Foster-Care Adoption

Long Term Foster Care cases & the 1988 Adoption Act.

A number of applications each year are made by foster parents in respect of children who are in their care on a long-term basis.

Of those applications, some children are adopted with the consent of the birth mother.There are, however, a number of cases each year where the birth mother is unwilling or unable to consent; under normal circumstances, children of a marriage are not normally eligible for adoption, but in certain cases, where it can be proven in the High Court that a child has been abandoned, or that the abandonment is likely to continue until that child has reached 18 years of age, then it is open to the applicants through the HSE, to make an application to the High Court to dispense with the consent of the birth mother, thereby allowing the Adoption Authority of Ireland to make an Order in favour of the applicants.

It is then up to the applicants to begin the process and request the HSE to apply to the High Court for the said order. The High Court is the only statutory body with the power to dispense with the consent of the birth parent(s).