By September 30, 2024, 31 children left in hospital were declared eligible for adoption based on the new legislation, and by October 24, the adoption procedure for 7 children had already been completed. Among them, 4 children were adopted in the county of Csongrád-Csanád, and one each in the counties of Pest, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Bács-Kiskun.
The adoption of ten children is in progress, they are already living with the parents intending to adopt them, but the decision concluding the procedure has not yet been made. Among them, 3 children are being adopted in Budapest, two in Bács-Kiskun county, and one child each in Pest, Tolna, Békés, Somogy and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties - explained the state secretary.
He informed that in the recent period, an increasing number of babies were left in the newborn wards of hospitals, who were not taken home by their parents or relatives.
It is in the interest of the children to grow up in a loving family environment, so that they can get out of the hospital as soon as possible and be placed with adoptive parents who are able and willing to take care of them, he emphasized.
He emphasized: the amendment to the law enables newborn children left in hospitals to be adopted as soon as possible. The new regulation applies the regulations for children placed in incubators to children left in newborn wards.
If neither the mother nor another relative applies for the child left in the hospital within six weeks, the infant becomes available for adoption without a waiver, and thus the adoption process can begin, he informed.
The state secretary also announced that a new procedure for adoption cases is being applied at the maternity wards, and that the hospitals have appointed contact persons to assist the work of the government office, and that all available information will be provided in order to be declared adoptable as soon as possible.
Explaining the procedure, Bence Rétvári stated that the mother must be informed in the final report that the adoption does not require the consent of the parent who leaves the child in the health facility for six weeks immediately after birth, and during this time neither he nor any other relative also applies.
If the newborn is left in a medical facility, the hospital will notify the government office of the fact of the departure within one working day of the mother's departure, and if the mother or another relative applies for the child within six weeks, visits or another relative makes a written statement of their intention to take the child, the hospital also informs the government office immediately.
In addition, the hospital provides the child protection guardian and prospective adoptive parents with the opportunity to visit the child, and the child is handed over to the adoptive parents after presenting the decision of the guardianship authority to place the child in compulsory care, the announcement states.
Bence Rétvári also reported that the institutions, in addition to fulfilling the specialized care tasks related to children left in the hospital, provide the children with the necessary patient care and treatment, as well as the care tasks that are essential for the children's healthy physical, mental and social development, including continuous vaccinations, age-related screening tests and various care activities.
MTI
Photo: Pixabay
