The Board of the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the authority’s research advisory committee has published the second in a series of short research reports. 

This particular research report looks at the adoption of children from Russia into Ireland between 1992 and 2014.

Between 1992 and 2014, 1,628 children were adopted from Russia by parents habitually resident in Ireland. Adoptions from Russia accounted for the largest proportion of all intercountry adoptions into Ireland between 1991 and 2019, representing 33 per cent of Ireland’s total intercountry adopted population.

The child’s average age at adoption was one year and eight months. Ninety-two per cent of this group are currently aged between 10 and 22, with 13-18-year-olds accounting for over half of the total figure.

The mean current age of a child adopted from Russia into Ireland is just over 16 and a half years old. The population of Russian ICA individuals living in Ireland today came from a relatively homogenous background of institutionalised care, and are likely to have faced a number of early challenges.

Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Chairman of the Adoption Authority, said: “This is important and detailed research, showing the history of intercountry adoption in Ireland over 30 years, and will inform further research initiatives of the authority.”