Making an application and establishing your eligibility to adopt.

If you are considering adoption from Ireland or abroad, you will need to first complete an application to determine your eligibility, and then an adoption assessment to determine your suitability to become an adoptive parent. An adoption assessment is sometimes referred to as a home study report.

Pact is accredited by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) under Section 4 (e,f, & g) of the Adoption Act, 2010 to carry out and prepare assessment reports, and to provide information, advice and counselling concerning adoption. All assessments are carried out to meet the requirements that are set out in the Adoption Act 2010, and comply with the Hague Convention and international best standards of practice. If you receive a positive recommendation, the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI), will issue a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability.

Pact is a national service and employs a panel of sessional social workers to undertake assessment work who are regionally based and are able to visit applicants in their own localities.

Applying to adopt

The Adoption Act 2010 sets out details of those who are entitled to adopt. You will find this information in the section Eligibility and Suitability, or on the Adoption Authority website, www.aai.gov.ie.

Pact accepts applicants from any religious background. If you wish to be assessed by our agency for either domestic or intercountry adoption you should contact your local adoption services which are under the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) and request that you are referred to us. Details of these services can be found at www.tusla.ie You should follow the Alternative Care link.

The Child and Family Agency will invite you to an Information Meeting which will explain what is involved when considering adopting from abroad. You should then request that you are referred to us. This is before you are asked to complete an application pack for the Child and Family Agency and are invited on to a preparation course. If you experience any difficulty with this you should contact us and ask to speak to our Adoption Administrator.

When we receive your adoption request from the Child and Family Agency we will invite you to an introductory meeting at Pact to explain our procedures. You will also have the opportunity to meet some of our team who will guide and support you.

In order to establish your eligibility we will give you a list of the documents required and information on how to complete them. These include, birth and marriage certificates, evidence of financial means etc. Garda, police and child protection checks will also be carried out. You will be asked to undergo a thorough medical and consultants’ reports will be obtained if this is deemed to be necessary.

Once you have submitted all of your documents and your eligibility has been established, you will be invited to a training course.