Last month, I heard a disturbing interview on NPR with
Kathryn Joyce, author of the Child
Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption. Since then, I
have read reviews, articles (by Joyce and others), blog accounts, and further
contributed to the research we have done on adoption issues. Joyce addresses a
very real problem within the adoption world – child trafficking, manipulation
and coercion. However, she seems to paint all adoptions as harmful and to
particularly blame Christians for the abuses within the adoption industry. This
blog attempts to engage with her ideas, not as a defensive reaction, but in a
posture of learning about the very real issues that face international
adoption.
A Real Problem: In
every nation where adoption has proliferated, abuse has come. Money brings
corruption; the bigger the business, the greater the potential for abuse within
it. Joyce – and the publisher promoting her book – portray these abuses as wide
spread and new. (“Evangelicals and the Fake Adoption Racket” article on the Daily Beast.com website; “The Christian
Right Perverts Adoption”, ). She attributes this abuse directly to Christian
involvement (“How the Christian Right Perverts Adoption” an interview with
Kathryn Joyce on Salon.com). For the
last 15 years, this has been a great concern among nations, adoption agencies
and adoptive parents. A famous instance in Sierra Leone shed light on the
accusation of child stealing. Adoptions in Guatemala ceased in 2008. Over the
last five years a number of articles in the Wall Street Journal and the New
York Times have exposed corruption in Guatemala, China and Ethiopia.
Traveling in Ethiopia, I asked many questions about adoption
and its perception within the country. As I mentioned in our previous post
about the high cost of adoption, I heard accusations of teenagers paid to have
children in order to give them up for adoption. Joyce cites several examples of
parents giving up their children without fully understanding the meaning of
adoption. Some believed they were enrolling their children in sponsorship
programs, others that their children would simply go to the US for schooling
and then come home. Such confusion and abuse must not be tolerated. In
Ethiopia, under pressure from the US State Department and in cooperation with
adoption agencies, the government has slowed the process to perform better due
diligence on children being adopted (see comments on the Cost of Adoption).
Great care must be taken to address the very real problem of
children separated from families, abandoned and in great need. The multi-faceted
problem of vulnerable children requires a multi-pronged solution. We need to
address issues of poverty, disease, war and natural disaster that often cause
increases in orphans within a nation. We need to strengthen internal systems to
address these issues. Both domestic adoption and international adoption play
viable roles in the solution.
Moving a child from a poor country to a rich one is not
inherently better for them. All adoptive parents need to carefully consider the
mentality of “rescue” and to understand that all adoptive children grieve a
loss of their birth parents (no matter how hard that situation might have
been). For international adoptions, maintaining cultural connections and
identity is a good thing and US parents in particular should not assume that
our culture is simply better than the original culture of their adoptive child.
All cultures have rich value and adoptive children are inherently
multi-cultural kids.
An Unfair Critique: System
abuses have been real. However, some of the portrayal of adoption agencies,
adoptive parents, and particularly Christian groups has been unfair. As stated
above, many of the headlines are inflammatory. In her interview on NPR, Joyce
paints with a very broad brush. She unfairly labels Christians as the cause of
abuses that are found in both Christian and secular organizations. Christians
are not the only ones adopting. In fact, more than 30% of adoptions are to
single women and the number of same-sex couples adopting has doubled between
2000-2009. (This is not to say that these groups stand in opposition to
Christian groups. In fact, I am sure a number of members of each group claim to
be Christian. My point is only that there are other blocs of people who are a
part of the adoption community and those groups have grown during the last
decade as well).
Joyce uses a pair of heart breaking anecdotes to describe
the entirety of Christian involvement in adoption. Much like conservatives who
dismiss welfare with an illustration of recipients purchasing video games, she
does not address the real issues at hand, particularly meeting the needs of millions
of children in deep need. A search of some of Joyce’s previous work reveals a critical
stance toward Christians , including articles critical of evangelical chaplains
and crisis pregnancy centers.
Joyce rightly critiques some of the fervor around adoption.
I have not personally spent time in Christian circles that proclaim some sort
of spiritual obligation to adopt. I imagine they are there. All Christians
rightly have a concern for the widow and the orphan. For some, adoption may be
a part of that God-ordained concerned. (In my next blog I will explore the
issues of our own faith and adoption in more depth). The use of scare tactics
and inflating the problem is manipulative and wrong.
Statistical Realities: However, she also attacks the statistics
as if Christians have created them. Adoption advocates often speak of the 153
million orphans in the world today. This number comes from UN statistics on
orphans and vulnerable children, a number defined by the UN as children who
have lost at least one parent to disease, war or poverty. However, Joyce points
out that the number of “real” orphans – those who have lost both parents is
only 17 million. Understanding the
statistics is important; as is an understanding the context of children who are
abandoned, vulnerable to the realities of abject poverty and whose national
systems are overburdened and underdeveloped. However, two things must be
pointed out. First, the statistics cited are not some sort of “fake crisis”
created by Christians. They are numbers used by the global community focused on
child welfare. Secondly, even at 17 million, we have a crisis. This is
especially true in certain nations where the orphan rates are epidemic. In
Guatemala, orphaned and street children account for up to 5% of the population.
In Ethiopia, conservative numbers hold at 5% - of a population six times that
of Guatemala. Such large numbers of
children in need of care feed the cycles of poverty in these nations and
contribute to a myriad of sociological issues as they move into adulthood.
Diminishing the problem does not provide solutions.
Secondly, while adoption numbers peaked in 2004, they have
been on decline since then. Since then, international adoptions to the US have
declined by 62%. Worldwide, international adoptions have decreased from 45,000
in 2008 to only 25,000 last year. Less than 9,000 of those adoptions were to
the US. Both tighter controls and a weak economy have contributed to those
declines.
One reason we need multiple fronts in the care for orphaned
and vulnerable children is that adoptions only address a very small percentage
of orphans. The current rate of 25,000 adoptions a year is a small dent in a
problem that affects tens of millions of children, In Ethiopia alone, for every
child adopted, more than 10,000 remain in institutions or on the streets.
A Look at Ethiopia: In Ethiopia, the problem is quite complex. One
reason for he adoption boom in the mid-2000’s was the spike in orphaned
children during this time. On the recommendation of a friend, I read the book, There is No Me Without You by Melissa
Faye Greene – a story of an Ethiopian woman, Haregowin, whose willingness to
take in one abandoned child leads to the founding of a large orphanage and her
own complicated role in the growth of international adoptions in Ethiopia. Haregowin
is a complicated protagonist and the book offers heartbreaking insight into the
complexities of the orphan explosion in Ethiopia.
HIV came to Ethiopia later than much of the continent of
Africa. Between 2000-2005 it ravaged the nation. Like many poor nations,
Ethiopia struggled to establish programs for diagnosis, testing, and treatment.
Greene writes that by 2005 more 1.5 million AIDS orphans were in Ethiopia (up
from virtually zero even five years previously). In total, Ethiopia had more than 4.4 million
orphans from all causes, the second highest in Africa (and this number without
an armed conflict occurring within its borders). Ethiopia truly had (and still has an orphan
crisis). She writes, “Of all of these less than 1,400 departed for homes abroad
that year.”
Joyce places the increase in adoptions squarely on the
demand side of the economics. US parents – particularly Christians – have been
stirred into a fervor over the need to adopt children (whether because so many
exist, to meet their own selfish desires for children, or to “save their
souls”). It is very important to note that, in the case of Ethiopia in
particular, increases international adoptions outside of Ethiopia coincides
directly with dramatic spike in orphans in the nation. In many Majority World
countries, formal adoption practices do not exist as orphaned children are
cared for by extended family. The very recent interest to encourage domestic
adoption is a positive part of a comprehensive strategy, but is something that
has not existed formally in many of these nations. In the case of Ethiopia the
interweaving of the increase in orphans combined with the economic impact of
the HIV/AIDS crisis overwhelmed the “normal” practice of care by extended
family members.
About Adoption Agencies: In
her book, interviews and articles, Joyce cites the example of the Better Future
Adoption Agency. The story she tells is terrible – one of paid “child finders”
essentially engaging in human trafficking. Better Future rightfully had its
adoption license revoked in 2010. Perhaps the staff at Better Future, who were
Ethiopians living in the US, truly thought they were doing something good for
the children whose adoptions they facilitated. However, “a better life” does
not justify illegal, immoral and unjust practice. Better Future was a bad
agency and the system caught them and barred them from further adoptions.
In an interview posted on Salon.com, Joyce uses this case to
implicate virtually every Christian agency, stating, “not all but far more than
they like to admit” are involved in such practices. A look at the public records for the organization
shows that in 2008, Better Future Adoption Agency collected about $180,000 in
adoption fees from its clients. At $20,000-$30,000 dollars per adoption, that
is but a handful of adoptions processed by that agency. By contrast, three of
the better-known agencies, including America World, which we are using, each
received over $4 million in adoption fees during that time, processing over 150
adoptions that year. Joyce uses an example of a very small number of “bad”
adoptions to discredit hundreds of adoptions.
Before choosing an adoption agency, we conducted a decent
amount of research, including asking friends with adopted children about their
experiences. Our research led us to two agencies. On a trip to Ethiopia for my
work during our research phase, I took the opportunity to ask about the
perceptions of adoption within country. I heard the concerns over the abuses (including
the story above about paying girls to have babies and the large number of
adoptions happening out of one particular region in the country), but I also
asked who, if any were doing a good job. Two names were given repeatedly. One
of those was America World. I then took the opportunity to visit their
transition home and see first had what it looked like. Later that day I met
with an adoptive mother whose experience with her agency was not good. Her
stories of the transition home, incomplete background records, the lack of
medical care, and the health of our newly adopted son were discouraging. Yet,
they were in stark contrast to our research and my experience on that visit.
In addition, they highlight the multi-pronged approach they
take to address the needs of orphans throughout the country. Adoption is one
piece of their strategy. In addition, AWAA is engaged in ongoing orphan care beyond
facilitating international adoption. They also work with parents and to address
issues of poverty and in promoting and facilitating domestic adoption. Like
many Christian groups they have engaged a multi-pronged approach to the issue
of orphans around the world.
Concluding Thoughts: Joyce
does well to bring attention to issues abuse and concern over the “business” of
adoption. Every adoptive parent – Christian or not - can and should wrestle with the issues she
raises with regard to the rationale for adopting. We need to carefully think
through our mentality toward the culture of our adoptive children and not fall
victim to a “savior” mentality for a hopeless culture. At no time should we
tolerate unethical practices. Children who have been basically trafficked are
not “better off” by simply moving to a middle class, suburban family in the US.
However, I truly take issue with her insinuation that
Christians are the cause for these problems. Sadly, Better Future Adoption
Services claimed to be a Christian agency. I am sure they are not the only
Christian agency guilty of unethical practices either. However, these stories
must be placed in the larger context of the whole. The abuses she addresses are
not limited to – nor even predominant within – Christian agencies. Quite a bit
of good work is being done. Real needs exist and no single solution will meet
them all. Therefore, let us continue to
pray for the millions of orphans (and millions of children more who have
parents, but not enough of even the most basic necessities of life) that the
Lord may provide – food, shelter, education, love and most of all hope. May we
also take action so that every child have a family – natural or adoptive – that
can provide care, give comfort, and help them successfully navigate life.
In the next blog I will explore some thoughts related to
faith and adoption. This has been a long
post. Thanks for reading.
This blog draws on the following sources:
Adoption Statistics:
Interviews and articles about Kathryn Joyce’s book:
Response to Child Catchers:
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