WITHOUT BLINDERS: Ethical considerations in international adoptions BY ANTON FLORES
and social justice. However, living a God-honoring life is not without its complications. It was not until we had already committed to adopting Jairo and our bond to him was already formed that we learned of the existence of a vocal community of activists opposed to foreign adoptions of children from developing countries like Guatemala. The number of families from industrialized countries (mostly North America and Europe) adopting children from primarily less-industrialized countries is growing at an astronomical rate.Taking the United States as an example, we see that in 1992 American families adopted 6,472 children from foreign lands; in 1997 that number nearly doubled to 12,743; and in 2002 the numbers swelled to 20,099. But Leslie Doty Hollingsworth, associate professor of social work at the University of Michigan, contends that international adoptions are not only the result of social injustice but also that this injustice directly benefits families of industrialized nations. In a recent journal article (“International Adoption Among Families in the United States: Considerations of Social Justice,” Social Work, April 2003), Hollingsworth accurately describes the historical development of international adoptions as resulting from various factors, including wars (World War II, the Korean War), poverty (Central and South America), the fall of communism (Eastern Europe), and oppressive governmental policies (China). The director of an orphanage in Guatemala once lamented to me that she prays for the day when adoption agencies will no longer seek out children for families but instead seek out families for children.The difference may be subtle, but it is nonetheless significant. In the latter scenario, the child’s needs are central to the adoption; in the former, the prospec-
My eldest son, Jairo, is a joy to his parents. He’s creative like his father, sensitive like his mother, and energetic like all 5year-old boys. But Jairo was not born into our family.The youngest of three children born to a poor, indigenous woman in the highlands of Guatemala, just across the border from Chiapas, Mexico, Jairo joined our family in 2000. Adopting Jairo was a transformational experience for my wife and me, the result of several years of deliberation and prayer. Holding to a consistent-life ethic, we found ourselves growing weary of the endless debates about abortion and longed to find a new position that would not only incarnate our convictions but also act as a bridge between two polarized communities. Adoption seemed like the answer to our prayers. We believe that if members of the “pro-choice” community argue that a woman has the right to choose whether— or not—to abort a fetus, then they also have a moral responsibility to care for children whose mothers choose to make them available for adoption.We also believe that if members of the “pro-life” community argue that a woman should never willingly terminate a pregnancy, then they, too, have an ethical obligation to care for children whose mothers cannot or will not raise them. We believe that by being both “pro-child” and “pro-adoption” we can demonstrate an alternative perspective that unites these two polarized factions. Furthermore, the concept of adoption resonates with our Christian faith. Scripture clearly paints a picture of believers being adopted into the family of God. And so the idea of adopting a child not only became a compelling desire for us but also struck us as a calling from God. We felt God was leading us to have both biological and adopted children and that adoption was a perfect way to merge spiritual obedience
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that, in spite of this egregious state of affairs, there exists a way to bring together the macro-perspective advocates, who rightly insist upon eradicating institutional social ills, and those who hold the micro-perspective, that adoption rescues a child from what would quite likely be a life of abject poverty in a substandard orphanage. Within the field of adoption, that way is through the promotion of ethical adoptions. What exactly is meant by the term “ethical adoptions,” and how can a couple ensure that their adoption is ethical? Ethica, Inc. (www.ethicanet.org) is an advocacy group whose sole mission is the advancement of ethical adoption services. According to Ethica, ethical adoption services would employ the following strategies: • Hold family preservation as a priority • Provide birth-family counseling and advocacy • Require adequate pre-adoption training for adoptive parents • Engage in ethical placement practices • Provide post-adoption services and recognize their lifelong responsibilities to the adoptive family and child.
tive parents’ desires are considered foremost. An increasing number of single adults and same-sex couples are choosing to adopt children. In addition, we must not forget about the growing number of people, such as my wife and myself, who are what a Guatemalan Embassy official termed “humanitarian” adoptive families, a group of families that he nonetheless insists only perpetuate the problem for the poorest in Guatemala. That belief is based on the opinion that international adoption has become big business in Guatemala, and therefore the laws of supply and demand apply to Guatemalan adoptions. If people continue to demand Guatemalan children, a supply will be found—regardless of ethics or law. Consider that the average annual income in Guatemala is only US$1,640 and that the female income in urban Guatemala is only 55 percent of her male counterpart’s. When the typical adoption in that country costs about US$24,000, the enticement for wrongdoing is obvious and the ground for corruption is fertile. Even a cursory look into adoption issues reveals that allegations abound of Guatemalan children being “bought” from their birthmothers for as little as US$300 by exploitive adoption professionals. International human rights organizations like UNICEF and Casa Alianza have, for years, decried the inhumanities that poor Guatemalan families have had to endure while Guatemalan officials (real or alleged) involved in the adoption “business” unscrupulously amass wealth by manipulating the misery of a largely indigenous community. A case in point: It is estimated that approximately 200 attorneys in Guatemala work in the field of adoption, resulting in a US$60-million-a-year business for these attorneys.With 98 percent of all Guatemalan adoptees going to international families, skeptics refer to that country’s children as one of its most valuable exports. In view of these facts, can an international adoption ever be ethical? Can an adoption from a country like Guatemala —the fourth most popular country for Americans seeking to adopt (after China, Russia, and South Korea) and the one that provides the greatest number of children per capita for adoption in the United States—ever meet the standards of a justice-loving Christian? A child becomes an orphan largely because of structural evils that we as a global society refuse to address. Civil and international wars, famines, corrupt governments, the subjugation of women and children, and pure greed are all complicit. International adoptees are, in large part, the result of the exploitation of the world’s poorest families, and they come to our homes all too frequently via the despicable practices of child abduction and trafficking. Given this situation, should Christians abandon the notion of adopting a child internationally? I would like to suggest
In the following section I will expand upon Ethica’s views and suggest concrete ways that prospective families can ensure that they are engaging in an ethical adoption.
PRE-ADOPTION 1. Select the best agency possible. First, contact the state licensing office in each of the states where this agency is licensed and inquire about any complaints filed against the agency. Ask how long the agency has been licensed in that state. Although it can be time-consuming, every state should be checked to give an overall perspective of the agency’s track record.To find the corresponding licensing agencies, go to the website of the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (http://www.calib.com/naic). Second, contact the Better Business Bureau in the state where your agency is located and see if any complaints have been filed against it there. Third, use the Internet to investigate. Join online discussion groups with others seeking to adopt, both from your agency and from the country you are considering.This provides not only wonderful support throughout the process but also insider information on possible problems you may encounter along the way. Every agency will have problems; however, one should consider the frequency and severity of the problems that come to your attention. Finally, do not assume that just because an agency calls itself “Christian” that it operates in an ethical fashion.Above all, adoptive parents should want to know that the child they now claim as their own has arrived to them in as ethical and
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legal a manner as possible.While these steps may seem cumbersome, consider it a labor of love.
formation. Second, we have begun to purchase only fairtrade coffee from Guatemalan cooperatives so as to ensure that the women and children who work the fields receive a greater share of the profits.Third, through LaGrange College, where I serve on the faculty, I will be hosting an exhibit and lecture by Nancy McGirr and her organization FotoKids. FotoKids helps children in some of the poorest communities of Guatemala by providing them with training in photography, videography, and graphic design. Scholarships are also provided to offer these students a quality, private education in Guatemala. Finally, I have partnered with Central American Study and Service (CASAS), a program of the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala City, to create an immersion experience in Guatemala that explores the economic and human rights issues affecting its children. By seeking to be a tool for economic development in the developing country of your child’s origin you may find yourself being a prophetic voice for God’s shalom.
2. Consult with your home country’s embassy, located in your prospective child’s country. Ask the agencies you are considering partnering with to provide you with the names and contact information of the foreign staff that you will be relying upon to complete the adoption process in their country; most specifically you should get the name and contact information of your foreign attorney. Contact the unit responsible for issuing visas in your country’s embassy and inform them of your intentions to adopt a child from that country. Next, share with them the name of the attorney that potentially will be representing you in that country.While the embassy cannot share detailed information nor can they recommend an attorney, they should be able to tell you if they have received complaints or if they have concerns about the indicated attorney. If so, you should seek another attorney and possibly another agency.
2. Keep your child connected to her homeland. In addition to travel, decorate your child’s room with authentic articles from her birth country. Read to your child books, folktales, legends, and other stories that originate from her country. Let the traditional and contemporary music of that country fill your home.
3. Learn about the socio-political realities of your prospective child’s country. Acknowledge that adoption is more than a transaction between a family and a child and that it also means the adoption of the child’s culture and environment of origin. Learn about the conditions that have led to the creation of orphans in your prospective child’s country.What are the realities of children and women living in that country?
3. Befriend not only other adoptive families but also individuals and families from your child’s home country. Many adoptive families seek out other adoptive families to build friendships. But don’t stop there—seek out other families that are of the same ethnic background as your child. My family joined a Hispanic church immediately upon adopting Jairo, and that has been an important move for us. Now he interacts on a regular basis with children and adults primarily from Mexico and his homeland of Guatemala. I am Puerto Rican, but the contact with Central Americans and Mexicans through our church has allowed all of us to learn a great deal more about our son’s culture and provide him access to his ancestral roots through a wonderful Christian environment. In conclusion, adoption can be a wonderful gift both to children and to families. Indeed, adoption is at the very heart of who God is. It is now incumbent upon all of us to elevate our current adoption industry by engaging in ethical adoptions. ■
POST-ADOPTION 1. Regularly contribute to an economic-development organization in your child’s country. Once again, an ethical adoption is one that understands the complexities of our global existence and the creation of orphans from both a micro- and macro-perspective.All of us living in the wealthiest nations should consider our obligation to our poorer neighbors; however, I believe an extra responsibility befalls those of us who adopt a child from one of those poor countries.As adoptive families we must do what we can to reduce the number of orphans in our child’s native country. The U.S. Department of State estimates that in Guatemala alone there are approximately 200,000 orphans.To apply this concept, my wife and I have implemented four new actions into our family life. First, through World Vision we have begun to sponsor a little boy from Guatemala who is the same age as Jairo. Doing this not only enables our son to grow up with a pen pal from his homeland whom he will one day visit, but it also allows us to help a child remain with his family while receiving quality healthcare, education, and spiritual
Anton Flores (aflores@lagrange.edu) is assistant professor and chair of the department of human services at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Ga. He and his wife, Charlotte, have two sons, Jairo (5) and Eli (1).
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