Department of State Alert: Serbia

This Adoption Alert is a follow up to the Alert of March 29, 2013.

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade has received reports that one or more U.S. adoption service providers may be providing prospective adoptive parents misleading information about the Serbian adoption process.  Specifically, there may be misleading information as to who is authorized to provide adoption services and which children are eligible for intercountry adoption.  

Serbia places a priority on domestic adoption.  Generally, only children with special needs are available for intercountry adoption.  Adoption services in Serbia can be completed either through direct contact with the Ministry or with the assistance of an authorized U.S. adoption service provider.  A small number of U.S. adoption service providers are authorized by the Serbian Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Policy to provide services related to intercountry adoptions in Serbia.  Prospective adoptive parents who decide to use an adoption service provider may wish to verify the agency’s authorization by contacting the Ministry at socijalna_zastita@minrzs.gov.rs or by calling +381 11 3631448. 

The Department strongly encourages prospective adoptive parents to read the procedures for completing an intercountry adoption from Serbia on the Department’s Serbia adoption information page.  There is no legal alternative to the Serbian adoption process.  Prospective adoptive parents who received contradictory or misleading information from a U.S. accredited or approved adoption service provider are encouraged to register a complaint about the provider online through the Hague Complaint Registry, at:adoption.state.gov/hague_convention/agency_accreditation/complaints.php.

Prospective adoptive parents are also encouraged to report such activity by an adoption service provider that is not accredited or approved to the licensing authority of the state where the agency is located.  A record of the complaint may also be submitted to the Office of Children’s Issues via email to AskCI@state.gov.

People for Ethical Adoption Reform
www.pear-now.org