International Adoption

Cause for Celebration or Cause for Concern?

‘We’ve got people flying all over the world to adopt babies, while the care system at home agonises about placing black children with white families’

David Cameron, Conservative Party Conference 2011

Themes and contextrelatively small-scale but symbolically

powerfulidentitynature of family – ‘real parents’ biological or psychologicalnature/nurtureapproved parenting

....race/ethnicitynationhood

 

Historical background from ancient timesmass child migrations war orphans and refugees from fascism

20th century formalisation Zelizer - sacralization of childhood – from economic asset to ‘priceless child’

Modern international adoption‘transnational adoption has been shaped

by the forces of colonialism, the Cold War and globalization’ (Briggs & Marre)

post WW2 adoptions from Europe and Far East

Korean war and mixed race childrenCold War in Latin America Vietnam and operation Babylift US & western europe (esp Scandinavia)

History of Modern IA (cont’d)the decline of domestic adoption in West rise of transracial adoptionfrom humanitarianism to infertilitydecline in late 1980s – awareness of abuses;

challenges of assimilation; beyond sunshine stories,

end of Cold War – Romania and Eastern European adoptions

China and one child policygrowth in 1990s – N America, Spain, Italy,

and Ireland

Renewal of celebrity adoption

Historical trends in receiving countries - from Selman (2009a)

1970 1975 1980 1987 1993 1999 20050

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

USASwedenNetherlandsDenmarkFranceNorway

Major ‘sending’ countries - from Selman (2009a)

1980-1989 1998 2006

Korea China China

India Russia Russia

Colombia Vietnam Guatemala

Brazil Korea Ethiopia

Sri Lanka Colombia Korea

Chile India Colombia

Philippines Guatemala Vietnam

Guatemala Romania Haiti

Peru Brazil Ukraine

El Salvador Ethiopia India

Standardised rates in ‘receiving’ countries 2004 - from Selman (2009b)

Number of adoptions

Adoptions per 1000 live births

Norway 706 12.8Spain 5541 12.4Sweden 1109 11.7Denmark 528 8.4Ireland 398 6.3Netherlands 1307 6.9USA 22884 5.5France 4079 5.5Australia 370 1.5UK 334 0.5

Standardised rates in ‘sending’ countries 2004 - from Selman (2009b)

Number of adoptions

Adoptions per 1000 live births

Guatemala 3857 8.8

Latvia 114 5.4

Russia 7471 4.9

South Korea 2115 4.6

Ukraine 1705 4.4

Haiti 913 3.6

Kazakhstan 823 3.5

China 14493 0.84

India 857 0.03

Adoption narrativeslove conquers all(?) – triumphs and

doubts

campaigners for justice

birth parents in IA ‘permanently invisible and silent’ (Wiley and Baden)

Perspectives on international adoptionMasson – promoters, abolitionists and

pragmatistschild rescue v child traffickingjudging ‘success’ – adjustment and

identity majority ‘success’ and the

troubled/troublesome minority - Hjern & Lindblad; Verhulst and Versluis-den Bieman; Hoksbergen

‘they have undertaken a long journey to a new culture and class, and they have no return ticket’ (Dalen)

Identity and culture wars the politics of transracial adoption –

overcoming barriers or cultural imperialism?

feelings of belonging‘psychic homelessness’ (Hoksbergen) what is ‘culture’ and does it matter?‘culture and family background and

country and decorations and songs, all that is fine; but the mother, no’ Stjerna

Globalisation and its effectsinternational adoption and the internetnaming rights?diaspora communitiessearching, genealogy and beyond international adoption communities &

self-helpintersection of IA and domestic adoptionwhy adopt abroad?does IA stifle adoption in ‘sending

countries’

International adoption and abusesadoption, kidnap and disappearanceexploiting disasters and conflictsbuying children deception of birth parents - cultural

misunderstandings?kafalah in Islam http://www.crin.org/bcn/details.asp?

id=15852&themeID=1002&topicID=1014

social orphansis global inequality ‘abusive’?– patterns

of social reproduction and the ‘best interests’ of children

Pragmatism and regulation‘Recognize that inter-country

adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child's care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child's country of origin’ (UNCRC Article 21b)

Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption 1993

Pragmatism ..... (cont’d)central authority/ies & accredited

bodies division of labour between sending

and receiving countriespartial ratification framework limited by resources and

local practicesEurAdopt ethical rules

http://portal.euradopt.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=15&lang=en

References and bibliography Bowie F (2004) Cross-cultural approaches to adoption (chs12-17), London: Routledge Dalen M (2005) International adoptions in scandinavia: research focus and main

results, in Brodzinsky D and Palacios J (eds) Psychological Issues in Adoption: Research and Practice, Wesport, CT:Praeger

Dorow S (2007) Transnational Adoption: a cultural economy of race, gender, and kinship, New York: New York University Press

Hoksbergen R (1997) Child Adoption: a Guidebook for Adoptive Parents and their Advisers, London: Jessica Kingsley

Howell S (2006) The Kinning of Foreigners: Transnational Adoption in a Global Perspective, New York: Bergahn Books

Juffer, F. and M.H. van IJzendoorn (2009) ‘International adoption comes of age:development of international adoptees from a longitudinal and meta-analytical perspective’, in G. Wrobel and E. Neil (eds) International Advances in Adoption Research, Chichester: John Wiley

Lindblad F et al (2003) Intercountry adopted children as young adults: a Swedish cohort study, American Journal of Othopsychiatry 73,2

Marre D and Briggs L (eds) (2009) International Adoption: global inequalities and the circulation of children, New York: New York University Press

McGinnis H (2005) Intercountry Adoption In Emergencies: The tsunami orphans New York: Evan B Donaldson

Masson J (2001) Intercountry adoption: a global problem or a global solution, Journal of International Affairs 55,1

References (cont’d) Roby J and Matsamura S (2002). If I give you my child, aren’t we family: A study of

birthmothers participating in Marshall Islands-U.S. adoptions, Adoption Quarterly, 5,4

Rutter M (2005) Adverse preadoption experiences and Psychological Outcomes, in Brodzinsky D and Palacios J (eds) Psychological Issues in Adoption: Research and Practice, Wesport, CT:Praeger

Selman P (ed) (2000) Intercountry Adoption:developments, trends and perspectives, London: British Association for Adoption and Fostering

Selman P (2009a) Intercountry adoption: research, policy and practice, in Simmonds J and Schofield G (eds) The Child Placement Handbook, London: British Association for Adoption and Fostering

Selman P (2009b) From Bucharest to Beijing: changes in countries sending children for international adoption 1990 to 2006, in Wrobel G and Neil E (eds) International Advances in Adoption Research for Practice, Chichester: Wiley

Selman P (2009c) The rise and fall of intercountry adoption in the 21st century, International Social Work, 52,5

Triseliotis J (2000) Intercountry adoption: global trade or global gift?, Adoption and Fostering 24,2

UNICEF Social Monitor (2003) chapter 4 on Intercountry Adoption http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/monitor03/monitor2003.pdf Volkman T (2005) Cultures of Transnational Adoption, Durham, NC: Duke University

Press Yngvesson B (2010) Belonging in an Adopted World: Race, Identity, and

Transnational Adoption, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

 

Smolin - The Two Faces of International Adoption adoption scandals, like those in Andhra

Pradesh, illustrate the necessity of building such systems of accountability into the global adoption system. Without such systems of accountability, one can virtually never know, when holding an adopted child, whether the child was an orphan needing a home, or a beloved daughter or son illicitly taken from a home. Without accountability, the pretty face of adoption as a loving act that fills a real need in a child’s life will, all too often, turn out to be no more than a mask covering over ugly realities of trafficking, profiteering, and needless tragedy.