When There’s No Place Like Home

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as we enter into our second adoption, and this time domestic I think all the critics of international adoption need to look at our own domestic programs. Doing our research we have found that the fees for agencies, attorneys, and birth/natural/first parents run upwards to $25-30k - not much different than IA. Certainly, there is far more transparency to the US domestic adoption policies. But to claim that it doesn't cost equal amounts to adopt in the US (unless you choose to adopt from foster programs) is simply turning a blind eye. Adoption cost money - many people are involved - the difficulty lies in determining who might be makin a profit from it.

as we enter into our second adoption, and this time domestic I think all the critics of international adoption need to look at our own domestic programs. Doing our research we have found that the fees for agencies, attorneys, and birth/natural/first parents run upwards to $25-30k - not much different than IA. Certainly, there is far more transparency to the US domestic adoption policies. But to claim that it doesn't cost equal amounts to adopt in the US (unless you choose to adopt from foster programs) is simply turning a blind eye. Adoption cost money - many people are involved - the difficulty lies in determining who might be makin a profit from it.

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I have two children adopted from Russia and Kazakhstan. I am appalled that UNICEF is trying to change laws so that children are only adopted domestically in their home countries. My children would be living on the streets or dead now if I hadn't gotten them out of their situations. Did I rescue them? Yes. Not many 13 year olds or 10 year olds ever get adopted. However, I love them as much as if they came from my body, and I fight for them every day, to get all the services and things they need. I also have made it clear I will help them search for their birth families when they get a little older. How dare UNICEF work to made adoptions by Americans more difficult. They should be working to make them easier, particularly for older children.

I would like to see more investigative reporting regarding UNICEF and its practices. Specifically, I would like
to know if adoption agencies or others in the adoption community have had experiences with UNICEF they can share. Lots of questions remain unanswered! I would like to see a follow up article on this subject.

I would like to see more investigative reporting regarding UNICEF and its practices. Specifically, I would like to know if there any adoption agencies or anyone in the adoption community that could share more of their experiences With UNICEF. I would also like to know specifically what UNICEF is doing to support orphans in poor countries where the government has no infrastructure in place to address the needs of these hurting children and what is their level of commitment in these countries. Lots of questions remain unanswered!

My Husband and I adopted from Guatemala two precious little boys. They are blessings from Heaven. We keep their heritage as part of their life. We have things made in Guatemala in our home. I personally sell beautiful things made by the Mayanwoman here in the US to help them make a living and provide scholarships. We had precious Foster Mothers to take care of our boys, who we stay in contact with.

We are praying for Guatemala to remain open for adoptions and all the cases that are in process to keep moving. We understand how hard the waiting process can be.

UNICEF is destroying the adoption process in Guatemala. Those precious children that are left without a chance to have a chance for a loving family break our hearts. Did anyone stop to think that the Birth Mothers just wanted to give their children a better life. What a supreme sacrifice on their parts.

Please join us in praying that Guatemala remain open and the private lawyers can continue their work and the precious Foster Mothers can keep their jobs at loving and taking care of these children.

My Husband and I adopted from Guatemala two precious little boys. They are blessings from Heaven. We keep their heritage as part of their life. We have things made in Guatemala in our home. I personally sell beautiful things made by the Mayanwoman here in the US to help them make a living and provide scholarships. We had precious Foster Mothers to take care of our boys, who we stay in contact with.

We are praying for Guatemala to remain open for adoptions and all the cases that are in process to keep moving. We understand how hard the waiting process can be.

UNICEF is destroying the adoption process in Guatemala. Those precious children that are left without a chance to have a chance for a loving family break our hearts. Did anyone stop to think that the Birth Mothers just wanted to give their children a better life. What a supreme sacrifice on their parts.

Please join us in praying that Guatemala remain open and the private lawyers can continue their work and the precious Foster Mothers can keep their jobs at loving and taking care of these children.

I really enjoyed this article. Finally! an article that is written from independent research and not from information provided by UNICEF. I would really like to see a more in depth article that would answer UNICEF's practices to give international adoption a bad name. For example, when Zoe's Ark was in the spot light a few months ago, NPR clearly used information provided by UNICEF. They quoted (check the transcripts) UNICEF as saying, "The majority of children adopted intenationally are sold into slavery, sold for body parts or become sex slaves." I would really like to see the news reports alerting us to all the missing internationally adopted children.
Please keep checking into UNICEF's practices working against international adoption.

IIRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM. While I certainly appreciate this reporter's effort to reveal UNICEFs true agenda regarding intercountry adoption, I am compelled to comment about the use of the phrase "going rate" when referring to the placement fees for adoption. Children are not a commodity to be bought and sold. If you are not quoting a source directly regarding "the going rate", you should not make such an abhorrent and irresponsible insinuation about adoption. Placement fees are paid for the costs of caring for a child's food, clothing, sundries, and medical as well as legal fees.


fees

Adoption is not about rescuing a child. Adoption is about making a family - providing loving parents to a child who has none, and providing a child to parents who have love and a home to share. We adopted our son from Guatemala not because he needed rescuing; quite the opposite, his presence in our home is a source of life and vitality for us. Does he have more financial opportunities here with us than in Guatemala? Probably. Does this mean he could not have had a fulfilling life and loving home in Guatemala? No. At the end of the day (and what both Unicef and seemingly some adoptive parents posting here need to remember as well), what is in the best interests of any given child depends on that child's unique circumstances, and to put the focus in international adoption on this rescue fantasy puts the focus in the wrong place (and feeds into Unicef's position that wealthy westerners adopt to "rescue" from poor countries, thereby depriving the child of his or her heritage because of a flawed assumption that western and wealthy is fundamentally better for the child).
Now, with respect to the Unicef rep's statement that Unicef does not pressure countries to change their adoption policies, this is simply inaccurate. The record in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and other countries is replete with examples of Unicef exerting pressure on legislatures and executive branches of government (via financial contributions on which certain of those countries' legislative and executive representatives come to rely) to bend to their view of adoption and adoption policies. I believe Unicef in general is a helpful organization, but its position on international adoption is untenable given how few resources are devoted to housing and educating the children who remain in country after an international adoption system shuts down in countries where Unicef's campaigns have been "successful." My heart breaks for the children who will be left behind in Guatemala once the new system is fully implemented. In thousands of cases, children will be relinquished by their birth mothers to the state (which will, of course, offer the child up to the extended family, who may take custody of the child but for legal purposes, the child will remain a ward of the state... the child of no one), banished to poorly-funded state orphanages with high child-to-caretaker ratios (perhaps rivaling former Soviet bloc countries, where ratios can be as high as 30 to 1), with few educational opportunities to speak of. If history is a guide, many of these children will leave the state's care as young children for the streets or perhaps to even join gangs, most likely with the result of a shorter life span and a greater financial burden on already stressed government resources. These are the children Unicef leaves behind when it facilitates the closure of a country to international adoption, but of course, once these children are grown, they are no longer Unicef???s problem???

Adoption is not about rescuing a child. Adoption is about making a family - providing loving parents to a child who has none, and providing a child to parents who have love and a home to share. We adopted our son from Guatemala not because he needed rescuing; quite the opposite, his presence in our home is a source of life and vitality for us. Does he have more financial opportunities here with us than in Guatemala? Probably. Does this mean he could not have had a fulfilling life and loving home in Guatemala? No. At the end of the day (and what both Unicef and seemingly some adoptive parents posting here need to remember as well), what is in the best interests of any given child depends on that child's unique circumstances, and to put the focus in international adoption on this rescue fantasy puts the focus in the wrong place (and feeds into Unicef's position that wealthy westerners adopt to "rescue" from poor countries, thereby depriving the child of his or her heritage because of a flawed assumption that western and wealthy is fundamentally better for the child).
Now, with respect to the Unicef rep's statement that Unicef does not pressure countries to change their adoption policies, this is simply inaccurate. The record in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and other countries is replete with examples of Unicef exerting pressure on legislatures and executive branches of government (via financial contributions on which certain of those countries' legislative and executive representatives come to rely) to bend to their view of adoption and adoption policies. I believe Unicef in general is a helpful organization, but its position on international adoption is untenable given how few resources are devoted to housing and educating the children who remain in country after an international adoption system shuts down in countries where Unicef's campaigns have been "successful." My heart breaks for the children who will be left behind in Guatemala once the new system is fully implemented. In thousands of cases, children will be relinquished by their birth mothers to the state (which will, of course, offer the child up to the extended family, who may take custody of the child but for legal purposes, the child will remain a ward of the state... the child of no one), banished to poorly-funded state orphanages with high child-to-caretaker ratios (perhaps rivaling former Soviet bloc countries, where ratios can be as high as 30 to 1), with few educational opportunities to speak of. If history is a guide, many of these children will leave the state's care as young children for the streets or perhaps to even join gangs, most likely with the result of a shorter life span and a greater financial burden on already stressed government resources. These are the children Unicef leaves behind when it facilitates the closure of a country to international adoption, but of course, once these children are grown, they are no longer Unicef???s problem???

UNICEF never pressures countries????? Are you kidding me? What do you call giving the Guatemalan government $30 million to pass the recent bill to become Hauge compliant that is going to leave thousands of orphaned infants to die on the streets since it provides no provision for foster care or even orphanges for them. All the orphanges in Guatemala are privately owned and operated with no assistance from the government and they currently do not have facilities for infants because they were previously cared for in foster homes. These orphanages are already overfilled. Furthermore, in most countries that US citizens adopt from, orphans are thrown out on the streets at 16, 17, or 18 with no hope for education or training. With no hope for a future and no way of providing for themselves, they turn to drugs, prostitution, or suicide. That is so much better????

Alexander Yuster says that UNICEF never pressures countries to tighten their adoption regulations???? SIs he delusional or completely mad? Manuel Manrique of UNICEF Central America basically drove the adoption bus right off the cliff all by himself in Guatemala last year. Over 4,000 adoption cases happenned in Guatemala in 2007, it is now February and not one case has been "registered" to be approved for adoption in 2008 under the new rules. Manrique was openly vocal and involved with the Guatemalan legislature in shutting things down every step of the way.

We are also currently in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. I totally resent the ignorant statements made about finding children for desperate parents. We have biological children. We could have more. We chose to adopt because millions of children in this world live without permanent, loving families. We also sponsor a child in Vietnam. We, as do all adoptive parents, advocate for ethical adoptions, whether they are in or out of country. However, it is naive and uneducated for one to think that Guatemala can support the 300,000 plus orhans of their country when they have little to no social services available, and 75% of the people live in poverty. ICA is a loving option for children who would otherwise live on the street, suffer abuse or even die of malnourishment. In addition, I have to comment on the inaccurate reporting which states that Guatemalan lawyers are making around $35,000 per adoption. An adoption in Guatemala has averaged around $28,000 to $30,000. This includes ALL FEES associated with the adoption such as: Legal fees, Adoption agency fee, cost of medical/foster care for the child, country fees, visa fees, home study fees, cost of flying to the country to complete the adoption, etc. To report that a lawyer makes that for each adoption is absurd and incorrect. Let's keep our focus on what is truly important here, and that is what is best for the CHILDREN. Simply halting all ICA is not the answer. You only need to investigate the conditions for orhphaned children in countries where UNICEF has made it impossible to adopt. Spend some time doing that before you say ICA is not a loving solution for these children.

We are currently adopting a child from Guatemala. We are not 'desperate for a child at any cost.' We are working with a very reputable agency with a long track record of ethical adoptions. Currently, tens of thousands of orphans live on the streets in Guatemala, and thousands of people actually live in and around the Guatemala city dump (we also sponsor a child there). I think I speak for the majority of adoptive parents in this: we support without reservation policies which help support education, improve health, and and seek to improve the lives of adults AND children in underdeveloped regions. We also want EVERY adoption to be safe and ethical. However, passing restrictive laws which prohibit realistic opportunities for intercountry adoption WITHOUT providing the other assistance necessary for keeping the children in-country is completely unfair for everyone.