Dawn, have you heard anything new about Vietnam and the U.S. establishing a new Memorandum of Understanding so that adoptions can resume from the former?
What I’m hearing is that it is slow going. Vietnam has postponed a couple of joint negotiating meetings. The process is complicated because some want Vietnam to join the Hague Treaty for Intercountry Adoptions and others think that is unrealistic in the short term. If Vietnam joins the Hague rather than negotiate a separate Memorandum of Understanding on International Adoptions with the US, then it could be years before adoptions resume because Vietnam does not have the infrastructure in place to comply with this treaty. Creating this infrastructure would likely be a good thing for the long term sustainability of international adoptions from Vietnam, but it takes time. Many of us would like to see a new bilateral agreement with many of the Hague Treaty safeguards in place, while Vietnam works toward implementing the Hague Treaty. The Joint Council for International Children’s Services (JCICS) and U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu and Norm Coleman will send a letter to the Prime Minister of V
