Comments on: Is International Adoption Slowly Dying? Thoughts from the JCICS Conference

By: alice

alice — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:29:37 +0000

I have three children adopted internationally. Doctors have told us our son would surely have died if he had not been adopted. He had an undiagnosed medical problem that required emergency care. So he would have been better off dead in his home country than alive and thriving here in my home? He’s nine now. He is a joy to everyone who knows him and he is certainly glad he was adopted. The attitude that abortion is a solution for child abandonment is sickening, and the idea that these children will all be adopted in their home countries is naive.

By: Tracie

Tracie — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:42:43 +0000

If there were no longer a need for international adoption then that would be one thing. However, large organizations aren’t the ones wasting away in hell hole orphanages now are they? I don’t think the need could be greater, and international adoption is an awesome chance for children to be matched with the families that EVERY child deserves.

By: ptaj80

ptaj80 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:48:22 +0000

I think the requerements are being more and more selective. This way less and less people are able to adopt from other countries.
My husband and I would love to adopt children from China but we don;t meet one of the requirements we can’t even try to apply.
Plus, there are group opposing international adoption which i think is very silly in a world where we are becoming “global”.

By: Tori

Tori — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:48:38 +0000

My husband and I are saving money to adopt internationally. We have been involved in the juvenile “justice” system domestically and my husband will not again consider adopting domestically. However, international adoption is SO expensive there is no telling if it will be around by the time we save the money to adopt.

I am a HUGE supporter of international adoption, as well as domestic adoption. As long as there are children without parents, living in orphanages, and on the streets I believe we are obligated to do something about this horrific crisis.

By: Veronika

Veronika — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:03:59 +0000

Yes, I think international adoption is dying, but not because there is less of a need for international adoption. I think it’s because of the big international organisations who are opposed to international adoption and will do anything to abolish it. The organisations claiming to care for the children, but will do anything to make the adoption of those children impossible. While it sounds so good on paper to cry about children being removed from their culture, what does growing up in their culture help if they’re prostitutes on the streets or get caught up in trafficing rings? People who adopt from overseas usually go to a great deal of trouble to preserve their children’s culture and I dare say those adopted children will get greater exposure to their ethnic culture than those having to prostitute themselves to survive. I know there are adoptees who oppose international adoption because of their own feelings and experiences, but who are they to decide that everyone feels the same and there should not be international adoption? Have they ever given thought to what their lives would have been if they were not adopted? You would not have grown up with your biological parents, no matter how much you would like to believe that it was the alternative to adoption. You would have most probably grown up in a culture where there is not much love or opportunity for those who grow up as orphans. Recognise that international adoption is a GREAT option for TRUE orphans, children who would have grown up in orphanages with no other alternatives, not children who are bought and sold to fill demand. Recognise that millions of children are going without things you have every day – love, care, family – just so some can take the moral high ground. And abortion is not the answer to children living in orphanges. Those children has AS MUCH right to live and be loved as those who see slaughtering them before birth as a solution to their circumstances.

By: Von

Von — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:03:41 +0000

This is good news for the long term future of adoptees who will not suffer the trauma of removal from families, culture, country and religion.Hopefully there will be more support for mothers, better contaception and abortion available.

By: shawncoons

shawncoons — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:41:14 +0000

I can’t really judge if the death of international adoption would be a good thing without knowing what happens to the children as an alternative.

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Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:44:42 +0000

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By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:16:28 +0000

I find the hostile environment from some camps on the internet these days toward international adoption jarring.

Yes, it would be far better for these children to remain within their countries. But if a child had a choice between living in dire poverty – working on the streets – or having a loving home, wouldn’t the child be better off in a living home?

Many children living and working on the streets typically do not survive past the age of eighteen. Read about it here:
http://www.chosen-generation.org/how-do-street-children-end.html

Far better for them to be raised in safe environment than to lose their “culture”.

All that being said, however, I don’t think such negative bias is the reason why parents are not adopting internationally as much as before.

Instead, I believe the problem is the high cost of adopting from overseas. Between the international fees, the home study, agency fees and travel expenses, the cost is far too high for most American families, especially in this recession.

But adopting internationally can be done with sufficient planning, budgeting and fundraising efforts, such as garage sales, puzzle fundraisers and other efforts.

By: Adam E

Adam E — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:30:45 +0000

So far it’s been my experience that the wait from China has been a large motivating factor to consider adopting elsewhere. I’ve noticed that the numbers have dropped, but I wonder if there’s a way to consider the number of people still waiting.