AdoptionBuzz Comes Online

Welcome to the AdoptionBuzz weblog.  With more than 20,000 international orphan children adopted each year by American adoptive families, international adoption has fully emerged as a popular option for Americans seeking to add to their families.

But as international adoption has grown, international regulations have lagged behind.  This has left needy orphan children and anxious adoptive parents exposed as they are largely dependent upon the individual ethical choices and operations of four primary parties: 1) the adoption agencies coordinating the adoption effort, 2) the adoption facilitators/coordinators in the adoptive country, 3) the foreign judges/adoption officials authorizing the adoption, and 4) the US Embassies responsible for assessing the adoptive child's orphan status and issuing the immigrant visa necessary to enter the United States.

Of these 4 parties, not one has the legal authority to complete an international adoption independently of the others.  Yet at the same time, each has the ability to undermine the entire adoption process independently of the others.  This means that a misguided decision - even if unintended - by one of the 4 could end up interfering with an individual family's adoption or even influencing a shutdown that would affect all international adoption placements.

If the international community wants to prevent these types of occurrences and ensure that the interests of vulnerable orphan children and well-meaning adoptive families are protected, we will need to continue striving for regulations that demand transparency and accountability.

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is an international treaty that does take strides towards improving transparency and accountability within international adoption. With the United States’ Department of State on the verge of ratifying the treaty, US adoptive families will, for the first time, be able to know that their chosen adoption agency is nationally regulated and adheres to international standards that serve to protect orphan children and adoptive families.

Unfortunately, the Hague Convention only applies in adoptive countries that have also ratified the convention. In 2005, 92% of all American international adoptions took place from 10 child-placing countries: China, Russia, Guatemala, South Korea, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, India, Columbia, and Phillipines; and only 5 of these countries have ratified the convention. This means that even with the upcoming United States’ ratification, there will still be a gap in regulations in many of the countries where a substantial percentage of Americans will continue to be adopting orphan children.

Consequently, there remains a need for alternate forms of accountability in international adoption. So often the complexity of international adoption leaves adoptive families dependent upon their adoption agencies – yet unable to verify that the information they are receiving is correct. Even when accurate information is received, disparity in details found throughout sources of information on the web can lead to a loss in perceived credibility. Even so, the availability and speed of online information can act to hold adoption services providers accountable in the services they are providing to adoptive parents.

We all benefit from the many good web resources available on international adoption.  Adoption.com, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Ethica, Joint Council on International Children's Services, National Council for Adoption, RainbowKids, United States Department of State, and a flurry of international adoption chat rooms (registration required) all provide information that is highly pertinent to topics surrounding adoption.   

AdoptionBuzz is a blog focused primarily on the adoption process.  We will look at the laws behind the process - including US law, international law, and the laws of the child-placing country.  We will look at the themes behind pertinent postings that receive a lot of feedback in popular chat rooms and seek to answer some of the pressing questions.  We will commit to making each posting one that includes thoughtful analysis of the issues, always supported with citations of the source.  All postings will be open to public comments and we will place a priority on making AdoptionBuzz an interactive web resource that is valuable to both adoptive families and adoption professionals alike.

We are excited to have you join us as we seek to provide a source that remains positive and supportive of international adoption, while also keeping the adoption community informed of the issues that matter to us all.