I took a weekend shopping trip to Panama and walked right past a tiny little girl begging on the street, with no sign of any parents or family around. I felt angry, so angry to see her there all alone. In fact, I felt so angry, wondering what kind of terrible people would leave their little girl alone to beg for them, that I forgot to feel compassionate and I didn’t do anything to help her. (And now I’m going to Hell).
Recently Pauly Shore completed a mockumentary called
“Adopted” in which he decides, as a celebrity, to adopt a poor African child. Poking fun at the likes of Angelina Jolie and Madonna, this cheeky movie has stirred up a wee bit of publicity over a potentially touchy subject. But when I see children everywhere, clearly in need of a good home, I don’t see the problem with international adoption.
In some rural areas of China and India, baby girls continue to be killed by their families because they cannot support them and a female is a liability within their cultures. To be rid of the infant child is considered a “wise course of action.” One such mother, who let her daughter starve for 3 days after her birth (before finally poisoning her) explained, "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her.” Despite the high populations of China and India, the stereotypical international adoption takes place in Africa. Perhaps because they have more unwanted children there, due to not bonking them on the head at an early age.
No, some of these nostalgic Africans want to hold onto their children. When Madonna tried to adopt a child from
Malawi, their Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) commented that, “in absence of clear laws and procedures, this process of adoption amounts to nothing but child trafficking.” I’m sure they had a point to make, as perhaps child trafficking could and does occur. Especially by Madonna. But establishing good adoption laws are the responsibility of the government. Instead, negative backlash against NGO’s from supporters of the adoption accused them of greedily wanting to channel the paperwork through their own bureaucracy, in order to try and get something out of it for themselves.
And it’s not just Malawi. It has been commented that
thanks to UNICEF’s approach towards adoption issues and policies, Guatemala, Bulgeria, Paraguay and Romania (to name a few) are also developing countries which have been either partially or completely blocked off the potential for international adoptions. These are all countries where there of course exist children legitimately orphaned and abandoned.
My question is… how many little girls are begging alone on street corners today because would-be, loving, supportive, adoptive parents are turned away?
Comments
As an adoptive mother to a
As an adoptive mother to a son and daughter born in Guatemala, I appreciate your asking the question "how many little girls are begging on street corners today because... adoptive parents are turned away."
I have been asking myself
I have been asking myself that same question for years. I have been to Romania 3 times, each time working with orphans. I have seen first hand the horrible conditions they are forced to live in, the lack of food, the lack of workers to care for them, etc. While volunteering in a special-needs orphanage, I became aware of the neglect the children feel. Since my last trip, I stay updated with all my friends there, some lawyers, and of course keep a close eye on the news, for my husband and I LONG to adopt a baby girl from Romania...so that she will never have to grow up the way that so many others do. But Romania's government continues to claim that thei orphans are well taken care of and that there are not enough orphans there for the nationals to be able to adopt. The lies break my heart every time I read another article. Not to mention that a child left on the doorsteps of an orphanage is not 'legally abandoned.' According to the laws of Romania, a child is not 'legally abandoned' until one or both parents sign paperwork stating so. So, you can legally drop your child off, never sign any documents, and leave your child there. At the age of 18, your child is released to the streets, and having little education and no work-skills, your child is forced to steal, turn to drugs, or worse--trafficking.
Sorry to vent. I came across your blog today and truly appreciate you asking that tough question!
No worries, thanks for
No worries, thanks for sharing this info about your experiences!
If you can find the right
If you can find the right agency, with a program in a country that is not too behind the times, anything is possible. I’m a single 24-year-old guy trying to adopt a son from the Congo. It would be nice if I was married, but women don’t like me that much, but it doesn’t mean I can’t parent. Once I’m 25 (US law), I don’t plan on waiting until I’m married because the Congo requires that couples be married at least 5 years. If I get married afterwards, then so be it. I was raised with three younger sisters and no brothers, I could raise all the boys (or girls) that a country would want to give me with or without a wife. I find it a little unethical that Madonna was able to use her celebrity status to circumvent Malawi’s laws, but u know what? some of these countries allow single women to adopt any child but don’t allow single men to adopt girls (and in some countries any children). If I were someone like Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, or any of them, and I could use my name to circumvent these Countries’ sexist, ignorant, and one-sided laws, then more power to me!!!
Here’s a new bill to introduce to the Hague:
Adoptions laws in regards to single parents must coincide with ONE of the following three provisioins:
(1) ALL single parents, men and women, may adopt any minor child, male or female. OR
(2) ALL single parents may adopt ONLY children of their SAME sex. OR
(3) NO single parents may adopt.
Furthermore, all other requirements including income, age (of both the parent and child), homestudy evaluation, etc. MUST be consistent to both male and female adoptive parents who are single, and there can be NO sex discrimination whatsoever.
Failure to implement and enact this policy by 2014 could result in forfeiture of Hague membership or termination of international adoption rights to/from Hague countries.
Pipe dream, most likely.