Tdh and international adoption - the Adoption Section

An adoption responds to the need of a child to live in a family and to the wish of a couple to be parents.

International adoption is a tradition at Terre des hommes: we have the advantage of over 40 years' experience in this sphere. As authorized intermediaries, we guarantee the legal and ethical sequence of adoption procedures. Watching over the highest interest of the child is our main concern, and we are committed to denouncing abuses and bad trends in adoption by publishing our know-how and experience at a national and international level.


Adopting a child
Have you any questions about international adoption in general, or more particularly regarding your own project to adopt? We would be pleased to reply to your queries, every morning at 058 611 06 12. The whole team speaks French as well as German and we would be happy to have a meeting with you.

Terre des hommes deals with adoption procedures from A to Z: we accompany the adopting family from the first informative meeting until the conclusion of the legal adoption. For many couples, adoption involves a great deal of patience and administrative obstacles. A couple who chooses the course of adoption has to go through a variety of steps. It is an extremely important procedure through which we accompany you in several interviews, where the couples have a chance to put their own questions, tackle their uncertainties and are supported with the preparations for their child's arrival. Moreover, discussions and exchanges with the adoptive parents-to-be allow us to get to know the couples better who we will later be accompanying through their family development for a year after their child gets here, keeping them informed and making them aware of the special features of their family project.


The children's background
In India, we collaborate with Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. The Indian authorities are primarily concerned to place a child within its home country. For the most part, younger children in good health find a family in their own country, all the more so as there is a great demand from Indian parents. We look for parents for those children who are not adopted in India.
We try to place those children who will, when adult, be capable of living self-sufficiently and independently. They can be children with special needs, who are slightly physically handicapped or who will need therapy for a certain time. These children are between two-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years old when they arrive in Switzerland. The first years of their lives having been spent in an institution, they need time to catch up on what they have missed. This demands plenty of attention, love, patience and affection from their new family.
During our talks, we put emphasis on discussing the wishes and limitations of each couple. Together we establish a profile which we subsequently take into account when proposing a child.

In Nigeria, we have been working up till now with a local organization named Omolewa. At the present time we are endeavoring to set up our own structure in Nigeria in order to give us more independence. In the meantime, we are not accepting new applications for adoptions from Nigeria. We will keep you informed of developments in the situation on this site.


Conditions required for making an application to adopt
Couples who choose to adopt through the intermediary of Terre des hommes must fulfil the following conditions:
They must have been married for at least four years, unless both partners are over 34 years of age. In principle, parents should not be over 43 years old at the start of the procedure.

Moreover, the conditions set by the child's country of origin or by the partner organization must be respected. The Missionaries of Charity in India demand a religious ceremony of the parents (can be held later), no previous divorce, and a certificate of sterility. Single persons are not accepted.


Adoption procedure through the intermediary of Terre des hommes

1.	We recommend you firstly to contact the cantonal authorities of your place of residence. They can inform you about the legal conditions and the procedures for adoption. The adoption of a child requires a permit to foster a child with a view to adoption, which is issued by the cantonal authorities.
2.	You can make an appointment with us for an informative talk whilst you are still having the cantonal assessment.
3.	For the application to adopt you must then draw up a file (a copy of the file made for the canton).
4.	Subsequently we will start discussions with you. Or else: certain cantons delegate to us the interviews for the social enquiry, and the permission to foster is issued on the basis of this authorization.
5.	We reserve the right to refuse an application.
6.	In general, an undetermined period elapses before a child can be proposed.
7.	The couple can then draw up an application file for the country of origin.
8.	When the procedures in the country of origin are concluded, the parents can travel to the country of origin to fetch their child.
9.	We accompany the adoptive family for the first year, until the adoption of the child is legalized in Switzerland.

In search of one's origins
Important events in life like marriage or the birth of a child often awaken the wish to know more about and to understand one's own history. We support and accompany adult persons who came to Switzerland through Terre des hommes as intermediary, in the search for their roots. When the Adoption Section is still in touch with the country of origin, it is possible in certain cases to find information or explanations as to the background of the adopted person.
If you are in such a situation, you can contact us by phone (any morning) or by e-mail. In principle, we will suggest a meeting and offer you the chance to look into your adoption file.


Adoption in all its states: Issues and practice
The Terre des hommes Adoption Section has published a document based on over 40 years of experience in the field of international adoption. Starting with the child and its needs, this book tackles the various aspects linked to international adoption in general and to the work of an intermediary in particular. It consists of five chapters on the subjects: the child and its suitability for adoption: the preparation and follow-up of the parents: the future of the adopted child; the evolution of adoption at a legal level; and ethics and trafficking in children.
This book is available for CHF 15.- + postage. Just send us an e-mail to order it.


Useful links to our partners
Federal Office of Justice – International Childrens’ Protection Service (F, G, I)
International Social Service (F, G, E)
Adoption Space (F)
Parents’ School (F)
Parents’ School (G)
Swiss Association for adopters and adopted (F)