Reflection on International Adoption as Possible Solution for Orphans

International adoption, a process where children from one country are adopted by families residing in another, has long been a subject of global attention and controversy. While the concept of offering a loving home to a child in need transcends borders, the practice of international adoption raises numerous complex issues that demand thoughtful exploration and consideration. In recent years, the landscape of international adoption has undergone significant changes. This essay delves into the multifaceted issues surrounding international adoption, aiming to shed light on the challenges, ethical concerns, and implications that emerge from this increasingly globalized practice.

While international adoption can offer a lifeline for children in need, it is essential to approach the subject critically, acknowledging the potential pitfalls and ensuring that the processes in place prioritize the well-being and rights of the children involved. By examining these issues, we can work towards developing informed policies, improved practices, and increased awareness surrounding the complexities of international adoption.

Literature Review Summary on the Issue of Orphanages in the Global South

This topic has several key themes currently being discussed in literature. First, it is important to note that much of the research that has been done on this topic focuses on orphanages in the global south – as developing countries have most of these orphanages. One of the major themes is child protection, that is, the affect that the commodification of orphans through charitable intervention has on child protection. Much of this research has been done by one woman, Kristen Cheney, whose research focuses on “children’s survival strategies amidst difficult circumstances and the politics of humanitarian intervention for such children, mainly in Eastern and Southern Africa.” This theme focuses on the idea of child rescue versus child protection. It centers on ‘rescue narratives’ that, according to Kristen Cheney “constantly place children of the global south in the position of needing ‘saving’ by northern benefactors.”

This idea of westerners thinking that these orphans need ‘saving’ brings up the concept of ‘manufactured’ orphans, which begins an entirely new discourse on the corruption of orphans abroad. There are several sub categories that come from this discourse.

The first major one is the trafficking of children in order to ‘manufacture’ more orphans. According to Kathryn Doore, “In 2009, Save the Children reported that internationally four out of five children in orphanages were not orphans and noted that some poor families were coerced into giving up their children in exchange for money by unscrupulous institutions and adoption agencies hoping to profit from either the residence or trafficking of children.” There are many instances of children being taken from their homes and forced into orphanages. In Kathryn Doore’s article, Paper Orphans: Exploring Child Trafficking for the Purpose of Orphanages, she explores whether or not these instances can be considered trafficking under international law.

In the abstract she says that “this article examines the forms of exploitation that have been documented as being experienced by paper orphans and argues that the process of paper orphaning meets the current interpretation of the definition of trafficking”. She also explained that basically, traffickers convince families that they are taking their children away for a better education in return for money. They often promise their return on holidays or years later once school is completed. However, once they leave the children never come back, as they are sold to orphanages while traffickers forge death certificates of the parents. She also notes this idea of orphans as supply and demand. As there is more demand for orphans in the global south, “to satisfy the demand, children have been taken from families with the promise of education or returning in the future, and manufactured as orphans to reside in orphanages and solicit funding”. So, families are being coerced into giving up their children who are then sold to orphanages in order to keep up with the demand and fund the business of international adoption. Clearly a form of exploitation, Doore continues on to argue that these forms of exploitation are, in fact, considered trafficking. In the conclusion, she states, “through examination of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, it is apparent that there are close correlations between the notions of child selling and trafficking”.

Is International Adoption Helpful for Orphans?

The ‘manufacturing’ of orphans is an agent for international adoption, which is the second major category. With international, or inter-country adoption (ICA) as the end goal, the exploitation or ‘manufacturing’ of orphans, therefore acts as an agent for it. In her article, The Effect of International Adoption as an Orphan Care Method in Uganda, Amy Bergey describes international adoption from both a micro and a macro perspective, which is important to consider. From a micro perspective, focusing on the welfare of the children, she states that, “International adoption would remove already vulnerable children from their familiar culture and open the door to corrupt adoption and trafficking”. From a macro perspective, focusing more on the system, she argues that, “the MGLSD, along with other agencies working in Uganda, prioritizes and aims to promote domestic options for children above international adoptions'. And that “They would rather develop family welfare programs to keep Ugandan children in Ugandan families'.

Using Uganda as an example, Amy Bergey argues that international adoption, is, in fact, corrupt. She explains that, “The Western image of orphans in need of outside help encourages the idea that international adoption provides a better home than is possible in their birth country'. This idea of “the Western image” is highly problematic. There is a gap in information between the west and the global south – the countries in which this is happening. Based on research done so far, it seems as though most western families who apply for inter-country adoption are completely unaware of what is really going on in the orphanages from which their adopted children come from. The west has, yet again, used its power to deprive children of their right to grow up with their families in their counties of origin. They impose western values and automatically assume that these children will have a better life in western countries without considering the affects it may have on the children. This suggests that developing countries are unable to provide children with proper values, education, and ways of life, which is not necessarily true.

Research on child protection proves that children in developing countries are trafficked in order to ‘manufacture’ more orphans in an effort to increase international adoption. Again, this comes back to the idea of child rescue versus child protection. The issue at hand is this idea that westerners have of needing to ‘rescue’ these so-called orphans from, as Kristen Cheney states, “the supposedly horrible fate of growing up in their own countries, communities, and families.” This phenomenon is called the White Savior Complex and is highly problematic.

Conclusion

Most of the research that has been done on this topic covers the ins and outs of the commodification of orphans as objects of charity and its implications on child protection. One gap in this research that I found is the affect that all of this has on these children or so-called orphans. Further research could look more into the psychology of all of this by studying the emotional affects that it has on these children. “It” being the removal of children from their families and home countries because of this problematic White Savior Complex.

Bibliography

• “(Kristen) KE Cheney.” Erasmus University Rotterdam, https://www.eur.nl/en/people/kristen-cheney.
• Bergey, Amy. “The Effect of International Adoption as an Orphan Care Method in Uganda.” Southeastern University FireScholars, 2015, pp. 1–60., https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7289/2c0c7ebdb079db1ec8507e99b86247b71df6.pdf.
• Cheney, Kristen E. “The Cognitive Dissonance between Child Rescue and Child Protection.” OpenDemocracy, 21 July 2015, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/cognitive-dissonance-between-child-rescue-and-child-protection/.
• Doore, Kathryn E. Van. “Paper Orphans: Exploring Child Trafficking for the Purpose of Orphanages.” The International Journal of Children’s Rights, vol. 24, no. 2, 2016, pp. 378–407., doi:10.1163/15718182-02402006.
• Freidus, Andrea, and Anne Ferguson. Vulnerable Children: Global Challenges in Education, Health, Well-Being, and Child Rights. Springer, 2013.