I read with interest today a story by CBS concerning a particular Ethiopian adoption in which three sisters were adopted by a family who were told they were 7, 6, and 4. They turned out to be 13, 11, and 6 and most of what they had been told was not consistent with the story the children gave them. CBS News reported that "Some American Agencies and their staff engage in highly questionable conduct". They were apparently referring to the agency cited in their story -- Christian World Adoption. I don't know anything about that particular agency, but ironically a friend of mine came home just this weekend with her Ethiopian children. She stated that the conditions they were living in were horrid and that there was mold on the walls and the orphanage was nothing more than a hut. The babies are small and under-nourished and in need of a great deal of TLC. They hadn't even been held and were in need of antibiotics and treatment for severe diaper rash.
The fact is, in third world countries where there is no Hague accreditation, there is no oversight of these orphanages or agencies there. It's true that there are American agencies who are not above board. The same can be said of anything or any profession. The bigger problem is what is going on behind the scenes in these foreign countries. Foreign facilitators are taking money from multiple U.S. agencies and are not putting it back into their facilities. They are essentially lining their pockets while the children are left to languish in conditions that you wouldn't allow your dog to live in. It's no wonder, then, that if they feel they can earn more for each placement, they may consider acquiring children in less than legitimate ways.
Some would say that no matter how the children are retrieved, they will have a much better life being adopted into foreign households where they will be treated well, fed, and clothed. But where do we draw the line? There have to be measures taken so that there is no incentive for these adoption brokers to do more and more in order to get rich, while the children suffer. I would love to go to Ethiopia and renovate an orphanage so that the children would have a clean, safe place to live while they await adoption. However, if those who run the orphanage are making thousands of dollars each week, then why aren't they improving the conditions themselves?
Hague compliant countries are on the right track, but what about the countries that are not Hague compliant? What are we going to do about that? It would be easy to say just stop all adoptions until they get everything in order, but the children would be the ones paying the price. This is a bigger problem than anyone can imagine without seeing it. I think this is one for Anderson Cooper.
4 comments:
It is so hard. Hague accredited countries are at least getting the kids into good (we hope) homes and doing it more above board. However, kids are stuck for often long periods of time waiting to go home and form bonds with their forever families. And in Hague countries where everything is not in place, like Guatemala, what happens to the kids when adoptions stop like they have? There is No excuse for the conditions like were talked about in Ethiopia, and yet, no system, no matter how they do it seems to be the right answer. It is too bad no one can find a way that is fairly fast and above board so children are not waiting for long periods of time or in squalor to get home.
RiAnnon: You're exactly right and I don't know what the answer is, but I think making it so profitable for those who are in control of the orphanages is one of the problems. There should be an accounting, with a requirement that a good portion of the monies spent on adoption go back into the systems to house the children and make their lives better. Some of them live there permanently and it's a bleak existence.
Oh, I SO agree!! I think international laws governing the amount of profit that can be made vs. the amount of money coming in to the orphanage would be a huge help. It is the logistics of inacting it that are the problem. :-/ It is so sad when people want to build a financial empire on the lives and well being of children or the unfortunate. :(
Part of it comes from the fact that in these third world countries, they have very little and when they find a way to get significant amounts of money, they take advantage. It's a crime of opportunity, but at the expense of children.
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