Agencies hail 'fundamental shift' on foreign adoptions: Moves to speed adoption of Bosnians reflect a change in attitude on the Government's part. John Arlidge reports

GOVERNMENT plans to speed up the adoption of Bosnian children mark a 'complete shift in official thinking', adoption agencies said yesterday.

John Dickson, director of Issue, formerly the National Association for the Childless, said that the announcement by Tim Yeo, the Under-Secretary for Health, that local authorities should accelerate adoption procedures, was a 'fundamental shift' in government policy when contrasted with ministers' reaction to couples seeking to adopt Romanian orphans after the overthrow of the communist regime three years ago.

'When families were trying to adopt Romanian children, many social workers were unhelpful either because they disapproved of 'trans-racial' adoption or because they lacked resources. The Government did little to encourage them to take a more positive approach. There was a lot of hostility from the Department of Health. Now we see a minister giving a clear directive saying he expects social workers to act to accelerate adoptions.'

Mr Yeo conceded yesterday that ministers had 'learnt the lessons' of the Romanian crisis. 'We have realised that there are certainly a number of parents in this country who are suitable to adopt children from abroad. In the past there was a quite understandable anxiety about inter-country adoption. People were worried about the long-term consequences of uprooting children and placing them in a completely different culture. We are willing to dilute these concerns because of the unique tragedy of these children.

'There was also worry about people who were prepared to go outside the law and travel to find children and bring them into the country without entry visas, leading to child trafficking. By indicating our willingness to see adoption, we hope to avoid this.'

One woman whose application to adopt two Romanian orphans was blocked by the Department of Health because her husband had undergone heart bypass surgery and might not survive the children into their majorities, said that prospects for adoptive parents would not improve until civil servants' attitudes changed.

Jean Luff, 39, a driving instructor prevented from adopting Marcel, five, and Florina, four, after Bexley social services had approved her as an adoptive parent, said the plans would not make 'one iota of difference' if civil servants 'continued to be obstructive . . . Tim Yeo can tell local authorities to do anything at all but it won't matter if civil servants still treat those who want to adopt as if the children they love are a pair of shoes that are the wrong size and can be changed.'

She said that the Department of Health had written to her just before Christmas informing her that the two children would be adopted by other families. 'I am devastated at what has happened. They have taken my babies away from me. If I try to adopt a Bosnian child they will just turn me down again. I will never be a mother now.'

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