A History of International Adoption and Adopting from Haiti

In The New Yorker John Seabrook writes an account of his Haitian adoption experience during the earthquake.  His article also provides a good history of international adoption and how Americans' attitudes about it have evolved. 
The Last Babylift
Adopting a child in Haiti.

40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans since 2004

Idaho's Impact
Haiti scandal overshadows bigger threat to evangelical adoption efforts.
from Christianity Today

The high-profile legal saga of the 10 Idaho-based Baptists arrested in January for attempting to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic is winding down. But evangelical adoption advocates wonder what the long-term impact will be.

Leading orphan care advocate Russell Moore suggested in the days following the arrests that the scandal might be a black eye to evangelicals' adoption efforts worldwide. But two months later, Moore said he is no longer worried about a fallout.

"In many ways, the controversy served as an opportunity to clarify what we mean and what we do not mean," said Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "No one in the Christian orphan care community is calling for children to be adopted who are not in fact orphans. And no one is calling for children to be adopted apart from the legitimate processes."

A larger hurdle for international adoptions by evangelicals may be new restrictions on adoptions in countries where they have been most prevalent, including China, Guatemala, Russia, Vietnam, and Liberia.

China, which has traditionally accounted for the majority of adoptions to the U.S., rewrote its qualifications for adoptive parents in 2007. Guatemala, the second-largest source of American adoptions, completely shut down its program in 2008 due to widespread corruption, though it will launch a new adoption system this June. Since 2004, these and other restrictions have resulted in a 40 percent decline in overseas adoptions by Americans—from an all-time high of almost 23,000 in 2004 to fewer than 12,800 in 2009, according to the U.S. State Department.

Read the complete article here:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/may/2.14.html?start=1

Another Drop in International Adoptions

Adoptive Families magazine reports that the number of intercountry adoptions fell again last year—from 17,438 in fiscal year 2008 to 12,700 in fiscal year 2009, a decrease of 27 percent—according to early data from the U.S. Department of State on IR3 and IR4 visas issued.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.

Guatemala to Resume International Adoptions

After almost two years of suspension,

international adoption from Guatemala will reportedly resume through a new pilot

program. The country’s adoption program was closed in 2007 by Guatemalan officials because of widespread evidence of coercion, kidnapping and document falsification,
according to a Washington Post article. Subsequently a new central adoption authority called the National Adoption Council has been established, as well as legal framework designed to prevent any future problems. To read the full article, go to www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002642.html.

(From Adoption Today magazine, http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)

Update on Guatemala from the Joint Council on International Children's Services

There has been a lot of activity and buzz on intercountry adoption in Guatemala over the past month. Virtually all of it was related to the announcement by the Guatemalan government of a pilot program for intercountry adoption. Much was written, blogged, tweeted and Facebooked about what is yet an ill-defined program with no transparent process and just as important, no timeline for implementation.

The Guatemalan government's announcement invited other governments to submit a letter of interest in participating in the pilot program. The U.S. Department of State, along with other Western governments, submitted a letter by the deadline in December. Many families, with hopes of providing a permanent home for a Guatemalan orphan, flooded Joint Council and other advocates seeking information and hoping for a positive reply.
For these families and more importantly, for those children living in Guatemalan orphanages, there is little hope.
Guatemala, having implemented the Hague Convention two years ago and having received considerable financial and technical assistance, remains out of compliance with the Hague Convention. As a result, the U.S. government, while hoping to participate in the pilot program, cannot approve any new Guatemalan adoptions nor issue a visa. If the pilot program was to begin tomorrow, no children would be adopted by a U.S. family.

For those children whose intercountry adoption was started over two years ago, before the 2008 Guatemalan Adoption Law took effect, most have found a permanent family. But many have not. They have been referred to a family, they have adoptive parents waiting and committed, but after two years of investigations, reviews and more investigations and reviews, they remain living outside of permanent parental care. They remain in foster care or in an institution. And they remain without a transparent process to finalize their adoption and to live in a family.

It is our understanding that despite universal claims of adoption corruption, the Guatemalan government, with one of the highest impunity rates and highest corruption rankings in the world, has yet to convict a single person of child trafficking. In 2007, UNICEF claimed that up to 80% of intercountry adoptions were corrupt. If true, that computes to over 3,200 claims of abuse, yet in 24 months not one adult is serving time in jail.

The disparities between the hundreds of children waiting over 26 months to finalize their adoption, the lack of child trafficking convictions, the non-compliance with the Hague Convention, the lack of progress in national adoption and family preservation and an announced intercountry adoption pilot program, calls into question how the best interest of children and families is being served.
The Guatemalan government's solution has not been to convict the guilty or to preserve families, but to subject innocent children to the proven detrimental affects of life outside a permanent family. With only seven government run orphanages, the vast majority of children live in private orphanages - many with depleting resources. The termination, rather than true reform, of intercountry adoption may have ended corruption and made for good PR, but it was not a solution in 2007 and it remains a travesty for thousands of children in 2010.

Despite the challenges, the lack of transparency and the suffering of children and families, many individuals, families, churches, organizations and governments remain committed to the children and families of Guatemala. Their efforts, along with Joint Council, continue to serve children and families in an ethical and legal fashion. We hope that the next Guatemala Update includes the fruits of those efforts...children living in families.

International Adoption News: China, Guatemala, Liberia

CHINA   The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) announced on September 15 that, beginning December 1, all adoptive families must be registered with a Hague-accredited adoption service provider (ASP). If an adoptive family is currently registered with a non-accredited ASP, they are required to transfer their adoption to a Hague-accredited ASP no later than December 1. Families currently using the I-600A and I-600 process (non-Hague) may continue with this process.

GUATEMALA   In an effort to improve communication with families who have pending adoption cases in Guatemala, the Department of State will be creating a listserv. If you have a pending Guatemala adoption case and would like to be included, e-mail AskCI@state.gov , and provide the information listed at adoption.state.gov/guatemala.html

LIBERIA   The Government of Liberia informed the U.S. Embassy in September that it will not process any adoption cases during its suspension of intercountry adoptions, including those that were in progress before the suspension was announced, on January 26, 2009, and that it will not permit adopted children to depart Liberia. The Liberian government has made no provisions to grandfather cases under the existing laws. Therefore, any case in which a full and final adoption was not completed prior to January 26 is on hold. The Liberian government is willing to consider exceptions for certain special needs children. There is no indication when the moratorium might be lifted, and prospective parents should not apply to adopt there at this time.

http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/news.php

International Adoptions will Continue to Decrease, then Stabilize

This is an article from Adoption Today magazine - http://www.bluetoad.com/display_article.php?id=169715

Legislative Update by John Towriss, Adoption Today Washington Bureau

Office of Children’s Issues: Adoption Downtrend Likely to Continue for Short Term

Director Sees Decline then Stabilization. Growth in African Adoptions

With the implementation of The Hague Treaty to regulate intercountry adoption, no department of the American government has become as central to the adoption process as the Office of Children’s Issues. Housed within the State Department in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Office of Children’s Issues was founded in 1994 to take on a variety of children’s issues around the globe. But, it was thrust into the forefront of the emotional and often volatile world of intercountry adoption in 2007 when it was appointed as the Central Authority representing the United States to other Hague compliant countries. Indeed, the primary role of the office is to implement the Hague Convention that has been in effect since November 2007. This has included establishing a process for certification of adoption agencies as Hague compliant, overseeing the consular process and determining if other Hague certified countries from which Americans are adopting are truly meeting Hague Convention standards. In short, the office oversees almost every aspect of the international adoption process. Recently, Adoption TODAY had the chance to speak with the director of the Office of Children’s Issues, Julia Furuta-Toy about present international adoption issues, future trends and the evolving role of the department she oversees. Furuta-Toy was appointed director of the Office of Children’s Issues in 2007, but has dealt with international adoption issues for nearly a decade. She has been posted to embassies overseas and positions at home in Washington and so has seen adoption issues play out from both ends. Even before being appointed director, Furuta-Toy was involved in some of the hot button issues and countries. She has worked through the closure, re-opening and now re-closure of Vietnam. She is working closely with the country of Guatemala, last year’s leading adoption sending country that is also now closed. She believes both programs will eventually open again. Earlier this year, she was instrumental in working with the government of Kazakhstan to get that program moving again after a significant slowdown.

Downtrend to Continue for Near Term

Furuta-Toy forecasts a continued short term decline in international adoptions. She has good reason. The decline has become significant and sustained. From a peak of more than 22,000 international adoptions in 2004, the numbers have slid to just more than 17,000 in 2008. The leading sending country in 2008 was Guatemala with more than 4,000 children finding American homes. But the Guatemala program is now closed, which will add even more downward pressure. Agencies report no significant let up of the number of prospective adoptive parents wishing to adopt which has in turn led to increased wait times in the programs that have remained open. Some critics have suggested one of the factors accounting for the decline is the Hague Convention itself, which will not allow one Hague compliant country to send or receive children to another if the strict conditions of the Hague Convention are not being met. Furuta-Toy denies the Hague Convention is causing a decline.“The Hague is not forcing a decline. The Hague Convention is trying to insure children have many options to find a home, including preserving the opportunity to stay in their birth family or their home country,” she said. Furuta-Toy sees the Hague Convention as ultimately smoothing out the adoption process as more countries become party To the Hague Convention. “The Hague Convention provides a framework for countries to communicate on issues of social welfare. Since we have established federal oversight of the adoption process we have found that more countries are willing to talk to the U. S. about establishing adoptions programs,” she said.

A Global Shift

Furuta-Toy noted recent studies that have shown there is a general decrease worldwide in the number of children younger than 2, which in some countries, has lead to fewer children being available for adoption. She says there are other natural factors, “Over the last few years, the four leading sending countries — Russia, China, Korea and Guatemala — have all had decreases. Korea and China have had increases in demand for domestic adoption and economies have improved in some of the traditional sending countries. She says the down trend will continue for the near term but once some countries are able to get their houses in order it should stabilize and there are others that will increase.“I think we will continue to see increases in the number of adoptions out of Africa even as some traditional sending countries slow down. We are also seeing an increase in non-infant adoptions and special needs adoptions,” Furuta-Toy said.

Role of the Office of Children’s Issues

Furuta-Toy says that until now the Office of Children’s Issues has largely been occupied with implementing the requirements of the Hague Convention. The office has grown to more than 60 employees since becoming the central authority for the United States and has spent much of its time handling questions from other countries. She says the central voice for American adoption procedure has been welcomed by other countries. In the future Furuta-Toy says the Office of Children’s Issues will evolve into a more technical focus on making sure regulations are followed. But as the office settles into its role she also expects more time to pursue bi-lateral and multi-lateral meetings with other countries to work through issues of adoption. She cites the current case of Guatemala where she says there are 15 countries that are assisting Guatemala in building an adoption infrastructure. Lastly, Furuta-Toy says new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has shown great interest in children’s issues and in improving the intercountry adoption process. She says adoption is one of the issues on her radar screen and she has shown her full support.

(John Towriss is the Washington Bureau Chief for Adoption Today. He has three children adopted from Kazakhstan and one biological child. To contact Towriss, e-mail him at Towriss@aol.com. )