Although a large number of children in Bosnia and Herzegovina live in institutions, a small number of them are adopted, because they are mostly not eligible for adoption.
She knew that she would provide someone with a family home full of hugs and love from her student days when she volunteered at the Home for Children Without Parental Care. The mother of three children, two of whom she adopted, speaks openly about it and regrets that the adoption of children is still a taboo subject that is not talked about enough, especially in a positive sense.
“It’s an absolutely taboo topic. I’m so sorry for that, because adoption is talked about in a completely negative sense, those children are, they will become like this, not to mention how they label them. However, what is important is that they are children and that phenotype. What’s important is that the children and phenotypes you bring into your family actually change according to what you provide,” says Lana Lekić.
Potential adopters describe the path to adoption as demanding and complicated, in an emotional and procedural sense, but at no point do they doubt the nobility of the act itself.
“The key is to go through the procedures and reach the stage where we determine that the child is suitable, that is, we determine that he is suitable for adoption. And the child is only suitable if the biological parents have given their consent for adoption, if parental care has been taken away from them, if they have died, unknown or if their stay is unknown for more than six months”, says Mirsada Poturković from the Center for Social Work of Canton Sarajevo.
About 90 percent of children in children’s homes have biological parents, but they are there because of inadequate parental care. There are various reasons why they were removed from the family, and they are not children that can be adopted. This is one of the key reasons for the small number of adoptions.
“We have been in the process for the last 20 years, here on an annual level we have five adoptions recorded somewhere, and about 200 families are interested,” says Poturković.
In the Center for Social Work Banjaluka in 2022, there were 30 submitted requests, and one adoption was realized. In 2021, there were 33 requests, the year before 26, but none of them were implemented.
“Adoption is the best form of protection for children without parental care. A parental relationship is established, the child gets a parent and a family and the conditions for a happy upbringing, because it is clear how warm the family environment and atmosphere are filled with love and care, necessary for children, especially at the earliest age “, emphasizes Mirjana Perišić from the Center for Social Work of Banjaluka.
With the new family law that entered into force in the Republika Srpska two months ago, the age limit for children who can be adopted has been moved from 5 to 10 years, and it is expected that the number of adoptions will increase. It is also new that non-marital partners will be able to participate in adoption procedures, and that a unique personal registry of adoptions will be created.
photo: Illustration
