Search Results for: blog exporting chi

On the Child Sent Back to Russia

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It’s been nearly a month since two nations were stunned by the actions of an adoptive mother and grandmother, who put a seven-year-old adopted from Russia on a plane to Moscow as an unaccompanied minor. He bore a note addressed to the Russian Ministry of Education from his adoptive mother. Apparently his grandmother, who lived next door to his adoptive mother in Tennessee, had spoken with a driver in Russia and hired him to meet the party at the airport and drive to the Russian Ministry of Education. The driver was under the impression, from phone calls the week before, … Continue reading →

China Adoption Book Review: Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son

Kay Ann Johnson is a professor of Asian Studies and Politics at Hampshire College. Yet when she adopted her daughter from a Chinese orphanage in 1991, she felt not only the anxiety of participating in what was then a new adoption program, but also a great desire to learn more about her daughter’s story, or at least the story of many girls like her. Why are children, especially girls, abandoned in China? What consequences—emotional and practical—do the birthparents face? Do most foundlings enter the orphanage system? Johnson’s 2004 book, Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption and Orphanage Care … Continue reading →

Issues Illuminated in The Waiting Child

Last week I wrote about Cindy’s Champnella’s book The Waiting Child: How the Faith and Love of One Orphan Saved the Life of Another, which tells the incredible story of her four-year-old daughter’s campaign to find a family for a toddler she had been assigned to take care of at her orphanage. In addition to the central story of trying to bring their daughter’s ill-nourished “baby” to the U.S., the book also deals with many aspects of adoption: the “voluntary donation” fees paid to orphanages, the deprivation some children have experienced in the orphanages, fears and insecurities in older children, … Continue reading →

Book Review: A Euro-American on a Korean Tour at a Thai Restaurant in China

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The uniqueness of A Euro-American on a Korean Tour at a Thai Restaurant in China is that adoptive parent Chris Winston has not only encouraged her children to feel pride in their Korean heritage, but has made connections with Koreans and Korean-Americans on a scale most adoptive parents have only dimly imagined. Winston helped to begin both Friends of Korea, a regional group (in Sacramento) for adoptive families that welcomes anyone interested in Korea, and the Korean American Adoptee/Adoptive Family Network (KAAN), a national networking organization linking groups and individuals concerned with adoption from Korea. Winston and her husband had … Continue reading →

A Sampling of Overseas Child Welfare Efforts by U.S. Adoption Agencies

A common phrase one hears from good adoption organizations is, “We’re not in the business of finding children for parents; we’re in the service of finding parents for children.” One measure of this “children first” philosophy can be an agency’s commitment to helping those children who will not be adopted. It is common for agencies including Holt, Children’s Home Society and Family Services, Catholic Community Services, WACAP and others to partner with organizations in sending countries to support children’s homes, orphanages, and medical facilities in sending countries. Some of these partner agencies sponsor job training and counseling for unwed mothers … Continue reading →

Will a “Perfect” Child Cost More?

Does a “Perfect” child cost more? There has long been a perception that agencies will “charge” whatever they want for a healthy infant, especially if blonde and blue-eyed, while parents who can pay less will be offered “damaged” children. It goes without saying that it is offensive to speak about children as if they were goods to be purchased. So is there any truth at all to these perceptions? First of all, adoption agencies do not set “prices” for specific children. Adoption fees represent the cost of a homestudy, the agency overhead for office space and operations, salaries of children’s … Continue reading →

“Exporting” Children?

Here are a few of the comments I’ve gotten when people learn I’ve adopted internationally: “I could never do international adoption. I don’t believe in bribery.” “How much cash did you have to carry under your clothes?” The question I find most surprising comes when I mention that the Korean agency took a while to approve us while they satisfied themselves that my health condition would not unduly limit me as a parent. People get a puzzled look on their face and blurt out “Why would they care?” (A few clueless souls have even done this in front of the … Continue reading →

Animal Relocation Initiative

My dog Chihiro was born in Arkansas. It might have been a bit of a head-scratcher how a young puppy made it across several states in order to be adopted from a shelter in the Washington, DC area before she turned four months old. I wasn’t perplexed, however, because before I even found my dog I was already familiar with the concept of rescue transport. When I lived in Baltimore I roomed for a while with a friend who loves Dachshunds. She adores the breed so much that she’s very active with the Coast to Coast Dachshund rescue group. One … Continue reading →

Groups Campaign Against Canadian Seal Hunt

This year, the Canadian government has set the quota for its yearly seal hunt higher than ever. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) set the quota at 468,200 harp, Grey, and hood seals. That is an increase of almost 150,000 from last year. Why would people want to kill the seals? There are a lot of products that can be made from seals such as fur coats, bags, and clothing, but still others want them for the meat, oil, blubber and even seal oil for the making of some omega-3 pills. Reports say there are about 6,000 seal … Continue reading →

Concerns with the Hague Convention Requirements

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My last blog was an overview of the Hague Convention on International Adoption, a treaty which the U.S. put into effect two years ago and which is still being implemented in many countries, although some countries have chosen to continue adoption as usual without joining the Convention. This blog will raise some possible concerns with adoption procedures according to the Hague Convention. Hague-related concerns center not so much on countries that did not adopt the treaty, but with countries which have signed the treaty, but do not have the resources to implement all of its provisions by the effective date. … Continue reading →