It's been a while, but I wanted to share the amazing things that Love Without Boundaries has been doing. I've talked of their work helping children in orphanages, but this feature on Amy Eldridge is the result of winning one of the awards given for Cookie Magazine - their Smart Cookie of the Year award!
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Friday, October 10, 2008
Korea aims to end foreign adoptions
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/world/asia/09adopt.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin
Korea Aims to End Stigma of Adoption and Stop 'Exporting' Babies
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
SEOUL, South Korea - Daunted by the stigma surrounding adoption here, ChoJoong-bae and Kim In-soon delayed expanding their family for years. When they finally did six years ago, Mr. Cho chose to tell his elderly parentsthat the child was the result of an affair, rather than admit she was adopted.
"My parents later died believing that I'd had an affair," said Mr. Cho, 48,a civil engineer who has since adopted a second daughter.
Now, with South Korea becoming more accepting of adoptive families, Mr. Choand Ms. Kim feel they can be more open, with relatives and non-relatives alike. Ms. Kim, 49, attributed the change partly to the growth of other non-traditional families, like those headed by single parents or including foreign spouses.
"We feel attitudes have changed," she said.
Just how much, though, is the critical question as the South Korean government is pushing aggressively to increase adoptions by South Koreans and decrease what officials consider the shameful act of sending babies overseas for adoption. Since the 1950s, tens of thousands of South Korean children have been adopted by foreigners, mostly Americans, because of South Koreans' traditional emphasis on family bloodlines and reluctance to adopt. But last year, for the first time, more babies here were adopted by SouthKoreans than foreigners, as the government announced recently with great fanfare: 1,388 local adoptions compared with 1,264 foreign ones. What is more, South Korea - which still is one of the top countries from which Americans adopt - has set a goal of eliminating foreign adoptions altogether by 2012.
"South Korea is the world's 12th largest economy and is now almost an advanced country, so we would like to rid ourselves of the international stigma or disgrace of being a baby-exporting country," Kim Dong-won, who oversees adoptions at the Ministry of Health, said in an interview. "It's embarrassing."
To bolster domestic adoptions, the government last year began offering $90 monthly allowances per child for those who adopt children up to 12 years old, as well as more generous health benefits for the children. Even greater health benefits are now given to adopted disabled children.
The government also made it easier for South Koreans to adopt. Single people can now qualify, as well as older ones. Until last year, prospective adoptive parents could be no more than 50 years older than the child; now the age gap has been increased to 60 years. In addition, the government has made foreign adoptions more difficult by imposing a five-month waiting period before children can even be considered for overseas adoption. It also increased payments to foster parents to try to keep children inside South Korea longer and increase their chances of being adopted domestically.The government's goal has received much media attention and popular support here. But adoption agencies and some adoptive parents and experts say the government's new policies are concerned less with the children's welfare than with saving face. Increasing the age gap and allowing singles to adopt have lowered the standards for domestic adoptions in a way that could be detrimental to the children, they say, even as the government has created unnecessary obstacles to foreign ones.
"The government is hung up on numbers and on South Korea's image," said Lee Mira, who oversees domestic adoptions at Social Welfare Society, a private, nonprofit organization that is the second largest adoption agency in South Korea. "When North Korea taunts South Korea by saying we're selling Korean babies to foreigners, it hurts the pride of South Korea."
Since 1958, when South Korea began keeping track of adoptions, 230,635 children have been adopted. About 30 percent were adopted by South Koreans, while 70 percent found homes overseas. Two-thirds of all foreign adoptees ended up in the United States.
While orphans made up a majority of adopted children in the two decades following the Korean War, children born to unwed mothers have accounted for the largest numbers since then.
South Koreans who did adopt tended to hide their children's origins from the children and others.
In recent years, adoption agencies have conducted campaigns - some featuring movie and TV stars - urging adoptive parents to tell people about how their families were formed in the hopes that more openness would lead to less prejudice. The government's efforts got a boost when some celebrities adopted and went public with the news.
Still, many adoptive parents choose not to share how their families were formed, according to adoption agencies, with some engaging in elaborate ruses to pass off the children as their biological sons or daughters. A middle-aged couple now living in a suburb of Seoul learned long ago that the husband was sterile. But he was reluctant to consider adopting, unwilling to accept his condition and afraid of the lingering prejudice against adopted children. In a Confucian society that still values bloodlines, where many people keep detailed records of their ancestors, he was worried that adopted children might face difficulties in their careers or with marriage prospects.
So when the couple decided to adopt three years ago, they chose to fake a pregnancy, as many adoptive parents here do. The couple moved, and the husband, now 43 and a real estate agent, switched jobs.
The wife, an employee at a telecommunications company, began wearing maternity clothes over a special pillow, made by a company recommended by the couple's adoption agency.
All was going well until a colleague the woman had confided in spilled the secret to a supervisor.
"I was so hurt and embarrassed by that experience," she said. "I would like to adopt a second child, if only to go through the experience in a proper manner this time."
Given the bias against adoptions, some couples who are initially open become more guarded as their children grow older.
Yoo Hae-yon, 48, has told relatives and neighbors that his two sons, now 4 years old and 18 months, were adopted. But he has since become worried that the boys will suffer in a society where television shows typically portray adopted children negatively, as schemers who end up damaging families. "My sons haven't been teased yet, but that will be a possibility in elementary school," Mr. Yoo said. "So once they start school, we won't disclose their adoptions. And in junior high school or later on, we'll let them decide."
Holt International, a private American adoption agency that has long been South Korea's leading agency, welcomed the government's new financial incentives for families but said that trying to curb foreign adoptions would risk hurting the children least likely to be adopted by South Koreans: older ones; the disabled, who still face severe discrimination; and boys, who, once preferred by South Koreans, are now considered by many to be less devoted to their parents than daughters.
"The changes could end up postponing the adoption process of those children," said Lee Jin-hee, who oversees domestic adoptions at Holt here. And Huh Nam-soon, dean of the social welfare department at Hallym University outside Seoul, said changing the standards for domestic adoptions could cause serious problems in the future.
"How many of those adopted children will end up in orphanages because of broken adoptions?" she said.
Ms. Huh, who has researched the history of South Korean children adopted by Americans, said that, in general, they had found good homes in the United States, even though some struggled with their identities.
Mr. Kim, the Health Ministry official, acknowledged that the history ofAmerican adoption had been largely positive. But he said that the government believed that South Korean children would be happier if adopted by South Koreans and that it would stick to its goal of phasing out foreign adoptions in four years.
Agencies and adoptive parents said the goal was unrealistic, if only because very few disabled children had been adopted here. Last year, only 40 disabled children were adopted domestically, while 500 went abroad.
"We wouldn't feel confident adopting a disabled child since we even felt overwhelmed adopting a healthy one," said Kim Chang-shik, 37, who, with his wife, Yoon Yeo-rim, 38, adopted a daughter four years ago, after the birth of their biological son. "I don't know whether it's because I'm Korean, but I'm grateful that foreigners are willing to adopt children who can't find homes here."
Korea Aims to End Stigma of Adoption and Stop 'Exporting' Babies
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
SEOUL, South Korea - Daunted by the stigma surrounding adoption here, ChoJoong-bae and Kim In-soon delayed expanding their family for years. When they finally did six years ago, Mr. Cho chose to tell his elderly parentsthat the child was the result of an affair, rather than admit she was adopted.
"My parents later died believing that I'd had an affair," said Mr. Cho, 48,a civil engineer who has since adopted a second daughter.
Now, with South Korea becoming more accepting of adoptive families, Mr. Choand Ms. Kim feel they can be more open, with relatives and non-relatives alike. Ms. Kim, 49, attributed the change partly to the growth of other non-traditional families, like those headed by single parents or including foreign spouses.
"We feel attitudes have changed," she said.
Just how much, though, is the critical question as the South Korean government is pushing aggressively to increase adoptions by South Koreans and decrease what officials consider the shameful act of sending babies overseas for adoption. Since the 1950s, tens of thousands of South Korean children have been adopted by foreigners, mostly Americans, because of South Koreans' traditional emphasis on family bloodlines and reluctance to adopt. But last year, for the first time, more babies here were adopted by SouthKoreans than foreigners, as the government announced recently with great fanfare: 1,388 local adoptions compared with 1,264 foreign ones. What is more, South Korea - which still is one of the top countries from which Americans adopt - has set a goal of eliminating foreign adoptions altogether by 2012.
"South Korea is the world's 12th largest economy and is now almost an advanced country, so we would like to rid ourselves of the international stigma or disgrace of being a baby-exporting country," Kim Dong-won, who oversees adoptions at the Ministry of Health, said in an interview. "It's embarrassing."
To bolster domestic adoptions, the government last year began offering $90 monthly allowances per child for those who adopt children up to 12 years old, as well as more generous health benefits for the children. Even greater health benefits are now given to adopted disabled children.
The government also made it easier for South Koreans to adopt. Single people can now qualify, as well as older ones. Until last year, prospective adoptive parents could be no more than 50 years older than the child; now the age gap has been increased to 60 years. In addition, the government has made foreign adoptions more difficult by imposing a five-month waiting period before children can even be considered for overseas adoption. It also increased payments to foster parents to try to keep children inside South Korea longer and increase their chances of being adopted domestically.The government's goal has received much media attention and popular support here. But adoption agencies and some adoptive parents and experts say the government's new policies are concerned less with the children's welfare than with saving face. Increasing the age gap and allowing singles to adopt have lowered the standards for domestic adoptions in a way that could be detrimental to the children, they say, even as the government has created unnecessary obstacles to foreign ones.
"The government is hung up on numbers and on South Korea's image," said Lee Mira, who oversees domestic adoptions at Social Welfare Society, a private, nonprofit organization that is the second largest adoption agency in South Korea. "When North Korea taunts South Korea by saying we're selling Korean babies to foreigners, it hurts the pride of South Korea."
Since 1958, when South Korea began keeping track of adoptions, 230,635 children have been adopted. About 30 percent were adopted by South Koreans, while 70 percent found homes overseas. Two-thirds of all foreign adoptees ended up in the United States.
While orphans made up a majority of adopted children in the two decades following the Korean War, children born to unwed mothers have accounted for the largest numbers since then.
South Koreans who did adopt tended to hide their children's origins from the children and others.
In recent years, adoption agencies have conducted campaigns - some featuring movie and TV stars - urging adoptive parents to tell people about how their families were formed in the hopes that more openness would lead to less prejudice. The government's efforts got a boost when some celebrities adopted and went public with the news.
Still, many adoptive parents choose not to share how their families were formed, according to adoption agencies, with some engaging in elaborate ruses to pass off the children as their biological sons or daughters. A middle-aged couple now living in a suburb of Seoul learned long ago that the husband was sterile. But he was reluctant to consider adopting, unwilling to accept his condition and afraid of the lingering prejudice against adopted children. In a Confucian society that still values bloodlines, where many people keep detailed records of their ancestors, he was worried that adopted children might face difficulties in their careers or with marriage prospects.
So when the couple decided to adopt three years ago, they chose to fake a pregnancy, as many adoptive parents here do. The couple moved, and the husband, now 43 and a real estate agent, switched jobs.
The wife, an employee at a telecommunications company, began wearing maternity clothes over a special pillow, made by a company recommended by the couple's adoption agency.
All was going well until a colleague the woman had confided in spilled the secret to a supervisor.
"I was so hurt and embarrassed by that experience," she said. "I would like to adopt a second child, if only to go through the experience in a proper manner this time."
Given the bias against adoptions, some couples who are initially open become more guarded as their children grow older.
Yoo Hae-yon, 48, has told relatives and neighbors that his two sons, now 4 years old and 18 months, were adopted. But he has since become worried that the boys will suffer in a society where television shows typically portray adopted children negatively, as schemers who end up damaging families. "My sons haven't been teased yet, but that will be a possibility in elementary school," Mr. Yoo said. "So once they start school, we won't disclose their adoptions. And in junior high school or later on, we'll let them decide."
Holt International, a private American adoption agency that has long been South Korea's leading agency, welcomed the government's new financial incentives for families but said that trying to curb foreign adoptions would risk hurting the children least likely to be adopted by South Koreans: older ones; the disabled, who still face severe discrimination; and boys, who, once preferred by South Koreans, are now considered by many to be less devoted to their parents than daughters.
"The changes could end up postponing the adoption process of those children," said Lee Jin-hee, who oversees domestic adoptions at Holt here. And Huh Nam-soon, dean of the social welfare department at Hallym University outside Seoul, said changing the standards for domestic adoptions could cause serious problems in the future.
"How many of those adopted children will end up in orphanages because of broken adoptions?" she said.
Ms. Huh, who has researched the history of South Korean children adopted by Americans, said that, in general, they had found good homes in the United States, even though some struggled with their identities.
Mr. Kim, the Health Ministry official, acknowledged that the history ofAmerican adoption had been largely positive. But he said that the government believed that South Korean children would be happier if adopted by South Koreans and that it would stick to its goal of phasing out foreign adoptions in four years.
Agencies and adoptive parents said the goal was unrealistic, if only because very few disabled children had been adopted here. Last year, only 40 disabled children were adopted domestically, while 500 went abroad.
"We wouldn't feel confident adopting a disabled child since we even felt overwhelmed adopting a healthy one," said Kim Chang-shik, 37, who, with his wife, Yoon Yeo-rim, 38, adopted a daughter four years ago, after the birth of their biological son. "I don't know whether it's because I'm Korean, but I'm grateful that foreigners are willing to adopt children who can't find homes here."
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
China eases restrictions on illegally adopted children
A new policy guideline eases the law on most illegally adopted children in China.
The legal rights of these children are currently not guaranteed such as permanent residence of a city, schooling and inheritance.
The guideline was jointly issued by five ministries on Sept 5, but made public on Monday.
It allows people to register their illegally adopted children without fear of punishment.
Ji Gang, director of the China Center of Adoption Affairs, said the number of illegal adoptions has been increasing rapidly in recent years.
"In less developed areas, the number of unregistered adoptions can be two or three times more than registered ones," he said.
"In big cities where people have a better knowledge of the law, the number of unregistered adoptions is fewer."
Shanghai, for example, between 1992 and 2000, had more than 7,000 registered adoptions and about 4,000 unregistered ones.
Ji said China has more than 20,000 registered adoptions every year.
To adopt a child legally in China, a person must be more than 30 years old, healthy, childless and with a good and steady income.
Those seeking registration under the new guideline will be exempt from these requirements except in the case where a single male parent is not more than 40 years older than the girl he has adopted.
If this is not the case, the man will be persuaded to surrender the child to a children's welfare institute.
The guideline also requires anyone who finds abandoned babies to hand them over to police in the first instance.
If the police fail to find their biological parents, the children will be handed over to local children's welfare institutions.
If people who find such babies meet the necessary requirements and want to adopt them, they will be given first priority.
"It means you can not take an abandoned baby home and then apply for adoption. They must be handed over to the authorities first," Ji said.
He said the guideline will help in the fight against trafficking of infants and children.
The legal rights of these children are currently not guaranteed such as permanent residence of a city, schooling and inheritance.
The guideline was jointly issued by five ministries on Sept 5, but made public on Monday.
It allows people to register their illegally adopted children without fear of punishment.
Ji Gang, director of the China Center of Adoption Affairs, said the number of illegal adoptions has been increasing rapidly in recent years.
"In less developed areas, the number of unregistered adoptions can be two or three times more than registered ones," he said.
"In big cities where people have a better knowledge of the law, the number of unregistered adoptions is fewer."
Shanghai, for example, between 1992 and 2000, had more than 7,000 registered adoptions and about 4,000 unregistered ones.
Ji said China has more than 20,000 registered adoptions every year.
To adopt a child legally in China, a person must be more than 30 years old, healthy, childless and with a good and steady income.
Those seeking registration under the new guideline will be exempt from these requirements except in the case where a single male parent is not more than 40 years older than the girl he has adopted.
If this is not the case, the man will be persuaded to surrender the child to a children's welfare institute.
The guideline also requires anyone who finds abandoned babies to hand them over to police in the first instance.
If the police fail to find their biological parents, the children will be handed over to local children's welfare institutions.
If people who find such babies meet the necessary requirements and want to adopt them, they will be given first priority.
"It means you can not take an abandoned baby home and then apply for adoption. They must be handed over to the authorities first," Ji said.
He said the guideline will help in the fight against trafficking of infants and children.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
One Year - Happy Anniversary Lucy!
It's hard to believe that it has been a year - and then it's easy to believe that another year has gone by. Today, July 2, is the one year anniversary of Lucy's adoption in China. It was a hot, amazingly sticky day in Fuzhou, not too far off what it feels like in Seattle today - and we had been preparing most of the day after travelling to Fuzhou from Beijing with the two other couples who were meeting their children - Scott & Chris, and Travis & Michelle. After days swealtering in Beijing and wondering if we'd ever see blue sky again, we set off for Fuzhou.
The actual getting ready to meet the kids was a funky affair. Far too much running back and forth as we learned they had forgotten to have us copy this document, or bring two copies of another document, to prepare this cash or that voucher, this form to have ready - and then getting it all pulled together. After a few false starts to actually walking into the conference room where we would meet the kids, in we went. We were joined by Lynn, who was meeting her older son who is from Lucy's orphanage.
As we sat and waited we tried to get ready - food out, toys out, cameras ready or not ready... And then SLOWLY the kids started to arrive. Malone literally RAN into the room to meet his mom Lynn and his new sisters. By the time we figured that he was there, I was able to see Lucy coming into the room with the Director of her orphanage. She was so small - smaller than a 27 month old should have been, quite frankly. They handed her to me, and she was so light - and to my suprise, in no diaper at all. We got to know each other with cheerios and toys. She would not take off the little backpack that she had arrived with, and in holding her I knew I would have to shop for new clothes - the ones I brought would be way too big. (Note: she is just starting to fit into those clothes this week!)
After about 15 minutes, Shen arrived for Travis & Michelle. Not to be outdone by good behavior in Lucy, Shen came into the family with a BANG! Yelling, screaming, and crying - poor guy! He was not sure about this new mama and baba and wanted all of us to know. Lucy, for her part, just wondered what the fuss was about. Shen wanted nothing to do with baba, and sat on mama's lap screaming. None of the balls, stickers, cars would suffice to distract him. Thankfully - there were bubbles - which proved to be a GREAT distractor.
By the time he settled down, Jade arrived for Chris and Scott. Not sure if she should scream, she settled for something in between - tears and unhappiness for sure, but not the raw emotion shared by Shen. She settled in with either her mama or baba, and I think immediately realized that here were folks who could worship her!
A year later, Lucy is finally the size of the child I was anticipating getting last year. She is only a few months older than what I thought she would have been. After returning to the states, bone scans confirmed my belief - that she was considerably younger than her paperwork stated - anywhere from 6-10 months younger. During this past year I have legally changed Lucy's birthdate by 4 months - taking the 8 month average for how much younger she was, and splitting the difference, just in case there is a mistake. However, each day in watching her developmentally I believe that she is probably about 8-10 months younger than the 27 months she was supposed to be, which would have put her at 17-19 months old when I got her. Hopefully she will like the new birthday, and not fret too much that I changed one important piece of who she was and her story from China.
Lucy has come a long way in the past year, and still has quite a journey. She is one of the most spirited and smart, independant and daring little girls I know. She loves her big sisters, and copies them far too often. She is very healthy thanks to surgeons in China who repaired her heart, and loves to laugh. Happy Adoption Day, Lucy!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Response to Mike Seate Column
Dear Mr. Seate,
It’s taken me a full week to absorb the impact of your column from last Thursday – on Asian Adoptions becoming the latest fad. As an mom to three children (adopted, and my children) it saddened me to read your viewpoint that based on two movies (and not great ones at that) – that children are fashion statements, and not just children.
Chinese adoptions have been going strong for over 14 years, Korean for almost 50 years, and Vietnamese on and off for almost 35. Domestic adoptions have been going strong in the US for over 100 years – with a mixed track record of success. The reason is not a fad, but sheer numbers of adults who want one thing – to parent. Recently, China has been the top international country for adoptions domestically for the past 5 years with over 5,000 adoptions each year – which is probably why it is reflected in the media. And China has a true need, just as we do in the US. But you have overlooked that those numbers from China are insignificant compared to the yearly numbers of domestic adoptions – the last year data was gathered the domestic adoptions exceeded 126,000 adoptions.
I also took offense in your paragraph that stated:
“Never mind that thousands of babies of other races -- most of them black -- go without foster homes and adoptions here and elsewhere in this country every year. It doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a black, Latino or mixed-race child.”
You have confused two important – but separate – issues. The thousands of other babies of other races in the US available for adoption, and they are almost always adopted. And it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to adopt them – even domestically. Whether through a state DSHS program, or adoption agency, or lawyers – the cost of infant adoption can be extremely high. But these children DO get adopted – quickly and easily because they are infants.
If you really wanted to take up a cause you would have done some research to find out that the biggest need is the adoption of older children through the foster care system. These children are of all races – white, black, Latino, Asian, Native American – and all waiting for families.
There are currently 120,000 children in foster care in the US who are legally free for adoption. A significant number of these kids are adopted each year, but the number remains fairly steady – mostly through new children coming into the system and termination of parental rights. There are cases where children remain in foster care for years – usually those children with the most significant of needs – whether medical, psychological, or attachment based. These kids all deserve homes – but the fact remains is that there are not enough parents who know about how to adopt, who have the right skills and resources available to help.
Instead of using your column to do some good – and potentially help recruit some fantastic, experienced parents who may be interested in adoption of older children through foster care, you went to spew hate and ignorance. And for that I can’t forgive you. You disregarded your duty as a journalist to get your facts straight – confusing domestic infant adoption issues with domestic foster adoptions of older children – all to meet your preconceived notions about Chinese adoptions. And, had you wanted to shame Hollywood into their stupid portrayals of adoptions, you would have done a better job of explaining that, instead of sharing poorly researched and understood facts.
Maybe next time you could think through the writing of your column, take the time to do some research – and actually strive to make an impact. All readers got from your column was that you have a weird dislike for Chinese children based on two movies; that you have confused views on children and adoption; and that you have not offered any solutions. How fantastic would it be to use your column and time to educate yourself and the public about some needs – children in your community who are in need of homes, and helping to educate potential adoptive parents on resources that are available to assist them.
Response to:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_573477.html
And by the way, I wish I wrote as well as these guys did… actually, I wish you wrote that well also….
http://www.popehat.com/2008/06/23/mike-seate-of-the-pittsburgh-tribune-review-doesnt-approve-of-your-familys-skin-color/
It’s taken me a full week to absorb the impact of your column from last Thursday – on Asian Adoptions becoming the latest fad. As an mom to three children (adopted, and my children) it saddened me to read your viewpoint that based on two movies (and not great ones at that) – that children are fashion statements, and not just children.
Chinese adoptions have been going strong for over 14 years, Korean for almost 50 years, and Vietnamese on and off for almost 35. Domestic adoptions have been going strong in the US for over 100 years – with a mixed track record of success. The reason is not a fad, but sheer numbers of adults who want one thing – to parent. Recently, China has been the top international country for adoptions domestically for the past 5 years with over 5,000 adoptions each year – which is probably why it is reflected in the media. And China has a true need, just as we do in the US. But you have overlooked that those numbers from China are insignificant compared to the yearly numbers of domestic adoptions – the last year data was gathered the domestic adoptions exceeded 126,000 adoptions.
I also took offense in your paragraph that stated:
“Never mind that thousands of babies of other races -- most of them black -- go without foster homes and adoptions here and elsewhere in this country every year. It doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a black, Latino or mixed-race child.”
You have confused two important – but separate – issues. The thousands of other babies of other races in the US available for adoption, and they are almost always adopted. And it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to adopt them – even domestically. Whether through a state DSHS program, or adoption agency, or lawyers – the cost of infant adoption can be extremely high. But these children DO get adopted – quickly and easily because they are infants.
If you really wanted to take up a cause you would have done some research to find out that the biggest need is the adoption of older children through the foster care system. These children are of all races – white, black, Latino, Asian, Native American – and all waiting for families.
There are currently 120,000 children in foster care in the US who are legally free for adoption. A significant number of these kids are adopted each year, but the number remains fairly steady – mostly through new children coming into the system and termination of parental rights. There are cases where children remain in foster care for years – usually those children with the most significant of needs – whether medical, psychological, or attachment based. These kids all deserve homes – but the fact remains is that there are not enough parents who know about how to adopt, who have the right skills and resources available to help.
Instead of using your column to do some good – and potentially help recruit some fantastic, experienced parents who may be interested in adoption of older children through foster care, you went to spew hate and ignorance. And for that I can’t forgive you. You disregarded your duty as a journalist to get your facts straight – confusing domestic infant adoption issues with domestic foster adoptions of older children – all to meet your preconceived notions about Chinese adoptions. And, had you wanted to shame Hollywood into their stupid portrayals of adoptions, you would have done a better job of explaining that, instead of sharing poorly researched and understood facts.
Maybe next time you could think through the writing of your column, take the time to do some research – and actually strive to make an impact. All readers got from your column was that you have a weird dislike for Chinese children based on two movies; that you have confused views on children and adoption; and that you have not offered any solutions. How fantastic would it be to use your column and time to educate yourself and the public about some needs – children in your community who are in need of homes, and helping to educate potential adoptive parents on resources that are available to assist them.
Response to:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_573477.html
And by the way, I wish I wrote as well as these guys did… actually, I wish you wrote that well also….
http://www.popehat.com/2008/06/23/mike-seate-of-the-pittsburgh-tribune-review-doesnt-approve-of-your-familys-skin-color/
Monday, April 28, 2008
Ethiopia adoption
Great article on adoption from Ethiopia, even though it was written last year. I love the NYT!
Vietnam adoption update
Well, it's official. Vietnam has announced that it will end adoptions into the United States, starting on July 1st (meaning no new applicants after that date - they will process for families matched with a child before July 1st).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24344474/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24344474/
Friday, March 7, 2008
Finalized
We had a great judge who was amazingly patient as Gwenn tried out pretty much everything in the courtroom, and I want to thank Mary - my amazing lawyer who saw me through this! She was there before with us, but it's great to have her around. We could not have done it without her!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Adoption Issues in the News
Headline: 66 Nigerians Held on Trafficking Charges
Serious adoption irregulaties found with Nigerian women living in Italy, would take children from orphanages and sell the infants in Europe.
Headline: Costa Rico Nabs 14 in Adoption Scheme
14 arrested in Costa Rico as it appears they were paying mothers to relinquish their children for adoption.
Headline: Driver Says Man Couldn’t Care for Baby Girl
In the recent child abandonment case that hit national headlines, the father who abandoned his child told the cab driver that he could not care for the child and that the birthmother had already left.
Serious adoption irregulaties found with Nigerian women living in Italy, would take children from orphanages and sell the infants in Europe.
Headline: Costa Rico Nabs 14 in Adoption Scheme
14 arrested in Costa Rico as it appears they were paying mothers to relinquish their children for adoption.
Headline: Driver Says Man Couldn’t Care for Baby Girl
In the recent child abandonment case that hit national headlines, the father who abandoned his child told the cab driver that he could not care for the child and that the birthmother had already left.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Log jam in Vietnam adoptions
The New York Times published an article today about some of the issues being faced by families who are trying to adopt from Vietnam.
Monday, February 11, 2008
China's Stolen Children
China’s Stolen Children is an HBO documentary showing how the one-child policy has created a booming trade in stolen children.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 6:
Part 7:
Part 8:
Part 9:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 6:
Part 7:
Part 8:
Part 9:
Thursday, January 31, 2008
When There’s No Place Like Home
Below is the full Newsweek text on the impact of UNICEF on international adoptions...
Some advocates blame the decline in intercountry adoptions over the past three years on a single surprising source: UNICEF. The United Nations Children's Fund may be known worldwide for helping underprivileged children obtain better health care and education, but when it comes to finding homes for orphans, they argue, the organization places misguided emphasis on maintaining cultural and geographic ties rather than on the child's overall well-being. That's true even when there is little chance of domestic adoption and virtually no public programs to provide care for abandoned children or struggling families. "National boundaries should not prevent abandoned children from having families," says Thomas Atwood, president of America's National Council for Adoption. "UNICEF's exclusive focus on domestic programs amounts to an obstacle to international adoption and prevents untold numbers of children from improving their lives through international adoption."
There is no argument over the need for adoptive homes—UNICEF estimates that there are 143 million orphans in the world—or the unprecedented interest among Westerners eager to adopt. And children's advocates of all stripes agree that when possible, children should be raised by their own families and in their own cultures. But there seems to be a discrepancy over what qualifies as "when possible." Rather than promote research that demonstrates the beneficial effects for all types of adoption, critics say UNICEF plays up rare cases of abuse and corruption and actively discourages developing countries from making more abandoned children available. "UNICEF and some foreign critics have encouraged countries to look at international adoption as a form of colonialism," says Dana Johnson, director of the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota and an expert on global adoption trends. Critics compare such policies to those promoted in the 1970s by black American social workers, who argued that only African-American families could ethically adopt black babies. As a result, many minority children spent most of their childhoods in state care.
UNICEF argues that intercountry adoption is not the only—and certainly not always the best—option for the world's orphans. Alexandra Yuster, a senior adviser in the child-protection section, claims the organization advocates the inclusion of international adoption in the mix of potential solutions for countries seeking homes for orphaned children. But it is much more focused on helping birth families get adequate support from their governments so they can take care of their own kids. "That's our priority because that will help a much larger number of kids—as will promoting domestic adoption," she says. "It's not that we're against intercountry adoption; it's just not a main focus for us."
In part, that's because UNICEF fears financial profit is the driving force behind many intercountry transactions. Because few healthy infants are available for adoption in Western countries, she says, the amount of money prospective parents are willing to pay to complete adoptions of healthy babies has increased. And corruption inevitably follows the money. UNICEF is especially concerned about poor countries like Guatemala, where private attorneys largely control the process and charge upwards of $35,000 per child—almost twice the going rate in countries like China and Vietnam, where government agencies oversee programs.
That kind of profit margin creates a market where one didn't exist before. "We're concerned with the commercialization of vulnerable children," says Yuster. "It gives an incentive to intermediaries to look for the kind of children these families most want to adopt." Some poor mothers are tricked into relinquishing healthy babies, while disabled and older children living in state institutions are left out of the foreign adoption loop because there's no profit incentive to match them with families. "Adoption is supposed to be about finding homes for children, not finding children for families," she says.
UNICEF is equally wary of the less expensive and more transparent programs in such countries as Ethiopia, China and Vietnam, where a portion of the adoption fees charged by the government is used to provide protective services and better living conditions for the orphans who remain behind. "We think this is a slippery slope," Yuster says. "If the child-welfare system becomes dependent on children leaving, countries may do less to seek domestic placements or work to keep children with their own families."
Critics charge that UNICEF's obsession with preventing corruption at all costs often results in countries adopting such restrictive regulations that foreign adoptions are reduced to a trickle. "Forces at the very top are making international adoption more and more difficult," says Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet, who has written extensively on the subject. "What this means is that fewer kids are getting adopted, more children are required to spend time in orphanages, those who get out are of older ages, and are more likely to have developed serious disabilities that make them hard to parent."
Yuster insists that UNICEF never pressures countries to tighten their adoption regulations, and in fact gets involved only when asked. That was the case in 2006 in Liberia, when the government requested an investigation after intercountry adoptions began to rise. Of the several hundred adoptions done in a year, she says, they identified 50 that qualified as "relinquishments under false pretenses." In some cases, unsophisticated parents were led to believe that they would lose custody only temporarily, or would one day join their child in the West. Without good data, she acknowledges, it's hard to know how common such abuses are globally. But "unfortunately, they are not rare, and there seems to be evidence that they are on the rise," she says. "When the surface is scratched, violations can often be found."
With Washington set to begin implementing the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption this spring, some experts think that such violations will decrease, allowing UNICEF and its critics to find more middle ground and common goals. "All of these groups want more ethical practices in adoption," Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, an independent research and policy organization. "But we all need to keep our eye on the prize: finding homes for children who really need them." Wherever they are.
Some advocates blame the decline in intercountry adoptions over the past three years on a single surprising source: UNICEF. The United Nations Children's Fund may be known worldwide for helping underprivileged children obtain better health care and education, but when it comes to finding homes for orphans, they argue, the organization places misguided emphasis on maintaining cultural and geographic ties rather than on the child's overall well-being. That's true even when there is little chance of domestic adoption and virtually no public programs to provide care for abandoned children or struggling families. "National boundaries should not prevent abandoned children from having families," says Thomas Atwood, president of America's National Council for Adoption. "UNICEF's exclusive focus on domestic programs amounts to an obstacle to international adoption and prevents untold numbers of children from improving their lives through international adoption."
There is no argument over the need for adoptive homes—UNICEF estimates that there are 143 million orphans in the world—or the unprecedented interest among Westerners eager to adopt. And children's advocates of all stripes agree that when possible, children should be raised by their own families and in their own cultures. But there seems to be a discrepancy over what qualifies as "when possible." Rather than promote research that demonstrates the beneficial effects for all types of adoption, critics say UNICEF plays up rare cases of abuse and corruption and actively discourages developing countries from making more abandoned children available. "UNICEF and some foreign critics have encouraged countries to look at international adoption as a form of colonialism," says Dana Johnson, director of the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota and an expert on global adoption trends. Critics compare such policies to those promoted in the 1970s by black American social workers, who argued that only African-American families could ethically adopt black babies. As a result, many minority children spent most of their childhoods in state care.
UNICEF argues that intercountry adoption is not the only—and certainly not always the best—option for the world's orphans. Alexandra Yuster, a senior adviser in the child-protection section, claims the organization advocates the inclusion of international adoption in the mix of potential solutions for countries seeking homes for orphaned children. But it is much more focused on helping birth families get adequate support from their governments so they can take care of their own kids. "That's our priority because that will help a much larger number of kids—as will promoting domestic adoption," she says. "It's not that we're against intercountry adoption; it's just not a main focus for us."
In part, that's because UNICEF fears financial profit is the driving force behind many intercountry transactions. Because few healthy infants are available for adoption in Western countries, she says, the amount of money prospective parents are willing to pay to complete adoptions of healthy babies has increased. And corruption inevitably follows the money. UNICEF is especially concerned about poor countries like Guatemala, where private attorneys largely control the process and charge upwards of $35,000 per child—almost twice the going rate in countries like China and Vietnam, where government agencies oversee programs.
That kind of profit margin creates a market where one didn't exist before. "We're concerned with the commercialization of vulnerable children," says Yuster. "It gives an incentive to intermediaries to look for the kind of children these families most want to adopt." Some poor mothers are tricked into relinquishing healthy babies, while disabled and older children living in state institutions are left out of the foreign adoption loop because there's no profit incentive to match them with families. "Adoption is supposed to be about finding homes for children, not finding children for families," she says.
UNICEF is equally wary of the less expensive and more transparent programs in such countries as Ethiopia, China and Vietnam, where a portion of the adoption fees charged by the government is used to provide protective services and better living conditions for the orphans who remain behind. "We think this is a slippery slope," Yuster says. "If the child-welfare system becomes dependent on children leaving, countries may do less to seek domestic placements or work to keep children with their own families."
Critics charge that UNICEF's obsession with preventing corruption at all costs often results in countries adopting such restrictive regulations that foreign adoptions are reduced to a trickle. "Forces at the very top are making international adoption more and more difficult," says Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet, who has written extensively on the subject. "What this means is that fewer kids are getting adopted, more children are required to spend time in orphanages, those who get out are of older ages, and are more likely to have developed serious disabilities that make them hard to parent."
Yuster insists that UNICEF never pressures countries to tighten their adoption regulations, and in fact gets involved only when asked. That was the case in 2006 in Liberia, when the government requested an investigation after intercountry adoptions began to rise. Of the several hundred adoptions done in a year, she says, they identified 50 that qualified as "relinquishments under false pretenses." In some cases, unsophisticated parents were led to believe that they would lose custody only temporarily, or would one day join their child in the West. Without good data, she acknowledges, it's hard to know how common such abuses are globally. But "unfortunately, they are not rare, and there seems to be evidence that they are on the rise," she says. "When the surface is scratched, violations can often be found."
With Washington set to begin implementing the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption this spring, some experts think that such violations will decrease, allowing UNICEF and its critics to find more middle ground and common goals. "All of these groups want more ethical practices in adoption," Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, an independent research and policy organization. "But we all need to keep our eye on the prize: finding homes for children who really need them." Wherever they are.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ni Hao, Kai-lan
Coming soon to our local TV is "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" from our friends at Nick! With over 100,000 American students now studying Mandarin (BSD, please add to your foriegn language list!) there are many who are interested. As the producer notes, it also doesn't hurt that Americans have adopted over 60,000 children from China.... Should appear by August, 2008.
Newsweek Article: Baby corruption in China
Well, I've heard about this in the past, but Newsweek has just published an article outlining some of the issues surrounding wealth, priviledge and the one child policy in China. It's interesting that China is now considering adding additional, illegal kids to the corruption rules when dealing with party members. However, what to do with all of their new, wealthy and yuppie urbanites who have the money to defy the rules? Can China continue to police this law, and hundreds of others, when the system that they have allows for the wealthy and party members to circumvent the laws. Instead of being a party for the people, it seems that the only ones to come to the party are the political establishment and wealthy.
While I'm no fan of China's political system, it is apparent to me that this cannot last. The people will not tolerate exceptions based on the size of the bank account or political strings that can be pulled. As this issue, and any issue dealing with the wealthy v. the masses, continue to gain press and notariety, it seems that another revolution may come. It may not be bloody, but I'm curious to see how China reacts and what they will decide to do with their country in the future. They may soon be both one of the wealthiest countries, and one of the poorest countries in the world. And, I believe, they will get nowhere without a moral ground that they can stand on.
While I'm no fan of China's political system, it is apparent to me that this cannot last. The people will not tolerate exceptions based on the size of the bank account or political strings that can be pulled. As this issue, and any issue dealing with the wealthy v. the masses, continue to gain press and notariety, it seems that another revolution may come. It may not be bloody, but I'm curious to see how China reacts and what they will decide to do with their country in the future. They may soon be both one of the wealthiest countries, and one of the poorest countries in the world. And, I believe, they will get nowhere without a moral ground that they can stand on.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Birthparent searches
NY Times article on searching for birthparents is interesting. It is one of those interesting things - to search or not to search.
When I first adopted internationally, it was attractive - not knowing who the birth parents were. But now that I've adopted 3 times, I think it's the hardest part.
When I first adopted internationally, it was attractive - not knowing who the birth parents were. But now that I've adopted 3 times, I think it's the hardest part.
Two lives emerged from the ashes
Great article in the LA Times on the book "Saving Levi", which I read recently. Lisa Bentley works with the Philip Hayden Foundation, which I have donated to for a few years. Great read - both the article and the book!
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By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 12, 2007
Levi Bentley at age 4 in Langfang, China. He is standing in the field where he was found when he was about 6 weeks old, so badly burned that he wasn't expected to live. Lisa Misraje Bentley was a bored U.S. homemaker when she reluctantly went to China with her family to open an orphanage. A charred baby boy would change everything.
BEIJING -- Lisa Misraje Bentley watches the boy in the No. 8 jersey as he careens across the soccer field and she marvels. His lower face a mask of scar tissue, his left arm gone at the elbow, the toes on his left foot missing, he zigzags along the green grass in defiance of his disabilities."Isn't he happy?" she says. "Look at the joy coming out of him!"
Bentley knows the boy probably should not be alive. Five years ago, he was left for dead in a cornfield, his tiny body so ravaged by fire that the villagers who found him thought he looked more like a charred log than a 6-week-old baby.
Back then, Bentley was new to China. She had come begrudgingly with her four children, following her husband, John, from Washington state. Together, the couple founded a Christian orphanage for special-needs children -- those most at risk in the Chinese child welfare system, which often lacks the resources to meet the demands of the disabled.
They wanted to help the undesirables. And when Bentley first saw the abandoned baby, gasping for breath inside a hospital incubator, she knew she had found perhaps the most undesirable one of all.
What happened next would test the limits of modern medicine and put Bentley in conflict with local customs, laws, national bureaucracies and even her own family.
Who could have predicted the impact of one small life in China on a bored suburban homemaker from the Pacific Northwest?
Six years ago, Bentley sat in her four-bedroom home in Vancouver, Wash., and felt like crying. As a stay-at-home mother, she lived the good life: Her husband was a successful lawyer. She was pregnant with her fourth child. There was the minivan and the sports car. Yet she was miserable."I thought, 'If this is my life, this stinks,' " she says.
Then came an opportunity. John always had a fascination with China, and had seen his brother start a Christian orphanage in Africa. He wanted to start one in Beijing. Assured financial backing for one year by a Christian philanthropist, John quit his job and prepared for the journey.
Suddenly, the support fell through, but John still wanted to go.Bentley wasn't so sure. She wanted adventure, but China was like another planet. She had no Chinese language skills, and had always had a Woody Allen-like obsession with hygiene. China was no place to take four young children.
"I thought John was insane," she says. "But I said, 'OK, three months.' Then I figured I'd raise hell and we'd come back."
The family's first image of China didn't help. As they landed in Beijing, Bentley's 8-year-old daughter, Emily, looked out the plane window and remarked, "It looks like a trash can."
The couple settled in Langfang, a rural town an hour outside Beijing, and rented a concrete-block home without heat. Bentley remained a mother on guard, listening for the rats that scampered inside the building walls. Both she and John took jobs at a foreign-run orphanage.
No matter how hard she tried to comprehend the culture, China remained mysterious. She had run-ins with local hospital staff and officials, who considered her another pushy American. Bentley didn't fit the image of a Christian aid worker. She's hip and outspoken, likes '60s clothing, and doesn't come on strong with Bible-speak.
She didn't connect here, and she wanted to go home.
The ghastly discovery came on a dreary March day in 2002: A badly burned baby was found in a field. A cluster of curious villagers encircled the infant as he wailed in agony.
The baby's bright yellow jumper was soaked with blood and body fluids. Someone had carefully tucked a 10-yuan note -- less than $2 -- into his pocket.
One by one, the crowd drifted away. What could be done? The baby was sure to die. Except one old man. He saw that the infant's head had been shaved and a bandage remained where an IV had been inserted.
A desperate mother had no doubt tried to save this child and then, in defeat, abandoned him. The old man understood why: This no longer looked like a baby. He reached down. The infant was so charred that ashes fell when he tried to lift its left arm. The little hand was blackened, clenched.
The old man gathered up the baby and rode his bike to a local government office. He left the infant on the doorstep. The boy was rushed to a hospital, diagnosed with third-degree burns over 70% of his body. The orphanage was notified.
When Bentley arrived, she looked down inside the incubator. What she saw "grabbed me by my heart." The baby wailed in agony as he tried to suck his badly burned thumb -- his wounds so deep Bentley could see muscle, tendon and bone.
"This child had no mom, nobody pulling for him," she says.
Just then, Bentley recalls, the baby's eyes flickered. He looked right at her, expectantly, as if to say, "Are you my mother?"
Then Bentley made the decision that changed everything. Ignoring conventional wisdom limiting the jurisdiction of a foreigner in a strange land, she assigned herself as the child's advocate. Doctors discouraged her. They had never seen anyone so badly burned. No matter how much time and money she spent, they warned, this boy is dead.
Bentley named the boy Levi. She liked the sound of it. Later she learned the word means "to bind and unite." She liked the sound of that even more.
Levi's first surgery was a success. Doctor's removed part of his left arm and performed numerous skin grafts. But days later, infection set in. They operated again, taking more of his left arm. There would probably be more amputations.
Bentley flinched. Levi's scarred face and body were bad enough. She felt as though she was losing him limb by limb. That's when an orphanage colleague told her of an e-mail from a Boston surgeon. When told of the burned orphan, the doctor had offered to come to China. Bentley wanted more. Why not take the baby right to physicians at Boston's Shriners Hospitals for Children, where they could use their own equipment in their own surroundings?
She began a race to accomplish something others considered foolhardy: getting a dying, undocumented Chinese baby into the United States. She hadn't even registered Levi's hukou, or permanent residence, with Chinese authorities.Such documentation takes months. Bentley had days, if that. Chinese doctors were preparing for another surgery, perhaps to amputate the boy's remaining hand. She had to act fast. With the help of orphanage staff, she began a telephone and e-mail campaign aimed at foreign charities here and government offices in China and the U.S.
With each call, she learned a little more about how things get done in China. Hardball was out. She had to use connections, or guanxi, with people who were sympathetic to the boy's plight."I couldn't go in as the pushy American, become too highly emotional," she said. "In the U.S. that works. Go in, be the tough bitch, get what I want. That did not work here."
Friends donated baby clothes. Strangers who encountered the boy opened their wallets. People who knew people in power offered to make calls."
Lisa has this innocence, this naivete, about her that gets things done. People want to help her," said Melody Zhang, associate director of an adoption agency called Children's Hope International. "She's not good in dealing with government. Sometimes she has no idea. But she ignored everything for this boy. She had this connection with Levi, a mother's love as strong as it could be."The bureaucratic waters began to part. Levi was granted a hukou. He was issued a passport, and then a U.S. visa. Bentley's cold calls resulted in a free flight for her and the baby.
At home, the situation was not going as well. John felt Lisa was neglecting her family. She wasn't seeing the big picture.The two bickered. Colleagues in the Christian community took notice and began to whisper. "It became a problem for our marriage," John recalls. "Nannies were raising our children. We had 25 other kids at the orphanage. This was just one child."The tensions would eventually lead to talk of a divorce. But Bentley couldn't stop. With $50 in her purse, she boarded a plane for Boston with a baby still bleeding fluids.
Levi approaches a stranger in his kindergarten classroom."I only have one arm," the 5-year-old says cheerfully. "Will you tie my shoes?" He points to his left foot. "This one doesn't have any toes."So far, he has endured more than 20 surgeries, with more to come. As he grows, scar tissue rips and bleeds and must be removed. His left ankle remains bent at an odd angle.
Sometimes, children taunt him, holding out a crooked arm, saying, "I'm Levi!" Some don't want to sit next to him. People stare.But he perseveres with the help of his mother's discipline. She treats him just as she does her biological children or his fellow adopted sibling, a Chinese-born girl named Orly, who's 9. When he falls, he gets up by himself.Slowly, this rambunctious boy is developing a sense of self. He likes dinosaurs and singing his own rap lyrics. A recent self-image shows him as he is: a boy with a missing hand and toes. He even drew the scars.
There are setbacks. In Texas for surgery to create fingers on his right hand, Levi told the doctors he was a big boy and wouldn't cry. His mother had warned him the surgery would not produce perfect fingers, but she knew he hoped it would."When they removed the bandages, they were raw and stubby, not like mine," she says. "I saw his eyes. I knew his heart shrunk."She knows his most difficult days, emotionally, are yet to come, "when he falls in love and physicality becomes an issue." It is pain even a vigilant mother cannot prevent.
And today Bentley is emotionally and legally his mother. Levi was officially adopted in 2006.Lisa and John worked on their marriage, taking a year's leave of absence to return to the U.S. for couple's therapy.Not long ago, they faced a dilemma: If they didn't return to the U.S. immediately, the Bentleys risked losing their home and cars to repossession. They stayed put. China was home now, and their work with orphans was too important to abandon.Now, life in the U.S. suburbs seems like the other planet. They run their own Beijing-area foster home, Harmony Family House, with a deaf school to help poor Chinese mothers cope with raising special-needs children. Bentley calls these mothers heroes.
The circumstances behind Levi's injuries remain a mystery. But Bentley doesn't blame the mother. "I believe it was a terrible accident that befell a poor mother without resources," she says.She produces a tiny yellow bootie, part of the outfit she calls Levi's burial clothes. "How can you condemn her? She did what she could for her baby. Then wrapped him up and left him to die peacefully. Imagine how hard that must have been."
For years, Bentley was hard on herself, thinking she was never good enough. That's changed. At 43, she accepts who she is, the kind of kooky redhead who dares to be different, who knows it's all right to stand out either within the Christian community, back home in the U.S. or even here in China."I'm no longer afraid to say, 'This is the way I am.' I'm not trying to hide anymore," she says. "For the first time in my life, I'm comfortable in my own shoes."And a little boy no one else wanted made that happen.This year, she published a book on her experiences. It's called "Saving Levi: Left to Die . . . Destined to Live."Bentley knows the boy wasn't the only one who was saved.
BBC Photo Essay
BBC News has a great photo essay on life in a Guatemalan Orphanage, Asociacion Primavera Children's Home. I wonder how often these kiddos are at risk due to trafficking and when they are not - and if they are not, it's a shame about the slowdown - but they should eventually make their way to adoptive homes if everything is above the board.
Friday, December 14, 2007
New Newsweek Article on China Orphanages
Well, here is quite an extensive article from Newsweek on China's orphanages. It's a nice human interest story, and a nice look at how many orphanages now run...
Abandonment
Well, there is an article on Yahoo today about a dutch family who have relinquished custody of their 7 year old daughter (adopted from South Korea) for aparently no better reason than I can read than because they now have biological kids. They should be arrested and jailed for abandonment. And, since it is a diplomatic family, shame on the Dutch government for not firing this guy and sending their butts to jail somewhere.
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