International adoption
International adoption
This involves couples or individuals becoming permanent and legal parents to children who have been born in other countries. This kind of adoption requires the adoptive parents to fulfill the lawful adoption requirements of the country they come from as well as for the country from which they are adopting the child. Different countries have different requirements for the same. Some countries require the adopting parents to get approval from a state agency while others do not mind one which comes from adoption agencies that are private. Some countries freely allow adoption others totally forbid it while others put restrictions which indirectly do not allow it to take place. The international law requires countries to act in accordance to the laws regarding international adoption (Rosenblatt, 1995).
Adoption statistic in America
Over the years, the number of Americans who have been adopting has been going up. The highest number of international adoptions is 20,099 whereby 5,053 which constituted the highest number is said to have come from China. Russia had 4,939 children adopted. The reason given for having Russia and China as the main sources of children for international adoption were that the two countries are agreeable to adoptions. China is said to financial transparency and a generally good system that facilitates the same. The State Department data indicates that from 1989-1993, there was rising and falling in the international adoptions. Increased international adoptions are attributed to the decreased availability of healthy children in America. A 1999 report declared that of the unwed mothers in America, 2 offered their kids to be adopted. 19.3 of the same kind of mothers gave up their children for the same purpose in 1973. A 1998 study showed that among the children who were adopted that year, 46 were months old while 44 were 1-4 year olds. International adoption costs between 7,000 and 25,000 (Marre Briggs, 2009).
Reasons for international adoption
Some parents prefer to adopt internationally rather than domestically. Before deciding between the two options, adoptive parents compare information, data and requirements of the two. After making the comparisons, they then make their choice. Some of the issues which make parents to prefer international adoption include cost. There is a misconception that foreign adoption is cheaper than the domestic one. This makes them to go for it only to realize later that there are added costs like visa and travel expenses. The waiting time is another contributing factor. There is no specific waiting time, rather it is dependent on factors like social and medical histories of the adoptee, race and budget among others. Some parameters make it easier to adopt domestically while others make it easier for foreign adoption. The parents who due to such parameters find it easier to adopt internationally do so in most cases. Availability of the children for adoption is also an issue to contend with. Even with similar wait time and cost, the children available for adoption domestically and internationally vary. This is due to factors like the adoption policies in the country of origin. When such factors are in the favor of international adoption, then, parents opt to go for that option. The issue of legal concern may also make parents to adopt internationally rather than domestically according to studies. Legal procedures are different for every country. However, there is usually the myth that after adoption, the biological parents of the adoptee may come for the child years after the adoption (Jasper, 2003).
There is also controversy regarding the issue of semi open and open adoptions whereby it is felt that the biological parents might revoke the consent to give their children for adoption even if the adoption had been finalized. This makes many adoptive parents to feel that adopting internationally is safer than locally. This is because there is usually no contact with the biological parents before and after adoption has taken place. In America, once the adoption has been finalized, the law recognizes the adoptive parents as the legal parents of the adoptee. Although post adoption revocation exists, they are rare and they are mostly due to unsafe illegal practices. Other parents prefer adding cultural diversity to their family. Such a family is likely to adopt from abroad. Other parents do it from a humanitarian point of view. They want to adopt a child who needs them just like the way the family needs the child. This makes them to choose international adoption where such cases never lack. Parents should however consider what they want to achieve by adopting. They should also compare the available adoption options and the requirements which go with them before making the decision (Rosenblatt, 1995).
Consequences of international adoption
International adoption impacts on the adoptee and their adoptive parents differently. Some of the positive consequences of international adoption include raising the social class in which the child is brought up in compared to the life he would have led had he not been adopted. International adoption in most cases happen as a result parents who due to different reasons fail to bring their children up in a family and instead, they are brought up in orphanages and such institutions. The only kind of life they experience is the one offered in the orphanages. By being internationally adopted, the children get opportunities to experience a totally different kind of life that is not characterized by lacking. They might as well get opportunities to go to school (Stevens, 2004).
According to Rosenblatt (1995) the issue of language affects the adoptive parents and the children they have adopted. Although children are fast learners, learning English as a second language is usually complex. This is due to its strictness in things like sentence structure. The adopted children therefore experience a difficult time communicating with others and this makes some to feel inferior. Studies show that such students tend to live in solitude especially in school in order to avoid being embarrassed. This further affects the childs social life and this may lead to low performance in school (Davenport, 2006).
Due to their long stay in the orphanages, children may have undetected health problems. Most orphanages lack the necessary funds to cater for the complex diseases and this makes them to carry out first aid and leave it at that. This deteriorates the condition but a child may be forced to live with this kind of problem for life. When adopting, the adoptive parents who are not keen enough to know everything about the children they are adopting may have problems dealing with health issues which were either not disclosed or which they underestimated during the adoption. This mostly occurs in international adoption whereby there is little or no documentation of the childrens conditions. The issue of culture is likely to affect the older children who are internationally adopted. In their original country, children are taught religious and cultural belief in addition to appropriate behavior. Once they are adopted they are required to adapt to different kind of culture, beliefs and behavior. Changing to the new ways of life can be very taxing to such children and it may lead to high stress level especially for the children who learn slowly (Marre Briggs, 2009).
Child trafficking is a common practice which is done in the name of international adoption. This involves illegal transportation, selling or buying of children. On other hand, other people are involved in child laundering which involves stealing of children and later selling them to adoptive parents. This is done in pretence that such childrens parents are dead. The fraudsters in these cases use fake documents. Due to the strict regulations which countries have regarding international adoption, many countries can not claim to have such cases. However, in countries where corruption is prevalent or their adoption laws are not strictly observed, such cases do occur. In America, safeguards to prevent the same have been implemented to make sure that the children who are being adopted are actually legally available for the same. There have been occasions where adoption is suspended when fraud is suspected in such deals (Rosenblatt, 1995).
Due to the negative issue which international adoption presents, governments should reform and accept the regulations in support of the best interest of the children being adopted. Such regulations should as well meet the interests of the biological family members and the adoptive families. The international organizations have taken the superficial measures but most governments are slow in making their regulations regarding the same stricter (Jasper, 2003).
Proposed research project
Most of the studies which have been done on international adoption have findings which show more short term effects on the topic than long term effects. This paper proposes a comparative study which should compare the long term effects of international and domestic adoption. The study to be done which should address issues like a) the effects of international adoption on adoptee and adopters, b) cases which involve the adoptive parents uniting the adopted children with their biological parents, c) cases of the children who would prefer going back to their original home after adoption and d) cases of adoptive parents who would reverse the action of adoption given the chance. The population should be composed of the parents who have adopted internationally and locally and the children who have been adopted. The children should have been adopted for more than eight years in order to get the long term effects (Marre Briggs, 2009).
In order to increase the reliability of the study, it should be longitudinal covering about two to five years. This way, it would be possible to monitor the study subjects over a longer period of time. The sample population should come from the parties i.e. the international adoptee and adopters and the local adoptee and adopters. It should also cover several states so as to enhance comparability. After seeking permission from the relevant authorities and getting the required materials, the researcher should write a research proposal which would be used to gauge the need for such kind of a research project. Once the research proposal goes through, he should then train the research assistants he would use to collect the required data. He should then use the research instruments he has prepared to collect the data after which the collected data should be analyzed and taken to the relevant authorities. According to his findings, the researcher should ensure that he has recommended what should be done to make the project worth the cost.
Conclusion
International adoption is a lawful process which involves a foreign court and a private couple. It is usually a complicated and lengthy procedure which has many requirements before it gains legality. At times, problems of international adoption start with failure to understand the process involved. It is therefore advisable for any couple or individual that is interested in adopting internationally to engage the services of reputable attorneys, facilitators and agencies. Working with people who understand the requirement and the process of international adoption can make it easier.
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