The Bordeaux Committee was accredited by Colombia until 26 November 2020.
COFA Bordeaux remains fully available for counselling to adoptive families in Colombian nationality, passport, and military situation procedures, and for birth parent queries.
COFA Bordeaux will continue offering Parenting Support Workshops, which are open to the adoptive families it has supported throughout their adoption procedure.
INTRODUCTION
Office
President
Ms Hélène Francou
Deputy chairwoman for adoption
Ms Hélène Francou
Deputy chairwoman, legal
Ms Emmanuelle Ripert
Vice-president
Ms Claude Arnaud
Secrétaire
Ms Marie-Hélène Eymé
Treasurer
Mr Éric Baggio
Candidate intake
Ms Catherine Becot
Relationship with Colombia
Ms Maryse Monetta
Birth parent research
Ms Claude Arnaud
Ms Maryse Monetta
Our team comprises volunteers and employees who are all adoptive parents and who contribute their experience of professional and nonprofit adoption. Adoption team members have received training in relational communications (active listening: listening and interviewing, optimal assistance, help, and support).
The aim of all COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits members is to welcome adoption applicants while they wait for a child, and later to follow children and their families as they develop and adapt to each other. Team members benefit from yearly training cycles with various specialist organisations, which are officially recognised by AAAs.
COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits is also supported by a referring doctor, Dr Choulot, a paediatrician and founder of COCA (Consultation d’Orientation et de Conseil en Adoption, Guidance and Counselling Consultation on Adoption). The organisation is supported by a team of external psychologists and a social worker (freelancers).
The organisation’s accounts are sent to an independent certified accountant. All those working for our organisation have provided a clean criminal record.
COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-Petits was founded in 1920 and is part of the Œuvre de l’Adoption committees. Its main office is in Bordeaux. It is a member of the Confédération Française de l’Adoption (COFA, French Confederation for Adoption), the leading AAA in France.
It was accredited in France in 1952. It was active in Chile from 1982 to 1998, and has been authorised and accredited in Colombia since 1982.
SCHEDULE
2021
Post-adoption workshop for parents of teenagers.
The date will depend on the evolution of the health situation.
September 2021
Annual Picnic.
2021
Brainstorming workshop for parents about birth parent research.
The date will depend on the evolution of the health situation.
OUR FUNDING
We receive financial support from MAI as part of an Agreement of Objectives and Resources, signed with the French state in 2011, to fund travel, team training and the preparation of prospective parents.
Our COFA – Bordeaux accounts are audited by a certified accountant and, like all COFA committee accounts, validated by COFA’s auditor.
COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits is recognised as a body pursuing an objective of general interest. The donations and payments it receives entitle it to reduced taxation, as provided for by article 200 of the French Tax Code. All donors are provided with a tax receipt.
BACKGROUND
In the 1920s, the Bordeaux section of the Œuvre de l’Adoption was actively placing children. It became the Œuvre des Tout-Petits in 1952, before becoming COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits in 2011. The Bordeaux Committee allowed for the adoption of many children born anonymously in France until 2006.
In 1982, the organisation turned its attention to international adoption, in Colombian and Chile. The AAA gave up its accreditation in Chile in 1998. The AAA has not been accredited by Colombia since 2020.
COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits also placed Colombian children in families with support from the Cognac Committee from 1988 to 1995 and from the Lille Committee from 1986 to 1995.
Applications from the Bordeaux Committee were overseen by the Marseille Committee from 1982 to 1988 for South Korea and by the Lille Committee for Brazilian children from 1987 to 1994.
ADOPTION FOLLOW-UP
Our team remains at the disposal of families and children in the medium and long term for any questions or concerns.
Adoptive family preparation workshops are available to families.
BIRTH PARENT RESEARCH
Our team is at the disposal of adoptees. A professional will greet them, listen with care, and guide them based on their needs. Many children are happy to discover their country of origin.
Please contact COFA-Bordeaux Committee-Œuvre des Tout-petits, who will tell you what steps to follow.
Colombia
Pursuant to article 75 of Law 1098 of 2006 from the Children and Adolescence Code, a 20-year reserve period applies from the enforcement of the court order (judgment date) for all documents and procedures relating to the adoption process.
However, paragraph 1 stipulates that an adoptee of legal age may request that this reserve period be lifted. They may then file a request for their full records and/or a birth parent search procedure.
Children who are underage, on the other hand, may not make such a request. Only their parents may apply to see the full archived records by contacting the ICBF.
Chile
SENAME (the National Minors’ Service) recently established a Birth Parent Search department.
This process can be long. Obtaining information depends on whether records exist, based on adoption dates.
For young people who arrived between 1982 and 1998, finding information can be very complicated or even impossible. However, SENAME is committed to making as thorough a search as is possible.
France:
Adoptees must be of legal age to launch a Birth Parent Search procedure.
Birth mothers may break the secrecy of their identity at any time by sending a letter to the charity.
They may only be put in touch with the adoptee if s/he has requested this in writing.
CONTACT
Practical information
Office hours on Tuesdays from 9.00 to 18.00.
COFA Bordeaux
80 boulevard Georges Pompidou,
33000, Bordeaux
+33 (0)5 56 91 98 34
Were you adopted through COFA Bordeaux?
Would you like to find out more about your origins or speak with a professional?
If you are of legal age, a professional will see you after receiving a covering letter, a photocopy of your ID card, and anything you know that might help us identify you and refer to your records. If you are underage, you must have the consent of your adoptive parents.
