ADOPTION
  Bill aims at improving international adoptions,     WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senators introduced a bill Tuesday that would provide new safeguards for international adoptions.  Last year, nearly 16,000 children were adopted by Americans from such countries as Russia, China, Korea and Central and South American countries.  The bill introduced by North Carolina Republican Jesse Helms and Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu would implement an international treaty on adoption, protecting both the children and the families seeking to adopt them. Helms said it would ""bring some accountability'' to agencies that do international adoptions, and help ensure that children are placed in an ethical manner.  In addition, it would protect the prospective parents and children from fraud and abuse. Agencies would have to be accredited, and the adoptive families would have the right to see the child's medical records in English. The agencies would have to give clear information about costs and fees, Helms said.   Helms said the Foreign Relations Committee would soon hold hearings on the legislation, and the treaty, known as the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.   ""I hope that these hearings will emphasize both the many benefits of intercountry adoption, but also of the abuses that have resulted during this decade,'' Helms said.

REUTERS Reut20:26 03-23-99