Manufactured Orphans and How to Avoid This Adoption Snafu

The demand for adoptable infants far exceeds the available supply in the Western Hemisphere so agencies and individual look to the international market to fulfill the demand. We have all heard the stories and saw the pictures of the millions of international infants and toddlers who have been abandoned or orphaned due to disease, destitution, or war. These forgotten little ones need families too. Foreign adoptions fulfill the Western Hemisphere demand for adoptable infants and provide the needed homes for these abandoned and orphaned infants. The world orphan crisis is settled, it appears to be a win-win arrangement.

Unfortunately, the myth of the world's orphan crisis story is more fiction then fact. The truth is many of the infants and toddlers being adopted by U.S. and other Western Hemisphere parents are not orphans at all. The rescue of crisis orphans from lives of abandonment, abuse, and uncertain future is only a media blurb, a part of the marketing sympathy campaign. Actual crisis orphans are usually sick, disabled, traumatized and older than 5 years old. They are not the healthy babies the Westerners are looking to adopt. The reality is there are not enough foreign adoptable infants available to meet the demand of the West. There are actually very few young healthy orphans in need of adoption.

The U.S. State Department has had to temporarily halt international adoptions and prevent children being sent to the U.S. because of the serious concerns surrounding the corruption, coercion, and the kidnapping of babies from their families. There is too much Western money within international and foreign adoption circles in search of healthy adoptable infants. This has resulted in many international adoption agencies shifting their work from finding homes for needy children to finding children for Western homes. International adoption has become a demand driven business. For this reason, a number of foreign countries are closing their doors or reducing the number of children made available for international adoption.

If you are seeking international adoption here are a few guidelines you should be aware of:

Only participate with countries who are signatories of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. They provide government authority to oversee the international adoption process.

Select international adoption agency which have current Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption accreditation.

Withhold paying adoption fees until all appropriate legal papers are in hand and confirmation of the legitimacy of the adoptee has been confirmed.

The U.S. formally entered into the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption agreement in April, 2008. Since then, a number of U.S. international adoption agencies with rumored bad practices reputations have been denied accreditation. International adoption is a wonderful way to bring needy children and families together. Do not be fooled into accepting a laundered child. Do your homework well, or elicit the services of someone who has expertise in this area. No prospective parent wants to be part of buying an unorphaned child abroad.

Resource: International Adoption The Lie We Love - Foreign Policy - Nov.-Dec., 2008

Tags: international adoption, adoption, orphans, parenting, adoption corruption