Ukraine Updates

The draft of a moratorium law has been presented to the Ukraine parliament and passed today in Ukraine. The next step will be for a second vote to take place in parliament within the next several months that will effectively pass this draft into law. The Lifeline team in the US and Ukraine as well as our contacts in Kiev believe that ultimately this law will bring positive change to the Ukrainian adoption process.

We expect that the passing of this law will bring Ukraine into compliance with the Hague Convention and therefore require adoptions to be processed through Ukrainian approved Hague Accredited Agencies. At this time the Ukrainian government is working on the best way to implement procedures that will bring the SDA and Ukraine Adoptions into compliance with the Hague Convention with only a short period of disruption while the ratification process occurs.

If this law is passed and ratified, the government will shut down adoptions for approximately two to three months in order to become compliant with the Hague Convention.


Please know that Lifeline fully supports these changes in adoptions in Ukraine and as always are here to answer any questions you may have.


Jana Lombardo
international social worker