Kathmandu, September 27:

Almost all shelter homes that provide children for inter-country adoption are based in Kathmandu, according to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW). Out of 26 shelter homes, 20 are located in Kathmandu, three in Bhaktapur, two in Lalitpur and one in Morang.

According to the MoWCSW, 1,379 children have been adopted from April, 2000 to June 2006 to 17 countries. Spain tops the list with 340 children adopted till date, followed by Italy with 299 children, the United States with 246, France 187, Germany 173 and Switzerland with 29 children adopted.

Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Britain, Austria, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Singapore are other countries where children are adopted.

Joint-secretary of the MoWCSW is the coordinator of the recommendation committee formed for regulating adoption.

Representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Child NGO Federation Nepal and the MoWCSW are members of the committee.

Either the Nepal Child Organisation or the District Administration Office checks the validity of documents of prospective adoptive children and forwards recommendations to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.

A prospective adoptive child should either be an orphan or should have been abandoned willingly. In case of an orphan, parents should either be dead or one of them dead and another should have remarried.

Death certificates of parents, a note from the local government authority on the remarriage of a mother in case of the death of a father or vice-versa are required.

A certificate from the hospital concerned, stating that the child to be adopted has been abandoned, should be produced.

Marriage certificates of parents, birth certificate and a photograph of the child to be adopted, recommendations from local authorities and citizenship certificates of parents are also required.

A prospective adoptive family should also produce guarantee letter from the respective government, character certificate, marriage certificate, financial record, professional details and a copy of passport.