Introduction
The Cambridge Dictionary defines adoption as 'the act of legally taking a child to be taken care of as your own.' (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). It is something that can give children a better life when their parents are not there or are not fit to take care of them. Even though certain guidelines say that every child has the right to grow up in a family environment, this is not always possible. Sometimes this can even mean that a child can be taken out of their country of origin to grow up in a stable and loving environment. This form of adoption is called intercountry adoption and has sparked controversy in recent years with even celebrities adopting children from other countries. This controversy is especially present around adoption from third-world countries. On the one hand, it is seen as a way to help a child grow up in a better environment but on the other hand, many feel that it is a form of exploitation and that when adoption becomes transracial children can lose their ethnic identity. Another issue surrounding intercountry adoption is whether the adoption system works in protecting children. When trying to figure out whether adoption is ethical there are three things to be looked at: The first is why people adopt, the next is what kind of effect intercountry adoption has on children, and last whether the adoption system can be fixed or altered to ensure the wellbeing of children.
Why do people adopt?
When looking at the question of whether adoption is fair, it is important to consider why people adopt children. There are different types of reasons why people choose to adopt. First are medical reasons. One of the most common reasons for adoption is infertility. Some couples cannot have a biological child even after months or even years of treatments and use adoption as a last resort to still have children or because they know for certain they will have a child at the end of the process, whereas this can be uncertain with infertility treatments. Then some women have medical issues that make it either impossible or very dangerous for them to be pregnant. For them, adoption is also an option to become a mother without risking their health. The last medical reason is that some couples are worried that they will pass down a genetic disease or disorder. If they are aware that there is a high risk of passing a disease down to a biological child, they could opt for adoption instead to ensure that they have a healthy child.
In some cases, it is impossible to have children the natural way. A single man or woman could realize that without a partner there is no way to have children the natural way and so adoption is one of the only other options to still become a parent. Same-sex couples could also decide to adopt if they do not want only one of the parents to have a genetic connection to the child through for example IVF.
Some couples choose to adopt because they want an older child. They might not be ready to raise a child from birth and adopt a teenager because they are more interested or prepared for that. Other couples decide that they want their child to be a certain gender and adopt so that this gender is guaranteed. The incorporation of different ethnicities into a family can be another incentive for couples to adopt. The issue with the reasoning of wanting a specific ethnicity is that many find it unnecessary and even exploitation of the child to adopt them just for the sole reason of wanting a different ethnicity within a family. This often results in intercountry or interracial adoption which could lead to a negative effect on the children or family when not thought through.
Another type of motive for adoption could be to help out family or friends. Some couples adopt the child of a friend or family member who is not capable of raising the child or because the mother is not ready to have a child and has other life plans. In other cases when a parent gets remarried the stepparent can adopt the stepchild to gain legal benefits and blend the family.
People also adopt because they want to help a child in need. They want to offer a child safety and stability that they wouldn’t have otherwise. This is often the case with intercountry adoption because people think they can give the child a better upbringing in a different country where there is more opportunity. When couples adopt for this reason it brings issues since some consider it as doing a good deed and can make a child feel like they should always be grateful which in turn can affect them negatively.
Religion can also influence couples to adopt. Some people feel like it is their calling due to their religion or ethical values. In this case, it is not just because they want a child but because adoption may have been something, they believed they had to do for years.
Adoption is also common for people who were adopted themselves. If it worked out well for them, they may want to give the same opportunity to someone else. Couples could also be inspired by people close to them who have adopted children and consider it to add to their family (American Adoptions, 2011).
What effect does intercountry adoption have on children?
The positive effects of adoption are that a child gets to grow up with more opportunities than they would have had where they were from. They can be raised in a safe, loving environment that can offer them stability. That would be the argument that is used to defend intercountry adoption when looking at how it impacts the lives of the children. Despite this argument, many arguments against it claim a negative effect on children.
According to UNICEF, there have been more and more efforts to ensure that adoptions are transparent, non-exploitative, legal and work to benefit the children and families involved. The issue is that in some cases adoptions do not meet the requirements and the procedures in place are not effective in preventing unethical practices such as child trafficking, child abduction, coercion of birth parents, bribery, and forgery of documents (UNICEF, 2015).
Although it is argued that helping one child is better than helping none. Many critics argue that intercountry adoption only helps a comparatively small number of children and might obstruct countries from creating programs that would benefit most of the children who suffer due to poverty or political issues. Birth parents suffering poverty and hardship are often more vulnerable to coercion into giving up their child for financial gain and because of limited post-adoption contact opportunities these children often become completely disconnected from their heritage. The growth in intercountry adoption and the increase in the supply and demand of children have created market-related conditions for the legitimate trade of children. Under these circumstances, it becomes very hard to protect the rights of the child since the nature of adoptions becomes commercial. This also raises concerns that the adoption process’s legality could become less of a concern due to the wealth of the adopter or agency. Then there is also the concern that intercountry adoptions could be used for trafficking, which is often ignored. This also is a major risk for children who are already in a very vulnerable position (ZERO TO THREE Corner, 2010).
Intercountry adoption is often transracial, which can have serious effects on both the child and the family involved. Therefore, this is also a very controversial subject to most. The majority of social workers will accept that it is better to place a child with a loving family regardless of their ethnic background and that with sensitive parenting it is possible to keep a child close to their heritage despite a difference in race. Many adoption agencies say that it is better to place a child with a family of the same background since they can offer a child a role model and are more qualified to teach the child about his or her heritage and culture. which adoptive parents may not be fully aware of or prepared for at the time of adoption. Why this is important because studies show that international adoptees are often confused about their race, ethnicity, and cultural identity, along with this they also often experience discrimination and racism which some families may not be equipped to deal with if they have not had the same experiences. Culture usually has a positive meaning but for some adopted children it can be associated with loss, deprivation, or abuse. When there is no one in place to help a child deal with their feelings and connect to their culture positively it can cause behavioral or mental issues (Time, n.d.; NCBI, 2005).
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What also tends to happen with intercountry adoption is that it is expected that adoptees are grateful for the new life they have been given. It is seen as ungrateful when these adoptees share feelings of pain, uncertainty, or homesickness because the adoptive parents see themselves as savior who should be thanked. When it is suggested that these adoptees need to quiet down about their feelings not only denies the child their rights but also puts them in a situation where they do not feel like part of the family but feel like charity instead (Time, n.d.).
Children who have been adopted internationally often come from completely different cultures and deprived settings, which means that when they arrive at their new home, they will have to make major adjustments very quickly. For many children, this goes well but for some, this transition can be difficult and cause certain behavioral, developmental, and mental health issues. Internationally adopted children also are at a greater risk of exposure to infectious diseases, malnutrition, or other illnesses. In certain cases, adoptive parents are not fully aware of or prepared for these risks which can affect the child negatively (ZERO TO THREE Corner, 2010; NCBI, 2005).
One of the worst problems in adoption is also referred to as child laundering which means that a child is illegally taken from its birthparents and then the official adoption process is used to bring this child into a different country as legally adopted. When this occurs, the parents are often coerced into giving up their child with the promise of financial gain or the child is abducted. Not only is this illegal, but it means that there was no reason for this child to be taken from their family and no reason to put them through a mentally straining process that completely alters their life. (Save the Children, 2012)
Can the international adoption system be fixed or altered to ensure the well-being of children?
The adoption system can be fixed but it will take a lot of change to do so, so the question is whether those changes will be made. The 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions was already a large step towards reforming the adoption system. It is currently approved by 95 countries and sets out obligations for the authorities in the countries that send and receive adoptees. The Convention is designed to ensure ethical and transparent processes consider the best interests of the children and deliver the basis for the application of the ethics concerning inter-country adoption that is part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These obligations are making sure that only competent authorities authorize adoptions, with informed permission from all parties included, that intercountry adoption has the same standards as national adoptions, and that intercountry adoption does not cause inappropriate financial gain (UNICEF, 2015).
Even though the 1993 Hague Convention was a major step in fixing the intercountry adoption system, a lot more will have to be done for it to work as intended. In a way the adoption system legitimizes allows and maybe even causes practices such as stealing, kidnapping, trafficking, and buying of children. this can happen because of certain faults in the laws and practices in the adoption system.
The reforms that should be put in place are that agencies should be required to reveal the fees of intercountry adoption to adoptive parents in a standard format that is detailed to ensure that all the money is used as intended. These fees should only go to a certain limit to combat the parties involved making more profit than is reasonable. Along with the reforms about fees, the agencies need to be able to be held accountable through liability insurance and should also be held accountable for their foreign partners. Lastly, the licensing and regulations for adoption agencies should be more strict
There are certain complications with implementing these reforms, one being that it is doubtful that they will be popular within the adoption agencies. Another is that families in developing countries are vulnerable and do not have a voice in most countries that bring in a lot of adopted children. Their kids usually do not even know about their origins and the fact that they were illegally taken and if they do, they usually will not come forward. In politics, it is probably also not a priority since the families in sending countries are not a part of the country they are sent to, and so they are invisible to the government of the receiving country and those governments are also dealing with more pressing matters. Even the authorities that are supposed to target child trafficking and children’s rights might disregard this issue if they are directed to focus on trafficking for sex or labor.
(Child laundering: how the intercountry adoption system legitimizes and incentivizes the practices of buying, trafficking, kidnapping, and stealing children, 2006)
Conclusion
The question of whether adoption from third-world countries is ethical is a difficult one and may to some always remain unanswerable. The answer to this question was found using three sub-questions:
- Why do people adopt?
- What effect does intercountry adoption have on children?
- Can the international adoption system be fixed or altered to ensure the well-being of children?
From the answer to the first sub-question, one can conclude that there are a lot of reasons why people choose to adopt and that there are certain reasons that have caused further scrutiny by critics because they could seem as if they are not in the best interest of the child. The next sub-question gives alternative outcomes to how a child is affected depending on how the process works but even in the best case could still have some sort of a negative effect, which would already give enough reason to say that intercountry adoption might not be the best option. The last sub-question complicates the final answer even more since the adoption system can be fixed but if nothing changes it could be better not to risk putting children in such a vulnerable position. All in all, the question of whether adoption from third world countries should be answered with yes or no.
Yes, it is ethical if the adoptive parents do it for the right reasons, are given the right resources to be able to give their child the guidance needed in that situation, and if the adoption process goes legally as it was intended to.
No, it is not ethical when adoptive parents do not choose adoption for the right reason, are not prepared to give the child the guidance needed, and when the system fails.
Bibliography
- ADOPTION | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2018, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/adoption
- Intercountry adoption. (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2018, from https://www.unicef.org/media/intercountry-adoption
- Intercountry Adoption [PDF]. (2012, June).
- Laurance, J. (2006, October 6). Adopt children from the developing world? The Independent. doi:https://www.independent.co.uk/
- Rochat, T., & Richter, L. (2010, July). International Adoption: Benefits, Risks, and Vulnerabilities. Retrieved January 3, 2019, from https://perspectives.waimh.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/05/Zero-to-Three-Corner.-International-Adoption-Benefits-Risks-and-Vulnerabilities.pdf
- Smolin, D. M. (2006). CHILD LAUNDERING: HOW THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION SYSTEM LEGITIMIZES AND INCENTIVIZES THE PRACTICES OF BUYING, TRAFFICKING, KIDNAPING, AND STEALING CHILDREN [PDF].
- Valby, K. (n.d.). The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race. Retrieved December 20, 2018, from http://time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/
- Weitzman, C., & Albers, L. (2005, October). Long-term developmental, behavioral, and attachment outcomes after international adoption. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16154469
- 'What does adoption mean to a child?' (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2019, from https://www.americanadoptions.com/adopt/why-people-adopt
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