The 1996 amendment filled a gap in adoption laws which did not provide a legal framework or special services to parents seeking to adopt children abroad, explained one of its most vocal proponents, Prof. Eliezer Jaffe.
Many couples turn to adoption abroad because of the lack of babies available for adoption in Israel.
In 1996, only 74 babies were available to over 1,500 waiting couples. Without legal assistance from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which had monopolized the adoption process, parents often traveled abroad on their own for the purpose and fell victims to various illegal practices. Since the passage of the amendment, the once illegal non-profit adoption agencies have been granted licenses to work with foreign governments and assist parents to adopt from Eastern European countries, Russia, and South America. Rivka Esther Rothstein of Ramat Beit Shemesh is one of the parents who benefited from the amendment. The law's requirement of having Israeli doctors examine the children allayed Rothstein's concerns for the health of her child, whom she adopted three months ago from Ukraine.