Barriers to foreign adoption rise
Countries that were once mainstays for foreigners looking to adopt are starting to cut back on the practice, meaning heartbreak for prospective parents and hard times for adoption agencies. Jennifer Collins reports.
Orphans at the Tam Binh orphanage in Vietnam. (Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images)
TEXT OF STORY
Bob Moon: Madonna and Angelina Jolie have made international adoption into something of a glamor sport, but for most Americans the process can be grueling.
Guatemala has heavily curtailed the number of children it will allow to be adopted. Next week Vietnam stops taking applications from Americans all together.
That's not just hurting parents. As Marketplace's Jennifer Collins reports, it's hitting adoption agencies, too.
Jennifer Collins: Jen Cohen has a bag of clothes in her basement.
Jen Cohen: A little pink dress with flowers and sparkles and a lot of very cute little dresses and tutus and things like that...
She's saving it all for her daughter. Cohen is single. She's a pediatrician. She lives in San Francisco and she wants to adopt a child from Vietnam.
Last year, she thought she had found the agency that could make that happen.
Cohen: They had been in business for over 20 years.
But the agency closed down early this year. She scrambled to find a new one and just as she was filing the necessary papers, another snag: Vietnam changed its adoption policy. Starting in September, Americans won't be able to adopt children from the country anymore.
While she waits, Cohen has asked her agency to not show her photos of babies until they become available for her adoption.
Cohen: Because I know once I see that photo, I'm going to be in love and then, you know, all logic goes out the window.
Parents aren't the only ones limbo these days. So are the adoption agencies. Generally, agencies survive on the fees they collect throughout the adoption process. Prospective parents pay between $20,000 and $40,000 per child. But several countries have recently cut off or cut back on the numbers of children that leave their borders, so now that process is much more drawn out.
International adoption advocate Tom Difilipo says many agencies are barely scraping by.
Tom Difilipo: The number of agencies that will be involved in inter-country adoption will be less than 100 in 18 months.
As many as 600 organizations were in business just a few years ago. Back then, an agency could start the adoption process in a new country without ever having to set foot there.
Herbert Newell: People were going international because it was profitable.
Herbert Newell runs Lifeline Adoption Services in Birmingham, Alabama.
Newell: I hate to say profitable about adoption, but that's just the truth. People saw that as a profit wing.
Some people also saw it as an opportunity for fraud or corruption.
Newell says agencies had to put expensive safeguards in the system to prevent abuses. They also started paying more for the upkeep of orphanages and children's programs.
But when a country closes its doors, agencies lose all that they've invested there. It can cost them more than $100,000 to start an adoption program in a new country.
So some agencies are joining forces in order to keep costs down. Newell's organization recently banded together with eight others.
Newell: Instead of being competitive and going out there and cutting each other's throat out in the marketplace, how can we join forces and work together for the common good of the children?
Together, the agencies expect to handle as many as 400 international cases this year. That makes them one of the largest international providers in the U.S. and, they hope, one of the more stable organizations around.
Jen Cohen is hoping things remain stable as waits to collect her daughter. Two weeks ago, her agency surprised her with a photo. She was matched with a healthy baby girl from the Mekong delta.
It'll be at least four months before Cohen can go pick up the baby in the picture and a lot could still go wrong. So for now, she's keeping that bag of clothes in the basement.
Cohen: If this doesn't happen and you know, if everything closes down and the bureaucracy gets heavy before I get a chance to bring a baby home, it'll just kill me to have all this stuff in my house.
And if the adoption doesn't work out, she'll also lose everything she's invested in the process and she'll have to start all over again.
I'm Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From monterey, CA, 06/30/2008
Ms.Riben,
You don't realize that in your own perceived sensitivities to the children of the world, you are horribly and almost unforgiveably insensitive to those whose hearts are drawing them toward international adoption. Since when are US babies more deserving of love and family than any other baby in the world? Yes, there are many US children in need of a family, but adoption and infertility are spiritual matters, not just medical issues. When a young person decides to get married in our country, they usually wait until the find the "right" person. Would you dare to tell them who they should marry based on your personal life experiences and preferences? We are all different with different dreams and motivations. I decided when I was 9 years old that I wanted to adopt internationally--I can't explain why, its just always been in my heart. Now I am doing it at age 43, and it's sad to hear folks like you try to tell me I'm doing something wrong. I'm not.
From Dublin, 06/27/2008
I agree with Mirah, the agencies have being making a fortune for years, they have effectively closed down two programs Guatemala & virtnam by their illegal activities. Not all agencies are unethical but it is the same hardcore who are responsible for all the trouble. How they get away with 501c charitable status is unbelievable.
From St. Louis, MO, 06/26/2008
The reasons there are "barriers" to foreign adoption is as David K, listed--the corrupt agencies out for a quick buck. They treat adoption as a business and not as a serious bridge to finding a match for a child who needs a family after all attempts in their country have failed.
A child who after EVERY attempt is made in their own country to find a home, financial stability, THEN as the last choice should a child be removed from their country of origin.
What about our 113,000+ USA children available for adoption in our foster care system?
We have an insane amount of caucasian Americans going to Ethiopia or Guatemala adopting Black or Hispanic children when our own foster care system is full of African Americans, or Hispanic Americans, some of these children are being adopted by Canadians.
Don't let an International Adoption agency fool you that there are bad kids in foster care, problems - medical & Social, parents that don't go away,
This is simply not true.
Many people have adopted children internationally that have as many problems or have had disrupted adoptions. This is all apart of a marketing plan by International Adoption agencies that up until this last year have had little or no scrunity or enforcement.
We have people who are barely qualified running adoption agencies with no credentials but a license.
Many of these agencies are racking in over $1 million a year.
Yet they claim a non-profit status!
check www.guidestar.com
this is a free site to check the IRS 990 of these agencies it will floor you how much profit is invoved in this $6 bilion dollar industry.
Exporting of babies/children for adoption to the USA from Guatemala use to be their highest grossing export.
This is what happens when adoption agencies are unethical and throw money around to desperate birth mothers.
Some of the poor birth mothers in Guatemala were making as much as $3,000 to relinquish their babies. Some women had relinquished as many as 4 babies.
We have seen over 20 agencies closed in the last 19 months with over 9 high profile court cases against the Executive Directors.
Many are being tried under the RICO laws (Federal Racketeering) we have one famouse Executive Director Orson Mozes, who is now listed on Interpol and America's Most Wanted after he bilked 62 families out of money for adoptions that NEVER happened.
06/26/2008
Joel Samuels has it wrong. The demand for adoptable children should not drive the market as that is what combines with the money to cause corrupt practices, profiteering, trafficking and baby-brokering in international adoption. Government incentives for adoption only further fuels corruption and greed.
Instead, we need more programs that focus on the needs of children rather than the needs of prospective adoptive parents. The best interest of the child is most often being raised in its biological family. We need to fund programs that focus on family preservation, not adoption. If the biological family cannot raise the child, then legal guardianship with a relative would be the next best option. Adoption should be a last resort option, especially international adoption that tears children from their families, cultures and countries. Any gains for the child in adoption do not negate the losses.
David K
www.adoptionagencychecklist.com
Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform, www.pear-now.org
From Annandale, VA, 06/26/2008
Please consider the feelings of the infertile. People choose many ways to create a family. There is no "right way" to do it. We are fortunate that the country of China will invest in our care a beautiful soul.
Ms. Riben, your sensationalism in #3 is embarrassing only to those who prefer that type of reporting; such horrors go on everywhere in the world and across the economic spectrum. That said, thank you for your comment so that Int'l APs can feel better about their private choice in creating a family.
Sincerely,
M...
From Allston, MA, 06/26/2008
I thought this was a very well done story. We chose adoption when infertility was not an issue. We have one beautiful biological child. Now however that we have been waiting officially for a child from China for over two years, having started the process four years ago, a biological child is probably not an option. The Department of Homeland Security took four months on this side to process our paperwork and during that time the projected waiting time went from eight months to eighteen months, which in reality has now become a 3 year waiting period, if in fact we ever see a child. It is wonderful that children are being adopted within China by Chinese parents, however given the technology we have available today and China's growth there is no reason that that country should not be able to provide better information and work more efficiently for the child's best interest. At this point it would almost be a relieve if China did close its doors because it is failing to live up to the promise it made in the first place and prospective parents should not be strung along. Domestic adoptions appear to be a much better alternative right now. Regards, Lisa
From St. Louis, MO, 06/25/2008
I thought this was a very intriguing and well done piece. As a foreign adopted child to Caucasian parents, I am living proof of the wonders of international adoption. I was fortunate enough to visit my nursery and connect with the people who raised me before I was adopted through the India Ties Program. Unfortunately, due to government policy changes, the adoption agency, The International Mission of Hope was forced to close its doors. Sadly, for many other orphanages, even for Mother Teresa's nursery, an Indian baby had to be "rejected" by four Indian families before being offered to foreign adoption.
I thought your story was well done, and I would appreciate a follow up testimonial stories about International adoption. Many people in America are hesitant to a mixed race family but your story presented a mother full of joy and expectancy which was heartwarming.
In response to Mirah Riben’s careless, and reckless slander of adoption (which seems to deny the benefits of International Adoption without any first hand experience) The amount of households in America who wish to adopt is staggering, which should provide incentives for American parents to turn to adoption rather than abortion. Maybe our politicians can put aside the pro-life \ pro-choice positions and go towards pro-adoption where the government would provide subsidies for parents who give up children and parents who adopt. The demand for children is facing a shrinking international supply, it's time for Americans to step up and help fellow Americans.
Thank you for the story.
From SC, 06/25/2008
As the newly adoptive parents of a 2 1/2 year old Chinese toddler, we are well aware of ALL of the cons and PROS of international and domestic adoption. while there were many reasons leading to our decision to adopt from China, the primary reason is the large number of children with "special needs" who are very unlikely to be adopted in country. Our precious child was born with a cleft lip/palate and abandoned by her parents at a hospital (possibly in hopes that they would care for her). She was in orphanage care for the first 2 years of her life and her lip and palate were repaired by Smile Train. Functionally, her repair is perfect. However, it is highly unlikely she would have ever been adopted in country. We are planning on adopting another special needs child in the next 2 years. While there are many agencies that are in it for a profit, if you do your research, there are plenty that are in the business of helping children and families. Our agency, Small World whose home office is in Nashville, TN adopted more Special Needs children from China in 2007 than any other agency. With the Hague Treaty, many people will be unable to adopt internationally, but it will protect the agencies, the families, but most importantly the children.
06/25/2008
Adoption was intended to be a way to help orphans and children who have no family members capable of caring for them safely. Approx 80% of children in orphanages worldwide have family that visits and intends to be reunited, as was the case with David Banda adopted by Madonna.
Adoption is NOT intended to be a way to create families for the infertile. That is a medical issue.
Worldwide, adoption is more than a six BILLION dollar industry! Countries are stopping international adoptions for many good reasons:
1. The supply and demand that drives the adoption INDUSTRY breeds corruption, coercion and exploitation.
2. Baby brokers' only concern is heir bottom line and no one has the bets interest of the children (or their original families) in mind. Children are often stolen or kidnapped and trafficked into adoption. $40k in the hand now is far more lucrative than waiting till their old enough and pimping them out!
3. Because of the profiteering motivation in baby brokering, there is lack of protection such as ensuring that children are not sold to pedophiles. Russia changed it's adoption laws after more than a dozen children from the former Soviet Union were MURDERED by the US adopters!
4. The more Wesyterners pay for internationally adopted children the less able nationals are able to compete. Many families within Vietnam, Guatemala, Russia and orher nations would adopt but cannot compete financially as agencies prefer to send the children overseas and get paid more.
5. Finally, adopting internationally ignores the more than 100,000 children in foster care that might benefir from a living family.
Mirah Riben, author
THE STORK MARKET: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.