Inter-Country Adoption

Inter-Country Adoption.
In 1980 I wrote an essay on inter-country adoption.  I want to revisit what I said at that time.  Inter-country adoption is in the news lately as Russia has decided not to allow their children to be adopted out of country.  Currently about 136,000 (2008) children are adopted each year.  Of this number, about 13 to 14 percent are inter-country adoptions.  https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/adopted0708.pdf

There were 5,633 transnational adoptions in 1975, which represented a big increase over previous years.  Inter-country adoption continued to expand.  This increase in the rate of adoption occurred during a time when the total number of adoptions was going down.  In the article I wrote, I speculated several reasons for this trend.

The increased number of abortions affected the number of children available for adoption.  In 1976 there were 1,115,000 abortions in the United States.  The number of abortions peeked in 1990 when 1.6 million abortions were performed and since there has been a slow decline.  However, there has not been a year with less than 1,000,000 abortions.  In 2008 there were 1.21 million abortions in the U.S.  They rate has been steady at 1.2 million abortions annually for some time.  With this number of abortions, the number of children available for adoption has decreased.

Another force leading to a lack of adoptable children is the number of children being kept by their birth parents.  In 1980 it was estimated 93 percent of mothers who were to bear illegitimate children planned to keep them. 

The trend of available white babies fell steadily for some time, and has never recovered.  Much of the focus for adoption went to social services and efforts to get children permanent homes rather than languishing in foster care.  In 2008 half of all adoptions were through private parties.  This would include stepparent adoption.  Over a third of the adoptions were through social service agencies.  Finally about fifteen percent are inter-country adoptions.
Another factor which has influenced the number of international adoptions was a change in attitudes of people towards people of different ethnic backgrounds.  To summarize this subject I quoted from Inter-country Adoption guidelines 1980:
As the availability of young adoptive children in the United States lessened, and as more parents sought to adopt, the inter-country adoption movement gained momentum.  Increased numbers of families began to seek out foreign-born children, not only through the more established U.S. based agencies, but also through independent search of the contacts within countries that placed orphaned children for adoption with families in the United States.

Adopting a child internationally can be a complex process, with the U.S. government being involved, State governments, foreign governments as well as local agencies.  A visa is required to bring the child into the country.  INS requires a home study be completed.  The example of Russia, which recently said they would not let children be adopted in the U.S. highlights some of these problems.  This is more a political issues, but it was justified in the minds of the Russian government by the for-profit nature of the adoption business. 

There are a couple of things to be aware of with regards to inter-country adoption.  Some couples have brought children home with inaccurate information about their history or health history.  At times children have been adopted with a history of sexual molestation, and the adopted family was not aware.  Also there have been children placed with serious health problems.  Some countries do not do thorough medical examinations before a child is sent for adoption.

Perhaps a more serious problem is helping children adjust to their new environment.  Dr.  T Barry Brazelton contended there was a condition known as adjustment shock which made children newly placed more susceptible to mental as well as physical ailment.  None severe illness could become severe when placed on top of an adjustment shock.  Also there is a shock experienced by a family.  In a pregnancy, the family has nine months to prepare.  Such is not always the case with adoption where there is uncertainty about the actual timing of the placement. 

Another issue with regards to children, as they age is that of identity.  Adopted children deal with an identity, generally during teenage years.  “Who am I?” is a common question.  This crisis can be more serious for those who not only experience personal identity issues, but also social identity issues.  However, studies have determined that this effect is not as serious as might be expected.  Differences in adjusting may depend on the home rather than the adoption of the child.  (see Melissa Norvell and Rebecca Guy, “A comparison of Self-concept in Adopted and Non-adopted Adolescents.  Adolescence, Vol 12(47) Fall 1977.

As a result of these concerns, there has been a trend to more open adoptions, and helping children contact birth parents.  However truthfully, only a small percentage of children have these issues.

Inter-country will exist as long as there are parents seeking adoptive children, and children needing homes.  It has been a great resource for helping children have a stable life, when they would flounder otherwise.  I concluded this essay, quoting a song by Vivencia, a group from Argentina.  This song reminds me of children (and sometimes adults) who use to come onto the buses or trains and leave candy on the seats, hoping someone would take the candy and leave money.  You can see the lyrics here with English translation;http://whilhelmsthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/02/vivencia-pequeno-pasajero.html or listen to the song.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI2l4JtC6Sk