Nantume, Lucy Peace2020-02-202020-02-202011Nantume, L. P. (2011). Open adoption in inter-country adoption laws of East Africa. Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam.http://41.86.178.5:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/7255Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class mark (THS EAF HV875.7.A353.N36)This study is about inter-country adoption, a child care option available to children without parents which is under-utilised in Africa. This is because of the evils associated to it like child trafficking and abduction while other critics have based on reasons like development of identity problems by children adopted internationally due to being raised by parents of a different race, ethnicity, or nationality to advocate for its abolition. In the meantime, the numbers of children needing a family environment or its alternative increases daily due to factors like poverty, wars, HIV/AIDS, tsunamis, hurricanes to mention but a few. Parts of Sub-Saharan Africa are undergoing a tidal wave of orphaning in varying degrees due to AIDS. In Africa, roughly 16.6 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been affected. The extended families which care for orphaned children are invariably overwhelmed due to poverty and lack of assistance. This creates a need to explore and utilise all the available options. Despite the challenges it presents, inter-country adoption is one of the most viable alternative care options. To deny parents children options to a better life which are sometimes available in inter-country adoption, is a profound abuse of children's rights. The study also examines the possible conflict between the benefits of open adoption, on one hand, and compliance with the best interests of the child, on the other.enAdoptionLaw and legislationEast AfricaThesis