started implementation in 2004.

The RDC hopes that the project will be copied by the LGUs throughout the region, especially because as of the 2001 survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) , 32 percent of our preschoolers in the region are underweight. The government and private sector should join hands in bringing this figure down since malnutrition is a threat to the development of the region and the country.

Pros of Domestic Adoption

* It is more affordable due to reduced costs on travel and additional paperwork, even nonexistent if done through foster care.

* There is a chance of getting a newborn; you may be matched up with a birth mom who has not yet given birth.

* You will receive more detailed and accurate information about the biological parents medical information

* Most of the leg work is done by the adoption agency representatives and/or case workers, you will not be required to spend as much time on the adoption process.

Cons of Domestic Adoption

* Requirements for domestic adoptions are quite strict and qualifications for adopting families are also high.

* The biological mother may change her mind or unexpectedly refuse to give her child up for adoption. I believe there is a restriction on when she can do this, but that is not enough of a safeguard for most hopeful parents.

This can cause delays in the process or the whole adoption may be terminated. Unfortunately, this occurs more often during the final stages of the adoption process just when the adopting family is expecting a child.

*There are fewer children available for domestic adoption, especially if the adoptive parents prefer a child from a minority group.

International Adoption

When the adoptive parents live in a different country than the birth parents it is referred to as an international adoption and there is little or no contact between the parents.

Pros of International Adoption

* There are plenty of children available for adoption in many countries, both healthy and special needs.

* The requirements and qualifications for international adoption are less strict than other types of adoption; your chances of adopting are greater.

* You have a better chance at being eligible to adopt and once your home study is approved you can rest assured that you will have the child of your dreams.

* You don’t have to worry about whether the biological mother will change her mind. These children are most often orphaned. All you have to do is accept your referral of a child and before long they will be in your arms. (On average this process takes between 12-18 months)

Cons of International Adoption

* Be prepared for lots of red tape, delays as well as an increased potential for fraud. Some countries may not be politically stable, eg. you don’t need the government changing hands in the middle of your adoption process.

* Be prepared to travel to the country of your adoptive child. You may even be required to make more than one trip or stay for a few weeks at a time. You will need to learn the child’s culture and customs, maybe even their language

* You will not get a newborn because you will not be made aware of a child for adoption until after they are born. So by the time all the administrative hurdles are cleared and they are finally united with you and your family, they will likely be at least four to six months, maybe even a little older.

* Because the majority of these children have lived their first months or years in orphanages where the living conditions are less than decent, they may experience some developmental set backs.

This is not necessarily the case with all children and if they do have delays, chances are they will often rebound to the norm once they have a loving and supportive family to attend to their needs. Some people believe that, “Love doesn’t conquer all” but I say, “it certainly helps”.

* There may be no record of the family medical history and this could make you feel uncomfortable. You could always turn to modern medical testing to help. You will however, receive the child’s medical history when you get your referral.

The pros and cons of adoption have the potential to discourage the adopting family in many ways. But with an open mind and heart, overcoming the dilemma of adoption will definitely prove to be worthwhile.

A child being deserted by his parents can cause a severe trauma that will mirror through every aspect of child’s life. The baby will experience the mother’s loss as psychological death of his mother.  There will never be closure.

The baby feels he is abandoned and results to a lifelong inability to trust anyone. This experience will gradually affect him all through out his life. That is the reason why most of the adopted child fails to trust anyone because of the fear that he may be left alone again.

The baby perpetually  bothers as to why he wasn’t kept by his mom and will blame himself for not being good enough to be loved. Many adopted adult has this kind of burden that deters a good relationship to others. The child may also feel melancholic and remorseful as if he did something bad that decides his mom to leave  him.

As days pass by and as the child grows up, he may feel that he doesn’t belong to the family where he currently resides and will suffer self-esteem. He may decide not to get involve to any family activities and may prefer to be alone all by himself. He will feel like an outcast within the family who adopted him.

The child thinks of his mother and the reason behind why he was abandoned. This makes sense because the child longs for his mother and misses her terribly!  There is a wound there that can never be filled by anyone other than the mother!  This could cause the child to have trouble concentrating on his school work.  The child may be labeled a “dreamer” or a “bad student” which will harm his chances to succeed in life.  the adopters might not understand the reason for the child’s lack of concentration and this might cause him to be misdiagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  If misdiagnosed, the child will be forced to take medication he will not need.

The child will loose his true identity while the adopters will try to force him to be like them.  The reason for this is so that the adopters won’t be reminded that the child isn’t really theirs.  The adopters would want the true traits that the child inherits from his family to go away.  The child will not be allowed to be himself.

The child will have no sense of his past which will make it difficult to envision his future.

The child may suppress his real feelings and live an emotionally-numb life in order to survive the tragedy of the separation from his mother compounded by his adoption.

As the child becomes an adolescent he will have great difficulty establishing a sense of self because he will have no sense of his true history or heritage.

As the child becomes an adult, he may have trouble choosing a career and a mate due to his fear of committment and abandonment.

The child’s adopters may not acknowledge that raising an adopted child is different from raising a child of their own.  The adopters want to pretend that the child they raised is not adopted but their own child so they force the child to live a lie by wiping out his past and changing his name and forcing the child to become like the adopters rather than being allowed to be his own person. They will further burden the child by telling him that he should forget about his natural parents and be greatful that they adopted him and gave him a home because the natural parents did not.

Nothing anyone says or does can ever make up for the loss of the child’s first family!

The mother will not be able to change the past and undo the lifelong adverse effects of adoption on her child!

Open adoption is a form of adoption in which the adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, interact directly with birth parents. Family members interact in ways that feel most comfortable to them. Communication may include letters, emails, telephone calls, or visits. The frequency of contact is negotiated and can range from every few years to several times a month or more. Contact often changes as a child grows and has more questions about his or her adoption or as families’ needs change.

Direct access to birth parents and history has advantages of answering identity questions (”Who do I look like? Why was I placed?”). There are also disadvantages. There is no clean break for assimilation into family, which some feel is necessary.[1] There is also the potential for feelings of rejection if contact stops, or for playing families against each other.

Even in an open adoption, the birth parents’ legal rights of guardianship are terminated, and the adoptive parents become the legal parents.[1] In some jurisdictions, the birth and adoptive parents may enter into a binding agreement concerning visitation, exchange of information, or other interaction regarding the child.[2] Far more common are informal agreements, which may change over time as each set of parents’ lives progress. As legal guardians, the adoptive parents are responsible for implementing contact arrangements in the child’s best interests and hold final decision-making authority.

The primary difference between a truly open adoption and a semi-open adoption is that the adopted child has the potential of developing a one-on-one relationship with his or her birthfamily. It is not about the adoptive parents bestowing birthparents with the privilege of contact, nor is it about birthparents merely being available to provide information over the years. Direct contact, in the form of letters, phone calls and visits between the birthfamily and the adopted child, along with his adoptive family, is essential if they are to establish their own relationship. After all, how can we honestly call an adoption open if the child is not involved?

For many who are just beginning the adoption process, the concept of open adoption appears to be another complication they would rather not deal with. One prospective adoptive mom, weary from years of infertility, asked me at an adoption conference, “I am pursuing an international adoption because I don’t want to have to deal with my child’s birthfamily in any way. What can you say to me that would make me change my mind and pursue, instead, an open adoption?” My answer to her was simply this: “No matter where your child is adopted from, you will, as adoptive parents, need to ‘deal with’ your child’s birthfamily whether you know the birthfamily or not. This birthfamily is a part of who your child is. Open adoption allows you to know your child better by knowing his birthfamily.”

Expectant parents considering placing a child for adoption are often just as leery of the prospect of open adoption. Many are told, or feel, that ongoing contact will make it difficult to move on with their lives. Some are afraid that seeing their child will be too painful. Many worry that their involvement might confuse the child.

Patricia Martinez Dorner, author of Children of Open Adoption and Talking to Your Child about Adoption, encourages us to see open adoption as just another form of blended family. In adopting, adoptive parents are welcoming the member of one family into their own. This “blending” of families is not without its share of uncomfortable moments, but the beauty of birthparents and adoptive parents accepting each other as family is twofold:

One, birthparents and adoptive parents really get to know each other. It allows them to see who the others are outside of their adoption experience. Birthparents can be seen as more than someone who found themselves in a difficult situation and adoptive parents can be seen as more than an infertile couple. Being able to know each other as complete human beings allows for greater acceptance. The adopted child is also able to know his birthparents as they are, rather than creating a fantasy birthparent. Instead of spending countless hours conjuring up an image of a person they do not know, they can use that energy for other things.

Two, it gives the child a sense of wholeness. There will no doubt be times when birthparents and adoptive parents take up the responsibility of maintaining the connection with each other. An infant, a toddler or a child cannot carry the burden of maintaining the connection between his two families. An adopted child whose birthfamily and adoptive family come together in a familial way, will grow up with greater certainty. There is a saying that the greatest gift parents can give their children is to love one another. I think it is inclusive of all parents, not just married couples.

Once there were two expectant mothers.
One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart
She became your Birthmother.
The other carried the hope of you within her.
She became your Mom.
As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger,
Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all you needed after
your birth.
Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you.

One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other.

They looked into each other’s eyes and saw a friend.
Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you.
Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you.

They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life.

So now you have two families,
One by birth, the other by adoption.

And you have a home where you can get:
your questions answered,
your boo boos bandaged,
your heartaches soothed,
And much needed hugs.

And a place where you can find:
answers to your questions,
your image in the mirror,
a part of yourself,
And much needed hugs.

Two different kinds of families
Two different kinds of love
Both a part of you.

There are three types of adoption in the Philippines:

1. Agency adoptions are those in which a licensed adoption agency finds and develops adoptive families for children who are voluntarily or involuntarily committed. The adoptive families go through the process from application to finalization of the child’s adoption under the auspices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development or a licensed child-placing agency like the Kaisahang Buhay Foundation. Through this type of adoption, the legal rights of the child, the parents who gave birth to the child and the parents who will adopt the child, are all equally protected.

2. Family or relative adoptions are those where the biological parents make a direct placement of the child to a relative or a member of their extended family with whom they relinquish their child.

3. Private or independent adoptions could either be a direct placement to a family known by the child’s biological parents or through the use of an intermediary or a go-between. In an intermediary placement, an individual knows of parents who want to have their child adopted and arranges such placement to a family or someone who wants to adopt. These intermediaries are generally well-meaning and have good intentions. However, one must be wary of “black market” placements which involve an intermediary who brings together a person who has a child and individuals who want to adopt, for the sole purpose of making a profit. This practice does not consider the best interests of the child nor the legal rights of biological parents and adoptive parents.

The following are components of adoption:

* Recruitment of potential adoptive families who may provide a home to a child;
* Development of adoptive applicants as parents to a particular child in need of a home;
* Selection of a family who can best contribute to the total development of a particular child;
* Preparation of the child and family prior to placement to insure acceptance and readiness for the new relationship;
* Supervision of trial custody for at least six months to facilitate the child’s adjustment in the family prior to the completion of adoption;
* Preparation for removal of the child from the adoptive home if the placement disrupts while alternative plans are being worked out;
* Finalization of adoption and termination of service with issuance of the final decree of adoption and amended birth certificate;
* Organization of groups of adoptive parents as part of support system; and
* Post-legal adoption counselling when adoptive family and adoptee need further counselling related to information about adoptee’s background and search for his/her biological parents.

Effects of Adoption

* Sever all legal ties between the biological parent(s) and the adoptee, except when the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter;
* Deem the adoptee as a legitimate child of the adopter;
* Give adopter and adoptee reciprocal rights and obligations arising from the relationship of parent and child, including but not limited to;
* The right of the adopter to choose the name the child is to be known; and
* The right of the adopter and adoptee to be legal and compulsory heirs of each other.

INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION
How to Adopt a Child in the Philippines :

Persons considering intercountry adoption have a right to accurate information about these adoptions and the process involved. Such information will enable them to make informed decisions on initiating and completing such an adoption, the kind of child/ren they can best parent, and whether they are willing to make the lifetime commitment which is required.
The Intercountry Adoption Board (ICAB) is mandated by law (Intercountry Adoption Law of 1995 or Republic Act 8043) to be the Central Authority on matters relating to the foreign adoption placement of Filipino children to applicants who are either former Filipinos or foreigners permanently residing abroad. The Intercountry Adoption (ICA) Law stipulates certain eligibility requirements for adoptive applicants intending to adopt a Filipino child who may either be a relative or non-relative.

In the Philippines, Filipino children need to be made socio-legally free for adoption prior to any kind of alternative family placement. In line with the ICAB’s mandated authority is the compliance of the Philippines to an international instrument, The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption, to which the Philippines is a State Party and is denominated as a Sending Country.

Who is Eligible to Adopt?

Any foreign national or a Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad may file an adoption application if he/she::

1.
Is at least twenty-seven (27) years of age and is at least sixteen (16) years older than the child to be adopted at the time of the application, unless the applicant is the parent by nature of the child to be adopted or is the spouse of such parent by nature. A maximum of forty-five (45) years age gap between the adoptive child should be maintained except in cases where the circumstances will be favorable to the child;

2.
Has the capacity to act and assume all the rights and responsibilities incidental to parental authority under his/her national law;

3.
Has been married for three (3) years;

4.
Has undergone appropriate counseling from an accredited counselor in his/her country;

5.
Has not been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;

6.
Is eligible to adopt under his/her national law;

7.
Can provide the proper care and support and give the necessary moral values and example to the child and, in the proper case, to all his/her other children;

8.
Comes from a country with whom the Philippines has diplomatic relations, maintains foreign adoption agencies, and whose laws allows adoption; and

9.
Files jointly with his/her spouse, if any, who shall have the same qualifications and none of the disqualifications to adopt as prescribed above.

Where to Apply?

The application shall be filed with the ICAB through the Central Authority (CA) on Inter-country Adoption or an ICAB accredited Foreign Adoption Agency (FAA) or Governmental Adoption Agency (GAA) in the country where the applicant resides.

Foreigners who file their petition for adoption in the Philippines under the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998 or RA 8552, the Court after finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance and a proper case for inter-country adoption, shall immediately transmit the petition to the ICAB for appropriate action. The ICAB shall then act on the application following the procedures described in the Amended Implementing Rules and Regulations.

Fees and Other Charges

These fees are provided for by Article III Section 13 of the Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995 (RA 8043) and Section 29 and 40 of the Amended Implementing Rules and Regulations on Inter-Country Adoption. Effective February 2007, the ICAB fees which applies to all adoption categories (Regular or Non-Relative, Relative, Special Needs, Special Home Finding, Summer Program and Medical Missions) are as follows :

*
Adoption Application Fee–$200.00 (non-refundable upon endorsement of the Adoption Application and Supporting Documents)

*
Processing Fee–US$2,000.00 for single placement; US $3,000.00 for sibling group of 2 or more (as of October 13, 2007)

*
Pre-adoptive placement costs– The amount varies from one child to another depending on what part of the Philippines the child comes from and what country he/she is going to. Some Embassies of the Receiving Countries charge visa fees and require visa medical examinations while others do not. The total amount will be quoted by the ICAB in the placement proposal. (Payment upon acceptance of the matching proposal)

* The finalized Local Adoption cases requiring ICAB’s ratification has its own schedule of fees.

* The ICAB also supports the request of the Association of the Child Caring Agencies of the Philippines (ACCAP) to increase its Child Care Support Fund (CCSF) from US$ 500.00 to US$ 1,000.00 per placement.
* These new fees will not affect prospective adoptive parents whose adoption applications were received by the ICAB prior to February 2007 and are currently awaiting approvals and child proposals. This means that once these families receive a match, they will still pay the processing fee of US$ 900.00.

* All payments (except for the CCSF which shall be addressed to the child caring agency where the child came from) shall be in the form of a company check or international bank draft and shall be made payable to the Inter-country Adoption Board. Personal checks, travelers checks or cash WILL NOT be accepted.

* No adoption application will be processed and no Placement Authority will be issued unless the corresponding fees are received by the ICAB.

Processing Time

Adoption applicants that have substantive Home Study Report (HSR) and complete supporting documents are reviewed and approved within one month from receipt of the adoption applicant/s’ dossier. On the other hand, adoption application with lacking information and/or documents are reviewed and processed depending upon the submission/completion by the Central Authority/Foreign Adoption Agency (CA/FAA) of the requested information and/or documents with the corresponding delay in its approval.
The matching or child referral or allocation largely depends on the stated child preference (i.e. child’s age, gender and state of health or extent of known background) of the Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs). This usually takes nine (9) months to one (1) year after the PAPs’ approval. Willingness to accept a special needs child generally shortens the waiting period for child allocation.

Children Available for Inter-Country Adoption

1.
Children available for intercountry adoption placement are those who cannot be placed with an adoptive family in the Philippines.
(For relative adoption – only up to the 4th degree of consanguinity)
2.
All children have to be cleared for intercountry adoption by the Competent Authority – Programs and Projects Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (PPB DSWD)-Central Office.

3.
Children of either sex are usually available but there may be longer waiting period for girls because of the Filipino culture whereby families hold on to their daughters since they are generally more submissive, less difficult to parent and can be relied upon to care for their family of origin even until parental senescence occurs.
4.
The allowable age of Filipino children for Intercountry Adoption (ICA) is below 15 years old. A child who is above 15 years old may be processed for ICA when the following circumstances prevail:
1.
When the child is a part of a sibling group where one or more is below 15 years old;
2.
If the application for adoption of a child was filed (in cases of relative adoption) before the child reached the age of 15;
3.
Special Home Finding was initiated before the child’s 15th birthday; and
4.
Other situations where the intent to adopt was manifested before the child reached 15.
5.
The general ages of children cleared for intercountry adoption usually range from 6 months to 10 years old.
6.
Special Needs or Hard to Place children include
*
older children (usually boys or girls age 6 to 15 years old)
*
Sibling groups of 3 or more
*
Children with major medical/physical problems
*
Children with major developmental/neurological delay/handicap

Process

Any adoption applicant interested in adopting a Filipino child/ren (either relative or non-relative) may contact the nearest Central Authority on Intercountry Adoption of their country (if Ratifier or State Party to The Hague Convention) or any ICAB accredited Foreign Adoption Agency who is responsible in these Prospective Adoptive Parents preparation and conduct of their Home Study Report.

Documentary Requirements:

1.
Home Study Report
2.
Undertaking of the Couple made under oath (refer to Application Form)
3.
Information and Personal Data Application (refer to Application Form)
4.
Birth Certificate of the Couple (if adopting a relative: Birth Certificate of their common ancestry delineating relationship up to the 4th degree of consanguinity)
5.
Marriage Contract
6.
Divorce Decree (if applicable)
7.
Physical and Medical Evaluation Report
8.
Psychological Evaluation by a duly licensed psychiatrist or psychologist.
9.
Written Consent to Adoption by the biological and/or adopted children who are 10 years of age or over witnessed by the social worker after proper counseling, in the form of a sworn statement.
10.
Character Reference from (a) Local Church Minister or Priest; (b)Employer; (c) Members of the immediate community (who have all known the applicants for at least 5 years).
11.
Latest Income Tax Return or any other documents showing the financial capability of the applicant.
12.
Clearance issued by the police or the proper government agency of the place where the applicant resides.
13.
Certification from the Justice Department or other appropriate government agency of the applicant’s country that the applicant is qualified to adopt under their national law and that the child to be adopted is allowed to enter the country for trial custody and to reside there permanently once adopted.
14.
Letter of Acceptance of the Designated Guardian/s
15.
Recent post card size pictures of the applicant, his immediate family and their home/community
16.
Special Needs Checklist (refer to Application Form)
17.
Self-Report Questionnaire (OPTIONAL)
18. Adoption Decree of the PAPs’ previously adopted Filipino child

#
All documents must be written, officially translated in English and must be officially endorsed by the Central Authority on Intercountry Adoption or ICAB accredited Foreign Adoption Agency to the ICAB in the Philippines.
#
All communications relating to adoption application/s and/or child referral shall be transmitted by the Central Authority or by the ICAB accredited Foreign Adoption Agency directly to the ICAB. Likewise, all ICAB correspondence/communications shall be transmitted directly to the concerned Central Authority and/or the Foreign Adoption Agency.
#

All the Philippine process for Intercountry Adoption (ICA) does NOT require the intervention of a lawyer either in the Philippines or from the applicant’s country of residence.

LILONGWE – US pop star Madonna will not be allowed to adopt a second child from Malawi, a 4-year-old girl named Mercy James, the African country’s High Court ruled on Friday.

“She came in a convoy of four vehicles and used the cargo terminal to take-off in her jet,” the official at Lilongwe’s international airport told AFP.

The ruling will please campaigners who say authorities have given the singer special treatment. Malawi’s government, which came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old Malawian boy, had said on Thursday it would support a second adoption.

Court registrar Ken Manda told reporters Madonna’s bid to adopt Mercy had been rejected because the star was not a resident of Malawi.

An AIDS epidemic in the impoverished southern African state has produced more than one million orphans.

In her ruling, Judge Esimie Chombo warned against celebrity adoptions, saying they could lead to child trafficking.

“Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect,” she said.

Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, said she would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court on Friday. Her London spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

Madonna has entertained millions around the world with sexy high-energy performances and songs like “Material Girl” and “Papa Don’t Preach,” and created controversies along the way.

In 1989, the video for “Like A Prayer,” with its links between religion and eroticism, was condemned by the Vatican and caused Pepsi-Cola to cancel a sponsorship deal with the star.

Madonna surprised fans in February by dedicating another of her hits, “Like a Virgin,” to the pope at a concert in Rome.

Malawian rights groups, who accused the government of skirting residency laws when Madonna adopted David Banda in 2006, opposed the latest adoption attempt as well.

Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati told Reuters on Thursday that Madonna had helped in the country and was a worthy mother who was supporting over 25,000 orphans here.

Madonna, accompanied by David, arrived in Malawi on Sunday ahead of the court examination of her application.

The star, who was divorced last year from British film director Guy Ritchie, is one of the most successful singers of all time, with album sales of more than 200 million.

Surrogate mother is a woman who agrees to bare a child in her womb, in exchange for a fee or agreed upon contract for a couple who are childless due to infertility. Often, the surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child, conceiving it by means of artificial insemination with sperm from the husband. The other kind of surrogate motherhood is what we called in vitro fertilization wherein using the wife’s egg and the husband’s sperm, and the resulting embryo is implanted in the surrogate mother’s uterus. Thus, the surrogate mother is not genetically related to the child.

For over one hundred years artificial insemination was used as a way of managing male infertility that kept the family intact and allowed children to be born to a married couple. Artificial insemination was generally kept secret. Couples did not tell friends, family, or the children themselves that donor sperm was used, thus maintaining the fiction of biological paternity.

Though stories of surrogate motherhood, often with familial surrogates, date back two thousand years, in 1976 the lawyer Noel Keane arranged the first formal agreement between a couple and a surrogate mother in the United States. The marketing of “surrogacy” developed as a solution to female infertility. Brokers entered the scene, hiring women to become pregnant via artificial insemination with the sperm of the husband of the infertile woman. In 1986 surrogacy came to national attention with the case of “Baby M.” In this case, the woman hired as a surrogate, Mary Beth Whitehead, later refused to relinquish the child. After a protracted court battle, in which Whitehead’s parental rights were stripped and then replaced, the hiring couple won custody of the baby, but Whitehead remained the legal mother with visitation rights.

The Center for Surrogate Parenting (CSP) estimates a cost of $56,525 for traditional surrogacy, in which artificial insemination is used, and a cost of $69,325 if another woman’s egg is used. Approximately $15,000 of these fees are paid to the surrogate herself for the time and sacrifice of the pregnancy. When surrogacy agreements first surfaced in the mid-1970s, there was no payment for surrogate motherhood, and it tended to involve middle-class and blue-collar couples, with friends and sisters helping each other. Once payment became the norm, the demographic changed: “the majority of the couples remain largely upper-middle-class people, whereas the majority of the surrogates are working class women”

That surrogacy has become a business has not meant that contracting couples do not value the surrogate or that the surrogate does not care about the child or the couple. Very careful screening—approximately 95 percent of potential surrogates are rejected—ensures that situations similar to that of Mary Beth Whitehead do not happen. Surrogates are chosen for their commitment. In the only ethnographic study of surrogacy, Helena Ragoné found that couples adopted one of two strategies in dealing with their surrogate. “Egalitarians” wanted to maintain a relationship with the surrogate mother and did not see her as a means to an end. Since in all of Ragoné’s cases the children were still quite young, it is difficult to know how this would play out. “Pragmatists” simply dropped the relationship with the surrogate, taking the child as theirs, and considering the payment sufficient acknowledgment of the role of the surrogate.