This is so disheartening and infuriating. Several times I’ve expressed concerns about adoptions from Vietnam. I was hoping to be wrong, but the baby market again rears its ugly head. It’s sad to think that some adoptive parents are unwittingly benefiting from what amounts to nothing less than child trafficking.
I’ve heard some of the arguments. “They’re better off anyway.” “There is no proof that _____ wasn’t adopted under unethical circumstances.” All I can say in reply is, “Yeah, you tell yourself that if it helps you sleep at night.”
It’s not that I believe all children adopted from Vietnam involved unethical practices, but really, how do you know? Adoptive parents are part of the first line of defense here. Anyone looking to adopt from Vietnam should be very concerned by this news. Even with a high level of safeguards in place, there is no 100% guarantee that a child was not obtained unethically. What little they have in place now leaves a huge crack through which heaven only knows how many children are slipping.
I’m happy to see the US is aware of the problem and is taking measures, but there’s only so much they can do from this end. The rest is up to the Vietnamese government. I hope they do something soon.
Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit
Announcement Regarding Adoption In Vietnam, November 2007In recent months, US Embassy Hanoi and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ho Chi Minh City have seen an increase in the number of irregularities appearing in orphan petitions and visa applications in Vietnam. This has resulted in a similar increase in the issuance of Notices of Intent to Deny.
The ongoing number of irregularities that we are currently seeing strongly indicates that the adoption process in Vietnam still lacks sufficient oversight and regulation. Specifically there is insufficient control of the so-called child finders and an inadequate regulation of the fees paid to individuals and institutions. Despite its stated intention to do so, Vietnam has yet to publish a schedule of fees. We are extremely concerned by reports of significant increases in the number of abandoned children since 2005, especially in the provinces of Phu Tho and Thai Nguyen.
We recognize that a decision to deny a petition is an extremely undesirable outcome for adopting parents and for children, who themselves may be the victims of unscrupulous agents. For this reason, we urge adoptive parents to be extremely diligent in reviewing qualifications and standards before selecting an adoption service provider. Unfortunately, as news stories and blogs often reveal, the glowing report of an adoptive parent who successfully “brought home” a child cannot be taken as evidence that the adoption was ethical or fully legal.
We at the Embassy have a legal responsibility to ensure the integrity of the adoption process when that process is part of the request for an immigrant visa. Moreover, we have an ethical responsibility to ensure that international adoptions include adequate safeguards for the rights of the children, birth parents, and adoptive parents throughout this process.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Intercountry adoptions signed by the U.S. and Vietnam in 2005 was the beginning of a step towards an intercountry adoption program that would meet international standards such as those established by the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions. That convention contains a number or protections and safeguards currently lacking in Vietnam. For that reason, we are urging the Government of Vietnam to push forward with its efforts to become a Hague partner.
The MOU was designed to increase transparency and reduce corruption, and came after a period when adoptions had been suspended in Vietnam because of significant problems involving corruption and “Baby buying.”
We continue to encourage the DIA to work with provincial authorities in Vietnam to improve the integrity of the adoption system. We recognize there may be legitimate questions concerning the DIA authority in these cases. Whatever the cause, to date we have seen little remedial action to address the problems. Even more important, we have seen little if any action to identify and prosecute those responsible for fraudulently documenting the abandonment of children, offering monetary inducements to families for relinquishing children, and offering children for international adoption without the consent of the birth parents.
We strongly endorse international adoption as an important option for Vietnamese children who do not have permanent families. We are deeply concerned, however, by confirmed cases of child selling, and by evidence that children are being released for adoption without the consent of the birth parents.
We are continuing to work with the Government of Vietnam to find ways to strengthen and improve accountability in the adoption system. We continue to urge Vietnam to pass a new, responsible, comprehensive law regulating adoptions, one that puts in place a process that protects the interests of all parties involved in and adoption and one that meets the standards of the Hague Convention. We look forward to the day when both of our countries are full participants in that convention.
Yes it is. And it has been in the forefront of many blogs, sites and forums for adoptive parents for months. The changes in the CIS process are going to do a great deal to filter and catch inconsistencies. Up until this change, the review and any subsequent investigations (if deemed necessary) were not taking place until the adoptive parents and their child were literally sitting in Hanoi waiting to go home- not ideal for anyone. Our agency fully supports the change as do my husband and I. And, I have yet to come across any adoptive parents who think it’s a bad move. Many of us are very much involved in monitoring the processes both in VN and the US and our first concern is that our children’s adoptions be ethically sound. There are few guarantees in life, but there are ways to insure that every honest effort is made to be certain of a child’s familial status. Most of us do not ignore red flags in regard to the practices of agencies- in fact we are quite vocal about the whos,what’s and where’s. I have very little respect for prospective adoptive parents who blatently ignore red flags. It’s inexcusable. We did an enormous amount of research before we chose the agency we are working with and believe that they are committed to children who truly are orphan, birth families and the country. They have a good relationship with both the US and VN authorities and have, from the beginning, made it clear that adoption is a privilege and not a right. Saying that, we are not passive about the process or take everything that’s said to us without questioning or discussing.
I don’t feel guilty about our decision to adopt. Without adoption we could not be parents. We are counting the days until we receive permission to travel to meet our beautiful son. How we incorporate what we know of his history into our family is our business and private. But what is most important is that we want to be able to tell him that we did whatever we could to insure his adoption was legal (which it is). Adoptive parents are equally responsible as agencies and government officials for keeping the process sound. It should be something we *want* to do.
I’m not sure if you are familiar with this site? It’s quite informative.
http://www.adoptionintegrity.com/
Best wishes.
It wasn’t long after the Vietnam program re-opened that news of corruption started surfacing again. I know quite a few parents who no longer qualify to adopt from China who would have loved to turn to Vietnam, but they’ve heard of all the shady business and are steering clear.
Kerry, it’s encouraging to know that there are APs and PAPs taking pro-active measures to ensure their children are coming to them by ethical and legal means. It is unfortunate that some don’t seem to understand or accept how they are becoming contributors and benefactors of the problem.
The demand for babies pumps up demand. Someone will always be willing to supply that demand if it will make them a buck.
Thanks, yes I’ve been trying to keep up with the discussions on this. Vietk pointed out the Adoption Integrity blog some time ago. It is indeed informative and I applaud the bloggers who contribute to it.
Thanks Margaret, the moratorium was put in place in order for Vietnam to put in measures that prevented this very thing. Seems someone jumped the gun when they lifted it. They should have left it in place until Vietnam set better safeguards in place and became a signatory of the Hague Convention. It was just asking for trouble.