Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / December 2007

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=87831&src=110

Daily Herald [Chicago]

Foreign adoptions down by 15 percent

Associated Press                               Published: 12/1/2007 12:22 AM

NEW YORK -- The number of foreign children adopted by Americans has dropped
for the third year in a row, a consequence of tougher policies in the two
countries -- China and Russia -- that over the past decade have supplied the
most children to U.S. families.

Figures for the 2007 fiscal year, provided by the State Department on
Friday, showed that adoptions from abroad have fallen to 19,411, down about
15 percent in just the past two years.

It's a dramatic change. The number of foreign adoptions had more than
tripled since the early 1990s, reaching a peak of 22,884 in 2004 before
dipping slightly in 2005, then falling to 20,679 in 2006.

"A drop in international adoptions is sad for children," said Thomas Atwood,
president of the National Council for Adoption. "National boundaries and
national pride shouldn't get in the way of children having families."

Adoptions from China, the No. 1 source country since 2000, fell to 5,453.
That's down by 1,040 from last year and well off the peak of 7,906 in 2005.
Two main factors lie behind this: an increase in domestic adoptions as China
prospers and tighter restrictions on foreign adoptions that give priority to
stable married couples between 30 and 50 and exclude single people, the
obese and others with financial or health problems.

One consequence, adoption agencies say, is that the waiting time to complete
an adoption from China has more than doubled to 24 months or more.

Adoptions from Russia also dropped sharply over the past year -- from 3,706
to 2,310. Russian authorities suspended the operations of all foreign
adoption agencies for several months earlier this year and have been
re-accrediting them only gradually. Like China, Russia has been trying to
boost the number of domestic adoptions.

U.S. adoptions from South Korea and Haiti also declined significantly,
although the overall drop was partially offset by large increases in
adoptions from Guatemala up from 4,135 to 4,728, Ethiopia 732 to 1,255 and
Vietnam 163 to 626.

Tom DeFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's
Services, said adoptions from Guatemala could decline over the coming year
as its government -- under intense international pressure -- tries to impose
tough new regulations on an adoption industry that was widely viewed as
susceptible to fraud and extortion.

The State Department has advised Americans not to initiate adoption
applications for Guatemala while that overhaul is under way. The proposed
reforms are required under an international adoption treaty, the Hague
Convention, which both Guatemala and the United States have agreed to adhere
to starting next year.

Overall, DeFilipo -- whose council represents many international adoption
agencies -- found reason for optimism in the new statistics.

"What you're seeing is fewer countries sending very large numbers of
children and a broader range of countries participating," he said. "Over the
long term, I think this is a healthy trend."

He mentioned Kenya, Peru and Brazil as countries not now among the major
sources of children, but which might increase international adoptions in
coming years.

Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary of state for overseas citizen
services, also viewed the new figures positively.

"Interest in intercountry adoption remains very strong," she said in a
telephone interview. "People are increasingly well-informed. They're more
likely to look at new countries instead of always looking at the same small
number of countries."

By contrast, another adoption expert, Harvard law professor Elizabeth
Bartholet, depicted the new numbers as "totally depressing."

She said China and Russia reflected a trend in which countries opened
themselves up to international adoption, then scaled back. She attributed
this in part to UNICEF and other international organizations encouraging
countries to care for children within their homeland, even when domestic
programs such as foster care might be inadequate.

"UNICEF is a major force," Bartholet said. "They've played a major role in
jumping on any country sending large number of kids abroad, identifying it
as a problem rather than a good thing."

UNICEF's child protection spokesman, Geoffrey Keele, said the U.N. agency
does believe it is preferable to care for orphaned or abandoned children in
their own countries if good homes could be found for them.

"The best interests of the child must be the guiding principle," he said.
"We don't go about discouraging international adoption. We just want to be
sure it's done properly."

Thomas Atwood, of the National Council for Adoption, said there should be no
competition between domestic and international adoption. With an estimated
143 million orphans worldwide, he said, there was enough need to go around.

For U.S.-based adoption agencies, the biggest impact has been on those
specializing in placing children from China.

The president of one of the largest such groups, Joshua Zhong of
Colorado-based Chinese Children Adoption International, said the agency had
placed about 620 children this year, down from about 1,200 in 2005, while
average waiting times had increased from nine months to two years.

Some clients are so committed to adopting a Chinese child that they are
willing to wait, Zhong said. "Others say forget about it."

For the second straight year, no Romanian children were adopted by
Americans. The Eastern European country, which provided 1,119 children to
U.S. families in 2000, has banned adoptions by foreigners, except for
relatives.