Nashville, TN — Miriam’s Promise, Middle Tennessee’s premier pregnancy, parenting and adoption services agency, has received notification that it has achieved Hague Accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) as authorized by the U. S. Department of State, according to an announcement made to Deborah Robinson, Executive Director of Miriam’s Promise.

Hague Accreditation attests that Miriam’s Promise is in substantial compliance with the Hague Convention Accreditation Standards.

The Hague Convention is an international treaty created to ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interests of children and to prevent abduction, exploitation, sale or trafficking of children. In 1994 the United States signed this treaty and agreed to develop regulations and a monitoring process for adoption services providers in the U.S. that worked with agencies in countries that signed onto the Convention. For more information about The Hague Convention, including a full list of participating countries, please visit the Hague Conference on Private International Law’s website at www.hcch.net.

Congress passed the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA) in October 2000, which serves as the implementing legislation for the United States. The IAA names the U. S. Department of State as the Central Authority for the United States and the federal agency responsible for implementing the Convention. The IAA requires agencies and persons providing adoption services in cases involving Convention countries to be accredited or approved. In July, 2006 the U. S. Department of State named COA as the only national accreditor for adoption service providers under The Hague Convention.

“Having achieved the Hague accreditation through COA means that we have been evaluated in accordance with the highest level of standards” stated Miriam’s Promise international adoption counselor Kim Warner-Hudy. “As an agency, we now have the opportunity to serve more families in the Middle Tennessee area because, in the eyes of COA, we have proven our commitment to the protection of children, birth parents and adoptive parents regardless of the country the adoptee is from.”

“Our mission has always been to ensure the well-being of children” said Robinson. “With this accreditation, we now have many more opportunities to do just that. We are thankful to COA and the Hague Convention for recognizing the need for best practices regarding international adoption and we are extremely proud to be a part of that tradition.”

Miriam’s Promise is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization founded in 1985 to offer hope and healing with those coping with issues of grief, loss and transition with a mission to ensure the well-being of children—before, during and after birth by providing pregnancy, parenting and adoption services.

For more information, please visit www.miriamspromise.org.