The Garrisons


Follow our journey on adoption #3 for child #8!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Adoption Ethics

So, yesterday CBS had a negative story on about Ethiopian adoption. I would love to tell you that my commentary on the piece is going to be objective, but it's not. Stuff like this makes me so angry and the piece was so incomplete, you could hardly say it was unbiased itself. The story accused Ethiopia of child trafficking and unethical adoption. Before I go on, let me say this loud and clear: I am not defending any sort of unethical or immoral behavior in adoption, nor am I denying that it ever occurs. Adoption is no different than anything else - where people are involved, there are bound to be mistakes and sin and the process is bound to be imperfect. Fraud happens in adoption everywhere and I cannot say that it has never happened in Ethiopian adoption, so that is not my point.

This 'news' story highlights a family that has been in the news before with their story about their Ethiopian adoption of 3 older girls. The girls' mother had passed away, but the father was still alive and well. The problem is, the girls have said that their father was paid to give them up and that the girls thought they were coming to America for an education. Apparently, they thought they were returning to Ethiopia when the adoption was complete. So, CBS used this story to raise questions about Ethiopian adoption in general and imply that the entire system is full of corruption and adoption of children who "are not orphans." Let me also say that this post is not a commentary on whether or not this story is true or really happened. I am using it as a spring board to share my thoughts on some questions and concerns the piece raises. If you'd like to watch the whole story, go HERE.

There are a couple of points I'd like to make about this story and about adoption in general.

1. This story implies that "these are not children sitting around in orphanages." REALLY?? How can one even claim that? I have been there and seen them myself. They most certainly are children without homes and families to take care of them. They are sitting in orphanages and they ARE waiting for families. The idea that someone is paying someone - especially for older children who are hard to place - to make money from an adoption is crazy. There are skads of children sitting in orphanages waiting for homes already....there is no need to come up with children to meet the demand. It's ludicrous.

2. Ethiopian adoption is not big business. Last year, in 2009, there were 2277 Ethiopian adoptions in the US. There are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. MOST children in need of a home in Ethiopia will not get one. Adoption is a blessing to those whose lives it touches, but it is a dream that will not happen for most of these children.

3. Another point made here, and one I've seen made elsewhere is that "these children are not really orphans." I suppose, in some cases, that depends on how you define orphan. If you mean that both of their parents are dead, then maybe some of them aren't. But if you mean that these children do not have families, a place to belong, or adults to take care of them then they most certainly are.
This is one thing that bugs me. Adoptive parents often beat themselves up because they wonder if their child would be better off with their biological family, or feel guilty because they perceive their child was given up due to poverty, treatable sickness, or hardship. The fact is, most of those are true. Most of these children probably were given up because of one of those factors and a smaller number probably have two deceased parents. Does it matter?
Here's the thing: We, as adoptive parents, did not create our children's situation. We did not twist anyone's arm to give up their child. By the time we came on the scene, the child was already in the orphanage....What are we to do then? Not respond because we don't like the reasons they were relinquished? Who are we, as Americans, who are warm and well-fed, to judge another for the decisions they make in situations we cannot begin to imagine?? Yes, of course it is sad that their parents and/or family had to make these heartbreaking decisions....I am not making light of that. But that is not the point here. The point is, we are called to respond to those in need, not to judge or decide if someone is in need because of worthy reasons.

4. In response to "most of these children are not true orphans", I also say this: If you adopted in the United States, most of those children also have a living parent. We don't think anything about that. Why are these children, who are born in a third world country, any less deserving of a family than these American children? The point is this: If these children do not have a loving family or a place to belong, they need us to step up and be that for them. Yes, it's sad that they were often given up due to desperate situations, but they were still given up and they still need us to love them and call them our own. If Christians would rise up and be the hands and feet of Jesus to the poverty stricken around the world in a real and tangible way, many of these families wouldn't be faced with the difficult decisions to give up their children.....but that's another post for another day. If you don't feel called to adopt, but want to fulfill the mandate to care for these children, then do just that. Find a way to connect with an organization or individuals making a difference for these poverty stricken families.....support them so they can keep their kids.

5. The last thing I want to say is that I found Ethiopia to be very conscious of doing right by these children and very careful in making sure that each child was an orphan and was in fact adoptable. During Elijah's referral and court period, there was actually a stop put on court dates for abandoned children because they were being sure that there was no corruption in the system. Many people do not pass thru court the first time because they want to see careful and complete documentation. Our agency, America World, is thorough and cautious in their process as well. I never had any doubts about the ethics or morality of our adoption.

It makes me sad that pieces like this come out and cast doubt in people's mind. There are so many children counting on us to make a difference for them, and some will be stopped because of one story on the evening news telling them the system is flawed. There were no highlights of the wonderful, honest agencies doing good, hard work on behalf of the children. There were no stories told of successful adoptions that had made a difference for families and for kids. I guess that doesn't make for interesting news.

17 comments:

Barbra said...

Excellent, Kathy. Sharing this.

heidi r weimer said...

EXCELLENT response! I'm reposting on FB, b/c I didn't have the energy to write this myself! Well done!

Jen said...

Well said, Kathy. I wholeheartedly agree!

Kat said...

Kathy, thanks for your response! Stories like those make me so angry. I wish one of those journalists would go there and see what an orphanage really is like. If they saw 4 babies to a crib and 16 babies in a room the size of our bathroom, they might reconsider!

Mary Beth said...

Thank you so much for this well-written response. My husband and I adopted our son from Ethiopia last year, and have just begun the process to adopt again. We've been working so hard to raise awareness among our family and friends, and I hate that this biased CBS piece could cast doubts in their minds. I hope you don't mind that I posted a link to this on facebook.

Amy @ Literacy Launchpad said...

Thanks for this great post! I wrote something myself, but not nearly this good. :) I also posted this on my facebook page.

Tracy said...

The CBS story was spawned from the irresponsible ABC Australia story that broadcast last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQoqih4iTss

Please take time to listen to the link below that speaks direclty to this sort of careless journalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ5dVI_zXQc

Heidi W said...

Wow, I know the family in this broadcast personally, and their particular adoption story is appalling. The news story did not do justice to them or their story. It is too bad that CBS felt that they could fit an entire piece into a few moments and do any sort of justice to it. But don't judge this family based on that news piece... just as I wouldn't want anyone to judge international adoption based on one agency.

Jason Egly said...

Thank you for this ... for "defending the cause of the fatherless" so eloquently.

Jason Egly
abeautifultapestry.blogspot.com

Tymm said...

Amen. Amen. Amen.

So well said and perfectly on point.

THANK YOU!!

Kristi J said...

Awesome post!! So well said, kristi

Audrey said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! Some friends of our are meeting with difficulties in their adoption right now because of how thorough the people want to be in making sure the adoption is legitamite. I have one tiny thing to add: if someone is concerned about child trafficking, adopt a child with HIV or other special needs who, in most cases, need a family even more than the healthy ones to escape being put in an institution. thanks again for this encouraging post!

Chalk Inscriptions said...

I wanted to share this story with you since I know you are following Drawn From Water. Take Care!

http://chalkinscriptions.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/africa-2-what-was-and-what-should-have-been/

Anonymous said...

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

I've been trying to write something similar but words have just escaped me. You hit the nail right on the head!

Anonymous said...

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

I've been trying to write something similar but words have just escaped me. You hit the nail right on the head!

Emmett Joseph said...

Just found your blog, and I can't wait to read all about your son. My husband and I are interested in international adoption, and I am really feeling "tugged" towards Ethiopia. It looks like it was a perfect fit for you!
-Missy

Anonymous said...

The story is actually accurate, sadly. So is the Lisa Boe case. They are the only ones so far of numerous families I know of that are brave enough to come forward and hold the agency accountable to protect the children and more families from being devastated. We were victims of the same fraud by the same agency and have the same response from their attorney. In addition, our children have lifelong injuries due to what happened in the care of the agency. Just because there was a lot of fraud all over the world doesn't mean the fraud that is from one agency and is reoccuring multiple times from the same agency shouldn't be spoken out against and lead to reform. If you are paying what we had to, we deserve the right to know everything the agency knows prior to accepting the referrals... before it is quickly pushed through court and unreversible.