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International Adoption Procedures, Placement in a Foster Family or in Another Adequately Sheltered Environment

Adoption brings a radical change to the life of a child. Adoption is therefore justified only in the cases where it serves the best interest of the child and provides him with genuine shelter. Adoption in a foreign country should only be an option when and if there is no viable alternative in the child’s country of origin.

Every case warrants serious scrutiny in order to establish beyond all doubt whether adoption in a foreign land really opens the very best opportunities for the child’s future. The overall rule for adoptions should therefore not be that families acquire a child but that children in a distress situation have the opportunity to re-acquire a family. The best possible solution will always be to support the biological parents in an adequate way thereby enabling them to look after their children in their own right.

There are cases where less radical solutions than international adoption procedures, such as finding the child a foster family, temporary placement in a sheltered environment or adoption in the child’s country of origin, will be more beneficial to the child. Additional alternatives are: providing parents with the training required to improve their sense of responsibility, family-friendly politics and sponsored help.

The Swiss Foundation of the ISS and the entire ISS network have played and still do play a pioneer part in the field of international adoption: the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (1993) has been inspired to a large extent by an ISS report ( "Our Ethical and Legal Standards/Guidelines"). This Convention attained legal status in Switzerland in 2003 and lays down ethical standards as well as guidelines and procedures to be followed in adoption: since then the Convention must be strictly adhered to in word and in spirit.

Art.21 of the UNCRC is dedicated to children left without any family and forms the ethical basis of the Convention.

Our Activities:

  • ISS provides counseling to persons interested in adopting a child and makes the necessary connections to authorities
  • ISS provides information to both private individuals and professional people concerning legal status, standard procedures and the general situation pertinent to child adoption in a variety of countries
  • ISS offers viable alternatives and exposes illegal practices
  • the General Secretariat in Geneva houses an Information and Documentation Center on the subject (Centre international de référence pour les droits de l’enfant privé de famille ISS/CIR)
  • ISS promotes the exchange of views among adoption professionals in Switzerland
  • ISS sets up meetings and produces papers on the subject