David Kruchkow
The Internet is populated with photolistings of children allegedly available for adoption. Is this a way to unite waiting children with families or is it a way for unethical agencies and facilitators to play on the heartstrings of prospective adoptive parents, and roping them into a scam? In this article, I will attempt to answer this question and look at the good, the bad and the ugly side of photolistings.
Personally, I am categorically opposed to all photolistings. All one has to do is look at real estate listings or visit cars.com or autotrader.com to see how children are being marketed and merchandized like real estate and cars. There has to be a better way. Let me just add that I do respect and understand those who claim that they found 'their child' on a photolisting, and that I do respect and understand those who claim that photolistings help children, especially those who are older and/or with special needs, find homes and families. On my website, www.adoptionagencychecklist.com, I have a page entitled, Photolisitngs and Ethics. It contains the following:
"What bothers me is how some adoption professionals are using the photolisting capability of the Internet to market and merchandise children. These photolistings can easily become a tool of the unscrupulous and unethical to victimize children and adoptive families. A family that is desperate to parent and adopt easily bonds with the right photo and becomes hooked and blinded." ....
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Should 'Going Home Barbie' go to more homes?
By Maria DiDanieli
If a little girl is on your shopping list this holiday season, rest assured the popular Barbie line of dolls will be foremost in your mind. (And if not in yours, it certainly will be on hers) Although the basic Barbie, now with a smaller chest and finally wearing knickers, is always a good choice, there are many permutations of Barbie from which to choose. International Barbies, princess Barbies, single Barbies enjoying lives of frolic and more sedate, domesticated versions that represent the young beauty's wishes to settle down.
But there is one Barbie that cannot be found in any store or through any website. She is officially called 'Going Home Barbie' but her nick-name is 'White Swan Barbie' after the one location in the world, The White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China, where she can be obtained. But, ask not 'where can she be found?' Rather, ask 'what do I have to do to get her?' The answer to this is quite specific. To become the proud owner of a 'Going Home Barbie', you must: a) adopt a child from China, and b) stay at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou while awaiting clearance for an exit visa, for your baby, from the U.S. government. There is no other way to come into possession of the 'Going Home Barbie'.....
for remaining article
If a little girl is on your shopping list this holiday season, rest assured the popular Barbie line of dolls will be foremost in your mind. (And if not in yours, it certainly will be on hers) Although the basic Barbie, now with a smaller chest and finally wearing knickers, is always a good choice, there are many permutations of Barbie from which to choose. International Barbies, princess Barbies, single Barbies enjoying lives of frolic and more sedate, domesticated versions that represent the young beauty's wishes to settle down.
But there is one Barbie that cannot be found in any store or through any website. She is officially called 'Going Home Barbie' but her nick-name is 'White Swan Barbie' after the one location in the world, The White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China, where she can be obtained. But, ask not 'where can she be found?' Rather, ask 'what do I have to do to get her?' The answer to this is quite specific. To become the proud owner of a 'Going Home Barbie', you must: a) adopt a child from China, and b) stay at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou while awaiting clearance for an exit visa, for your baby, from the U.S. government. There is no other way to come into possession of the 'Going Home Barbie'.....
for remaining article
The Big Question: Is it exploitation to adopt children from the developing world?
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Friday, 6 October 2006
Why are we asking this question now?
Madonna, the American celebrity with a talent for re-inventing herself, was reported yesterday to have flown by private jet to Malawi, the southern African country ravaged by Aids, and adopted an orphan. Malawi government officials were quoted as saying that the 48-year-old singer had chosen a one-year-old boy from among 12 children specially picked out prior to her arrival.
The pop star, worth an estimated £248m, was in Malawi to visit the Raising Malawi centre in a village 30 miles outside the capital, Lilongwe, which she is supporting. The centre provides food and schooling for Aids orphans. The story was later denied by a spokeswoman for Madonna who described it as "completely inaccurate". That did not stop it making the front pages of yesterday's newspapers and reopening the debate on international adoption....
for remaining article
Friday, 6 October 2006
Why are we asking this question now?
Madonna, the American celebrity with a talent for re-inventing herself, was reported yesterday to have flown by private jet to Malawi, the southern African country ravaged by Aids, and adopted an orphan. Malawi government officials were quoted as saying that the 48-year-old singer had chosen a one-year-old boy from among 12 children specially picked out prior to her arrival.
The pop star, worth an estimated £248m, was in Malawi to visit the Raising Malawi centre in a village 30 miles outside the capital, Lilongwe, which she is supporting. The centre provides food and schooling for Aids orphans. The story was later denied by a spokeswoman for Madonna who described it as "completely inaccurate". That did not stop it making the front pages of yesterday's newspapers and reopening the debate on international adoption....
for remaining article
Babies-for-sale trade faces a global crackdown
Attempts by Western families to adopt children from poor nations have fuelled a rogue market in young lives. But at last action is being taken. Carolyn Wheeler reports from Lviv, Ukraine.
The thick stack of photographs pulled from a manila envelope in Maria Chernyk's cupboard explains all she has to say about foreign adoptions. Each year, the director of Lviv's Orphanage No 1 sends a handful of children overseas: most to the United States, many to Italy, some to Germany, France and Canada, one to a Ukrainian couple in Manchester.
She tracks them with this collection of photos: a sweet blond boy with a crossed eye, a slender, solemn-faced girl who needed heart surgery, a little boy so traumatised by his past that he never spoke.
Each family paid dearly for the privilege of being parents, over £15,000 in many cases, to cover travel, agency fees and the demands of dozens of bureaucrats....
for remaining article
The thick stack of photographs pulled from a manila envelope in Maria Chernyk's cupboard explains all she has to say about foreign adoptions. Each year, the director of Lviv's Orphanage No 1 sends a handful of children overseas: most to the United States, many to Italy, some to Germany, France and Canada, one to a Ukrainian couple in Manchester.
She tracks them with this collection of photos: a sweet blond boy with a crossed eye, a slender, solemn-faced girl who needed heart surgery, a little boy so traumatised by his past that he never spoke.
Each family paid dearly for the privilege of being parents, over £15,000 in many cases, to cover travel, agency fees and the demands of dozens of bureaucrats....
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New U.S. Procedures Intended To Help Intercountry Adoption
05 October 2006
Deadline announced for adoption service providers seeking accreditation
The 1993 Hague Convention sets minimum international standards and procedures for adoptions that occur between implementing countries. It seeks to ensure that such intercountry adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and aims to prevent abuses such as abductions, sale or trafficking in children, as well as the exploitation of birth parents and adoptive parents.
To date 68 countries have ratified the convention or acceded to it. The United States signed the pact in 1994 and hopes to ratify it by 2007.
In 2005 Americans adopted nearly 23,000 children from countries around the world, with more than half coming from countries that are parties to the Hague Convention, according to the State Department....
for remaining article
Deadline announced for adoption service providers seeking accreditation
The 1993 Hague Convention sets minimum international standards and procedures for adoptions that occur between implementing countries. It seeks to ensure that such intercountry adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and aims to prevent abuses such as abductions, sale or trafficking in children, as well as the exploitation of birth parents and adoptive parents.
To date 68 countries have ratified the convention or acceded to it. The United States signed the pact in 1994 and hopes to ratify it by 2007.
In 2005 Americans adopted nearly 23,000 children from countries around the world, with more than half coming from countries that are parties to the Hague Convention, according to the State Department....
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Personal Thoughts on Ethics in International Adoption
By Ellen Fitzenrider
I am by no means an expert on ethical matters in anything (who can totally be?), let alone international adoption. The concept of ethics in itself is fraught with inherent 'gray-areas' that always seem to be open to interpretation, constant reflection and redefinition. It challenges us to be thoughtful, and to try to be our best selves by 'doing the right thing.' In the arena of international adoption there are issues small and large, but the challenge is of paramount importance and cannot wait until we have time in our busy lives to pay attention to them. There are lives at stake. Lives of children. Lives of families. Lives of those of us in the more fortunate areas of the world. Lives of those living in countries less fortunate. There are moral choices and decisions to be made that can so easily be swayed by emotion, desired outcomes and, especially, money.
Face it. There is a LOT of money flying around this world of international adoption....
for remaining essay
I am by no means an expert on ethical matters in anything (who can totally be?), let alone international adoption. The concept of ethics in itself is fraught with inherent 'gray-areas' that always seem to be open to interpretation, constant reflection and redefinition. It challenges us to be thoughtful, and to try to be our best selves by 'doing the right thing.' In the arena of international adoption there are issues small and large, but the challenge is of paramount importance and cannot wait until we have time in our busy lives to pay attention to them. There are lives at stake. Lives of children. Lives of families. Lives of those of us in the more fortunate areas of the world. Lives of those living in countries less fortunate. There are moral choices and decisions to be made that can so easily be swayed by emotion, desired outcomes and, especially, money.
Face it. There is a LOT of money flying around this world of international adoption....
for remaining essay
Baby Hotel: The Gateway to Guatemalan Adoption
Jacob Wheeler
October 9, 2006
The Marriott Hotel in Guatemala City's wealthy Zona 9 isn't really Central America. But it isn't the United States either. It's a kind of no man's land between countries, between cultures, sprawled out on the highway dividing rich and poor, where thousands of impoverished Guatemalan children make the final step in their journeys to become adopted by Americans. Most of them don't make a step at all, of course, because they're infants. Instead they are passed from a Guatemalan foster mother, or an attorney, into the trembling arms of a teary-eyed couple from El Norte who has been waiting for this moment, often not so patiently, for months or years.
In Guatemala City, in venues like the Marriott Hotel, or the Radisson, or the Camino Real right next to the American Embassy, this strange if not humorous baby handoff in a busy lobby is now an everyday occurrence. Guatemala holds the distinction of being the only Latin American country — the only country in the whole Western Hemisphere — that doesn't recognize the United Nations Hague treaty of 1989 that pushes for stringent state control over international adoptions. Adoptions here fall under the notary system, which means they are essentially privatized and run by lawyers and judges who have plenty to choose from when it comes to impoverished, malnourished, and sometimes abandoned or stolen babies....
for remaining article
October 9, 2006
The Marriott Hotel in Guatemala City's wealthy Zona 9 isn't really Central America. But it isn't the United States either. It's a kind of no man's land between countries, between cultures, sprawled out on the highway dividing rich and poor, where thousands of impoverished Guatemalan children make the final step in their journeys to become adopted by Americans. Most of them don't make a step at all, of course, because they're infants. Instead they are passed from a Guatemalan foster mother, or an attorney, into the trembling arms of a teary-eyed couple from El Norte who has been waiting for this moment, often not so patiently, for months or years.
In Guatemala City, in venues like the Marriott Hotel, or the Radisson, or the Camino Real right next to the American Embassy, this strange if not humorous baby handoff in a busy lobby is now an everyday occurrence. Guatemala holds the distinction of being the only Latin American country — the only country in the whole Western Hemisphere — that doesn't recognize the United Nations Hague treaty of 1989 that pushes for stringent state control over international adoptions. Adoptions here fall under the notary system, which means they are essentially privatized and run by lawyers and judges who have plenty to choose from when it comes to impoverished, malnourished, and sometimes abandoned or stolen babies....
for remaining article
Adopting a pose
Lilian Saleh
October 17, 2006 12:00am
FORGET the Oscar. The latest Hollywood must-have is an adopted baby – preferably a black one plucked from an impoverished Third-World country and flown halfway around the world on a private jet.
The latest celebrity to join the "let's save the world by adopting a foreign baby" trend is Madonna – who is finalising plans to adopt 13-month-old David Banda from the poverty-stricken African nation of Malawi.
It is not only that the Material Girl apparently chose David from a list of 12 "contenders" emailed to her that has angered Australian parents who have adopted overseas children – it was the ease with which she was able to complete the process, having her application to adopt fast-tracked while others are put through years of scrutiny and financial pressure....
for remaining article
October 17, 2006 12:00am
FORGET the Oscar. The latest Hollywood must-have is an adopted baby – preferably a black one plucked from an impoverished Third-World country and flown halfway around the world on a private jet.
The latest celebrity to join the "let's save the world by adopting a foreign baby" trend is Madonna – who is finalising plans to adopt 13-month-old David Banda from the poverty-stricken African nation of Malawi.
It is not only that the Material Girl apparently chose David from a list of 12 "contenders" emailed to her that has angered Australian parents who have adopted overseas children – it was the ease with which she was able to complete the process, having her application to adopt fast-tracked while others are put through years of scrutiny and financial pressure....
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Madonna and child
Friday October 6, 2006
The Guardian
Joan Crawford, Mia Farrow, Angelina Jolie. And now, it seems, Madonna. A long list of celebrities have chosen to adopt children from abroad. But why do they go so far -and can it be right, when there are thousands of children in this country in need of a loving home? Emine Saner reports
So Madonna has adopted a one-year-old boy from Malawi. Or has she? There have been denials from her people but it's not so unbelievable, is it? After all, she wouldn't be the first. She has been thinking about it for months, apparently, and in July, her father-in-law let slip that Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, had started the process. The pop star is in the southern African country this week visiting orphanages. It had been reported that 12 children were "selected", from which she would choose a little brother for her children Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, six. "She asked us to identify boys only, which we have done after visiting four orphanages," a government spokeswoman, Adrina Michiela, is reported to have said (she also said that Madonna had originally wanted to choose a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago)....
for remaining article
The Guardian
Joan Crawford, Mia Farrow, Angelina Jolie. And now, it seems, Madonna. A long list of celebrities have chosen to adopt children from abroad. But why do they go so far -and can it be right, when there are thousands of children in this country in need of a loving home? Emine Saner reports
So Madonna has adopted a one-year-old boy from Malawi. Or has she? There have been denials from her people but it's not so unbelievable, is it? After all, she wouldn't be the first. She has been thinking about it for months, apparently, and in July, her father-in-law let slip that Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, had started the process. The pop star is in the southern African country this week visiting orphanages. It had been reported that 12 children were "selected", from which she would choose a little brother for her children Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, six. "She asked us to identify boys only, which we have done after visiting four orphanages," a government spokeswoman, Adrina Michiela, is reported to have said (she also said that Madonna had originally wanted to choose a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago)....
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Madonna's adoption plans slammed by politicians
13/10/2006 - 09:48:50
Madonna has been slammed for her adoption plans by politicians, who fear her decision to take home a one-year-old boy from Malawi is a mere publicity stunt.
The pop queen and her director husband Guy Ritchie arrived in Malawi last Wednesday and met local orphans and government ministers during their time there.
However, members of a Scottish parliament group have hit out with concerns that the Material Girl star's motives are selfish....
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Madonna has been slammed for her adoption plans by politicians, who fear her decision to take home a one-year-old boy from Malawi is a mere publicity stunt.
The pop queen and her director husband Guy Ritchie arrived in Malawi last Wednesday and met local orphans and government ministers during their time there.
However, members of a Scottish parliament group have hit out with concerns that the Material Girl star's motives are selfish....
for remaining article
Adoption 'a Hollywood fad'
13/10/2006 08:07 - (SA)
London - British politicians and Malawi child care advocates on Thursday questioned the reported adoption of a motherless Malawi boy by Madonna, saying the move smacked of a celebrity fad and that the child would have been better off with relatives in the country.
The condemnations followed a statement on Wednesday by the boy's father that Madonna had adopted one-year-old David Banda, who had been cared for at the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre near Zambia since his mother Marita died from childbirth complications last year.
The reported move followed other high profile adoptions by movie star Angelina Jolie, who adopted children from Cambodia and Ethiopia, and Meg Ryan, whose adopted child hails from China....
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London - British politicians and Malawi child care advocates on Thursday questioned the reported adoption of a motherless Malawi boy by Madonna, saying the move smacked of a celebrity fad and that the child would have been better off with relatives in the country.
The condemnations followed a statement on Wednesday by the boy's father that Madonna had adopted one-year-old David Banda, who had been cared for at the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre near Zambia since his mother Marita died from childbirth complications last year.
The reported move followed other high profile adoptions by movie star Angelina Jolie, who adopted children from Cambodia and Ethiopia, and Meg Ryan, whose adopted child hails from China....
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Malawi child rights group to challenge adoption
Updated Fri. Oct. 13 2006 2:11 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A leading child rights group in Malawi will seek a court injunction to block Madonna's efforts to adopt a toddler from the impoverished African nation if the government allows the process to take place.
Eye of the Child issued a statement on Friday, one day after Malawi's High Court issued an interim order allowing Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie to adopt the one-year-old motherless boy.
"It is about safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion." ....
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CTV.ca News Staff
A leading child rights group in Malawi will seek a court injunction to block Madonna's efforts to adopt a toddler from the impoverished African nation if the government allows the process to take place.
Eye of the Child issued a statement on Friday, one day after Malawi's High Court issued an interim order allowing Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie to adopt the one-year-old motherless boy.
"It is about safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion." ....
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Madonna adoption bid challenged
Friday, 13 October 2006, 15:12 GMT 16:12 UK
A Malawian child rights group has said it wants to stop Madonna adopting a child from the African country.
The organisation, Eye of the Child, said it would seek a court injunction if the government did not halt its interim order approving the adoption.
"It's not like selling property," the group said in a statement....
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A Malawian child rights group has said it wants to stop Madonna adopting a child from the African country.
The organisation, Eye of the Child, said it would seek a court injunction if the government did not halt its interim order approving the adoption.
"It's not like selling property," the group said in a statement....
for remaining article
Too heavy to adopt?
A quarter of the UK's population is obese, according to the measurements of the body mass index (BMI). But it's not just about health and looks - it can also affect whether a family can adopt, writes a reader in our Readers' Column who wishes to remain anonymous.
As an overweight nation, it's pretty obvious that we're leaving a deadly legacy to future generations. Something has to be done about it, and as someone who tries to follow a healthy diet, I'm glad that the government has provided a guide to assessing what's an acceptable weight.
The danger of the BMI however, is that not only is the scientific reasoning behind it questionable but once the bureaucrats get their hands on it, it goes from being a sensible guideline to a commandment; set in stone, non-negotiable. And it might well prevent me and my husband from having what we so desperately want: a family.
We have been trying for a baby for six years now and we were devastated when I had a miscarriage three years ago....
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As an overweight nation, it's pretty obvious that we're leaving a deadly legacy to future generations. Something has to be done about it, and as someone who tries to follow a healthy diet, I'm glad that the government has provided a guide to assessing what's an acceptable weight.
The danger of the BMI however, is that not only is the scientific reasoning behind it questionable but once the bureaucrats get their hands on it, it goes from being a sensible guideline to a commandment; set in stone, non-negotiable. And it might well prevent me and my husband from having what we so desperately want: a family.
We have been trying for a baby for six years now and we were devastated when I had a miscarriage three years ago....
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'Baby snatcher' sends CNN-IBN notice
Published on Mon, Jun 26, 2006 at 20:20,
Updated on Tue, Jun 27, 2006 at 11:02 in Nation section
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: One week after CNN-IBN exposed a Pune-based adoption agency - Preet Mandir - of violating all adoption laws and selling babies to foreigners, its Managing Director, J S Bhasin, finally surfaced.
Bhasin has sent a notice to CNN-IBN under Section 500 of the Criminal Procedure Code to withdraw their reports and refused to answer any questions regarding the investigation.
At a press conference he also said that the public must not get carried away by the CNN-IBN expose on adoption....
for remaining article
Updated on Tue, Jun 27, 2006 at 11:02 in Nation section
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: One week after CNN-IBN exposed a Pune-based adoption agency - Preet Mandir - of violating all adoption laws and selling babies to foreigners, its Managing Director, J S Bhasin, finally surfaced.
Bhasin has sent a notice to CNN-IBN under Section 500 of the Criminal Procedure Code to withdraw their reports and refused to answer any questions regarding the investigation.
At a press conference he also said that the public must not get carried away by the CNN-IBN expose on adoption....
for remaining article
Baby snatchers prowl Konkan
Ruksh Chatterji / CNN-IBN
Published on Sun, Jul 02, 2006 at 15:21,
Updated on Mon, Jul 03, 2006 at 13:05 in Nation section
Konkan (Maharashtra): Misty hills, swollen rivers and incessant rain are common in Maharashtra's Konkan belt.
This sparsely populated region along the west coast doesn't have a single adoption home, making it the perfect hunting ground for baby snatchers....
for remaining article
Published on Sun, Jul 02, 2006 at 15:21,
Updated on Mon, Jul 03, 2006 at 13:05 in Nation section
Konkan (Maharashtra): Misty hills, swollen rivers and incessant rain are common in Maharashtra's Konkan belt.
This sparsely populated region along the west coast doesn't have a single adoption home, making it the perfect hunting ground for baby snatchers....
for remaining article
Potential pitfalls of adopting abroad
By Laura Smith-Spark BBC News
The row over pop star Madonna's intended adoption of 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi shows no sign of dying down.
Acres of column space have been devoted to discussion of the legality and the ethics of her decision to bring the boy to her London mansion.
Among critics' concerns was that the singer appeared to be following a recent trend among celebrities to look abroad for children, with Angelina Jolie adopting in Ethiopia last year.
But while the spotlight has fallen on orphans in Africa, in reality the continent is not often the first stop for Western adopters....
for remaining article
The row over pop star Madonna's intended adoption of 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi shows no sign of dying down.
Acres of column space have been devoted to discussion of the legality and the ethics of her decision to bring the boy to her London mansion.
Among critics' concerns was that the singer appeared to be following a recent trend among celebrities to look abroad for children, with Angelina Jolie adopting in Ethiopia last year.
But while the spotlight has fallen on orphans in Africa, in reality the continent is not often the first stop for Western adopters....
for remaining article
CELEBS BUYING BABIES ABROAD – NOT THE BEST WAY FORWARD
BY TRUDY SIMPSON
If people of the affluent West wish to tackle child poverty, the solution is to sponsor a village and not just adopt a child: charity
A charity last week criticised the growing trend towards transnational adoptions by celebrities, warning that it takes more than single adoption of children from developing countries to end childpoverty.
“We recognise that international adoptions help but they should only be a last resort. We think it would be great if celebrities used their power to campaign,” said Jane Moyo of Action AID, a charity which works in developing countries, including Malawi....
for remaining article
If people of the affluent West wish to tackle child poverty, the solution is to sponsor a village and not just adopt a child: charity
A charity last week criticised the growing trend towards transnational adoptions by celebrities, warning that it takes more than single adoption of children from developing countries to end childpoverty.
“We recognise that international adoptions help but they should only be a last resort. We think it would be great if celebrities used their power to campaign,” said Jane Moyo of Action AID, a charity which works in developing countries, including Malawi....
for remaining article
The Problematic Pop-Culture Movement to 'Save' Africa
By G. Pascal Zachary, AlterNet.
Posted October 24, 2006.
Madonna's adoption debacle is about more than one Malawian baby. Celebrity stunts and corporate campaigns reveal that well-meaning Americans often have no idea how to help Africans.
Madonna, famous for going to extremes to gain attention, is reminding the world in a fresh way that Americans abroad are dangerous. A widening controversy surrounds her adoption of a one-year-old African baby from the impoverished country of Malawi. And the debacle illustrates how ham-handed, clumsy and ineffective American aid efforts can be. Stunts like Madonna's perversely tend to reinforce Americans' sense of moral superiority -- without doing much for the aid recipients themselves.
The former Material Girl's misadventures in adopting the boy, David Banda, have made her the newest Ugly American -- big-footing her way through a foreign country, violating local laws and sensibilities in the name of a private agenda she calls "doing good." Now even the father of the boy says Madonna's adoption is a mistake, joining a growing number of human-rights critics is saying the entertainer should return the child....
for remaining article
Posted October 24, 2006.
Madonna's adoption debacle is about more than one Malawian baby. Celebrity stunts and corporate campaigns reveal that well-meaning Americans often have no idea how to help Africans.
Madonna, famous for going to extremes to gain attention, is reminding the world in a fresh way that Americans abroad are dangerous. A widening controversy surrounds her adoption of a one-year-old African baby from the impoverished country of Malawi. And the debacle illustrates how ham-handed, clumsy and ineffective American aid efforts can be. Stunts like Madonna's perversely tend to reinforce Americans' sense of moral superiority -- without doing much for the aid recipients themselves.
The former Material Girl's misadventures in adopting the boy, David Banda, have made her the newest Ugly American -- big-footing her way through a foreign country, violating local laws and sensibilities in the name of a private agenda she calls "doing good." Now even the father of the boy says Madonna's adoption is a mistake, joining a growing number of human-rights critics is saying the entertainer should return the child....
for remaining article
Top celeb 'gave back' African orphan
Sunday, October 22 2006, 11:08 BST
By Daniel Kilkelly, Entertainment Reporter
A celebrity adopted a child from the same African orphanage as Madonna - but gave the youngster back two months later.
Home of Hope director Rev Thomson Chipeta, who refused to name the star, is now concerned that the children he cares for will suffer because of the backlash following Madonna's decision to adopt Malawi orphan David Banda....
for remaining article
By Daniel Kilkelly, Entertainment Reporter
A celebrity adopted a child from the same African orphanage as Madonna - but gave the youngster back two months later.
Home of Hope director Rev Thomson Chipeta, who refused to name the star, is now concerned that the children he cares for will suffer because of the backlash following Madonna's decision to adopt Malawi orphan David Banda....
for remaining article
Foreign adoptions – answer for AIDS-stricken Africa?
22 October 2006
JOHANNESBURG - Madonna’s bid to adopt a Malawian baby may have raised some hackles about foreign adoptions but the increasing number of African orphans underscores a pressing need to find suitable new parents.
The scourge of AIDS and the civil wars that continue to bedevil the world’s poorest continent means that the number of orphans, which currently stands at 43 million, is bound to mushroom.
United Nations estimates forecast that 18 million African children will have lost at least one parent by the end of the decade. And while orphans have traditionally been absorbed by their relatives, the AIDS pandemic means many uncles and aunts are not in a position to take over as before....
for remaining article
JOHANNESBURG - Madonna’s bid to adopt a Malawian baby may have raised some hackles about foreign adoptions but the increasing number of African orphans underscores a pressing need to find suitable new parents.
The scourge of AIDS and the civil wars that continue to bedevil the world’s poorest continent means that the number of orphans, which currently stands at 43 million, is bound to mushroom.
United Nations estimates forecast that 18 million African children will have lost at least one parent by the end of the decade. And while orphans have traditionally been absorbed by their relatives, the AIDS pandemic means many uncles and aunts are not in a position to take over as before....
for remaining article
Personal Column: Adoption abroad
By Danielle Demetriou
Sunday, 22 October 2006
I was found abandoned in a tenement block in Hong Kong on Christmas Day in 1962. A stranger took me to a police station and I spent the first few months of my life in St Christopher's children's home.
The following year, I flew to the UK with four other Chinese babies to be adopted by British parents. Our arrival was so unusual it was written about in the Daily Mirror.
My adopted parents had been unable to adopt in the UK because my mother is Catholic and my father Church of England. Couples of mixed religions were not deemed fit to adopt....
for remaining article
Sunday, 22 October 2006
I was found abandoned in a tenement block in Hong Kong on Christmas Day in 1962. A stranger took me to a police station and I spent the first few months of my life in St Christopher's children's home.
The following year, I flew to the UK with four other Chinese babies to be adopted by British parents. Our arrival was so unusual it was written about in the Daily Mirror.
My adopted parents had been unable to adopt in the UK because my mother is Catholic and my father Church of England. Couples of mixed religions were not deemed fit to adopt....
for remaining article
Malawi charity seeks Madonna child's return
Friday, October 20 2006, 11:35 BST
By Dave West, Media Correspondent
A Malawi charity is going to court in an attempt to get Madonna's adopted child returned to the country.
The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi is taking its case to the high court in capital Lilongwe on Friday, according to the Daily Mail, to try to force the pop star to bring David Banda back to the country.
The campaign group will ask for an injunction ordering her to return and go through more full checks and procedures. Undule Mwakasungule, from the charity, has claimed he has evidence that David's father Yohame was not fully aware of the situation....
for remaining article
By Dave West, Media Correspondent
A Malawi charity is going to court in an attempt to get Madonna's adopted child returned to the country.
The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi is taking its case to the high court in capital Lilongwe on Friday, according to the Daily Mail, to try to force the pop star to bring David Banda back to the country.
The campaign group will ask for an injunction ordering her to return and go through more full checks and procedures. Undule Mwakasungule, from the charity, has claimed he has evidence that David's father Yohame was not fully aware of the situation....
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Malawi groups go to court on Madonna adoption
Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 (EST)
Malawi human rights groups on Friday went to court to stop Madonna from adopting a one-year-old Malawian boy, saying the adoption was illegal and could amount to officially sanctioned child trafficking.
LILONGWE (Reuters Life!) - Malawi human rights groups on Friday went to court to stop Madonna from adopting a one-year-old Malawian boy, saying the adoption was illegal and could amount to officially sanctioned child trafficking.
Malawi's High Court will hear the application by the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) next Friday, officials said.
Madonna, 48, has angered rights groups with her plans to adopt young David Banda, who left his native country on Tuesday for the pop diva's home in London after she was granted temporary adoption rights by Malawi authorities....
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Malawi human rights groups on Friday went to court to stop Madonna from adopting a one-year-old Malawian boy, saying the adoption was illegal and could amount to officially sanctioned child trafficking.
LILONGWE (Reuters Life!) - Malawi human rights groups on Friday went to court to stop Madonna from adopting a one-year-old Malawian boy, saying the adoption was illegal and could amount to officially sanctioned child trafficking.
Malawi's High Court will hear the application by the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) next Friday, officials said.
Madonna, 48, has angered rights groups with her plans to adopt young David Banda, who left his native country on Tuesday for the pop diva's home in London after she was granted temporary adoption rights by Malawi authorities....
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Bought in villages, sold in cities
Aditya Mehta / CNN-IBN
Fri, Jun 23, 2006 at 17:40,
Updated on Sat, Jun 24, 2006 at 19:20
Maharashtra: Touts of adoption agencies love to tour villages in Maharashtra. Here babies from poor families and from unwed mothers can be bought cheap and then sold at adoption homes as orphans.
"In rural areas in particular, the chances of this happening is quite high. Babies can be found in certain villages in the eight districts of Marathwada and Jalgaon," says Chairman Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Aurangabad, Dr Wankhede.
The CWC in Aurangabad gets approximately 40 abandoned children annually.
CWC member from Solapur Devayani Tumma often gets calls from adoption agencies making a sales pitch for abandoned children. “Adoption agencies call us and tell us to send the babies to their institutions,” she says....
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Fri, Jun 23, 2006 at 17:40,
Updated on Sat, Jun 24, 2006 at 19:20
Maharashtra: Touts of adoption agencies love to tour villages in Maharashtra. Here babies from poor families and from unwed mothers can be bought cheap and then sold at adoption homes as orphans.
"In rural areas in particular, the chances of this happening is quite high. Babies can be found in certain villages in the eight districts of Marathwada and Jalgaon," says Chairman Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Aurangabad, Dr Wankhede.
The CWC in Aurangabad gets approximately 40 abandoned children annually.
CWC member from Solapur Devayani Tumma often gets calls from adoption agencies making a sales pitch for abandoned children. “Adoption agencies call us and tell us to send the babies to their institutions,” she says....
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CBI confirms CNN-IBN’s report on illegal adoption
Wed, Dec 19, 2007
New Delhi: CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation into illegal foreign adoptions at Preet Mandir, an adoption agency in Pune has now been confirmed by the CBI.
It has filed a supplementary report to the Bombay High Court confirming the facts reported by CNN-IBN earlier.
The CBI report confirms that there were cases of adoption at Preet Mandir where money to the extent of $3,500 to $10,000 were extracted from couples wanting to adopt a child....
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New Delhi: CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation into illegal foreign adoptions at Preet Mandir, an adoption agency in Pune has now been confirmed by the CBI.
It has filed a supplementary report to the Bombay High Court confirming the facts reported by CNN-IBN earlier.
The CBI report confirms that there were cases of adoption at Preet Mandir where money to the extent of $3,500 to $10,000 were extracted from couples wanting to adopt a child....
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Impact: CBI to probe adoption racket
Fri, Oct 20, 2006
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed the CBI to investigate activities of Pune-based adoption Centre, Preet Mandir after a CNN-IBN Special Investigation blew the lid off the agency, whose owner J S Bhasin has broken every adoption rule in the land to sell babies illegally to foreign parents.
The High Court has asked the CBI to take tapes from CNN-IBN and file a case against the accused.
The investigation by CNN-IBN revealed a serious and a shocking adoption racket at Preet Mandir....
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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed the CBI to investigate activities of Pune-based adoption Centre, Preet Mandir after a CNN-IBN Special Investigation blew the lid off the agency, whose owner J S Bhasin has broken every adoption rule in the land to sell babies illegally to foreign parents.
The High Court has asked the CBI to take tapes from CNN-IBN and file a case against the accused.
The investigation by CNN-IBN revealed a serious and a shocking adoption racket at Preet Mandir....
for remaining article
Madonna overseas adoption follows trend
By Jocelyn Noveck
AP National Writer
October 19, 2006
NEW YORK --Angelina Jolie adopted from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Madonna, as most of the planet knows, is adopting from Malawi. And ordinary Americans adopt foreign-born children by the thousands each year -- a rate that has tripled in the last decade.
But with close to 120,000 children waiting in the U.S. foster care system, what's driving the push in overseas adoptions? It's an emotional issue that goes to the heart of what people are seeking when they adopt a child -- and the obstacles they can face in this country....
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AP National Writer
October 19, 2006
NEW YORK --Angelina Jolie adopted from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Madonna, as most of the planet knows, is adopting from Malawi. And ordinary Americans adopt foreign-born children by the thousands each year -- a rate that has tripled in the last decade.
But with close to 120,000 children waiting in the U.S. foster care system, what's driving the push in overseas adoptions? It's an emotional issue that goes to the heart of what people are seeking when they adopt a child -- and the obstacles they can face in this country....
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Madonna: Buying Her Way In Malawi?
NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2006
Pop Star Has Given An African Boy A Home, But Did She Do It The Right Way?
(CBS) In 2002, the world smiled with approval when Angelina Jolie brought back an orphan boy from Cambodia. No one mentioned the fact that in 2001, the United States government suspended adoptions from the country due to concerns about child trafficking.
Now Madonna is the poster girl for what critics say is an unfair advantage enjoyed by celebrities who want to adopt children from foreign countries. Some experts say that in taking custody of 1-year-old David Banda from Malawi, Madonna circumvented the African nation's strict adoption laws, which require the prospective parents to live in the country for 18 months....
for remaining article
Pop Star Has Given An African Boy A Home, But Did She Do It The Right Way?
(CBS) In 2002, the world smiled with approval when Angelina Jolie brought back an orphan boy from Cambodia. No one mentioned the fact that in 2001, the United States government suspended adoptions from the country due to concerns about child trafficking.
Now Madonna is the poster girl for what critics say is an unfair advantage enjoyed by celebrities who want to adopt children from foreign countries. Some experts say that in taking custody of 1-year-old David Banda from Malawi, Madonna circumvented the African nation's strict adoption laws, which require the prospective parents to live in the country for 18 months....
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Americans adopting overseas kids by the thousands
06:09 PM CDT
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Angelina Jolie adopted from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Madonna, as most of the planet knows, is adopting from Malawi. And ordinary Americans adopt foreign-born children by the thousands each year – a rate that has tripled in the last decade.
But with close to 120,000 children waiting in the U.S. foster care system, what's driving the push in overseas adoptions? It's an emotional issue that goes to the heart of what people are seeking when they adopt a child – and the obstacles they can face in this country....
for remaining article
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Angelina Jolie adopted from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Madonna, as most of the planet knows, is adopting from Malawi. And ordinary Americans adopt foreign-born children by the thousands each year – a rate that has tripled in the last decade.
But with close to 120,000 children waiting in the U.S. foster care system, what's driving the push in overseas adoptions? It's an emotional issue that goes to the heart of what people are seeking when they adopt a child – and the obstacles they can face in this country....
for remaining article
Stolen Children
By Rory Callinan/Chennai
Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008
YEARS OF HEARTBREAK: Zabeen's birth mother Fatima at a local tea shop; her daughter was taken as she played outside.
Fatima thinks it was her daughter Zabeen's beautiful smile that attracted the child stealer. Playing outside the tea shop near their home in the north Chennai suburb of Washermanpet, with only her four-year-old brother watching, the bright two-year-old was an easy target. While Fatima popped around the corner to the market, Zabeen was bundled into a motorized rickshaw and vanished into the mass of humanity that swirls through the city's squalid alleyways and slums.
"I thought someone had taken her for her kidney," says the weeping mother, clutching a photocopy of her daughter's picture that she keeps in a special place in her tiny two-room flat. "Many, many places I looked. My husband traveled everywhere looking. I was all the time crying for my daughter." Her husband says: "My wife was half mad with grief." ....
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Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008
YEARS OF HEARTBREAK: Zabeen's birth mother Fatima at a local tea shop; her daughter was taken as she played outside.
Fatima thinks it was her daughter Zabeen's beautiful smile that attracted the child stealer. Playing outside the tea shop near their home in the north Chennai suburb of Washermanpet, with only her four-year-old brother watching, the bright two-year-old was an easy target. While Fatima popped around the corner to the market, Zabeen was bundled into a motorized rickshaw and vanished into the mass of humanity that swirls through the city's squalid alleyways and slums.
"I thought someone had taken her for her kidney," says the weeping mother, clutching a photocopy of her daughter's picture that she keeps in a special place in her tiny two-room flat. "Many, many places I looked. My husband traveled everywhere looking. I was all the time crying for my daughter." Her husband says: "My wife was half mad with grief." ....
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South Brunswick author hopes book raises awareness on adoption issues
By MARY ANN BOURBEAU • STAFF WRITER • September 14, 2008
SOUTH BRUNSWICK —Mirah Riben has been researching, writing and speaking about adoption issues for nearly 40 years. She hopes her latest book, "The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry," will help bring awareness to the multitude of problems within the process.
"International and domestic adoption has become a multi-billion dollar industry which allows for abuses by unscrupulous baby brokers and child traffickers far too easily," said the South Brunswick resident. "It is ripe with exploitation and corruption,."
Riben, 63, is appalled when she reads of children in foreign countries being kidnapped or stolen off the streets and sold to orphanages....
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SOUTH BRUNSWICK —Mirah Riben has been researching, writing and speaking about adoption issues for nearly 40 years. She hopes her latest book, "The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry," will help bring awareness to the multitude of problems within the process.
"International and domestic adoption has become a multi-billion dollar industry which allows for abuses by unscrupulous baby brokers and child traffickers far too easily," said the South Brunswick resident. "It is ripe with exploitation and corruption,."
Riben, 63, is appalled when she reads of children in foreign countries being kidnapped or stolen off the streets and sold to orphanages....
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Nepal urged to tighten adoptions
The government in Nepal is being urged to tighten regulations surrounding the international adoption of its children.
A study suggests the current suspension of international adoptions from Nepal should continue until proper safeguards are in place.
The research was carried out by the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, and the child rights charity Terre des Hommes.
They say numerous infringements take place, including the abuse and, effectively, the sale of children....
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A study suggests the current suspension of international adoptions from Nepal should continue until proper safeguards are in place.
The research was carried out by the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, and the child rights charity Terre des Hommes.
They say numerous infringements take place, including the abuse and, effectively, the sale of children....
for remaining article
Kidnapped children adopted by Australians
Tim Dick
August 23, 2008
AT LEAST 13 young children from India were kidnapped, given new identities and adopted by unsuspecting Australian families, according to Indian police.
The allegations, detailed in Time magazine, centre on a dubious Chennai orphanage-cum-adoption agency called Malaysian Social Services.
The agency was able to arrange adoptions for Australians, even after an Indian court cancelled one family's proposed adoption in 1995 because MSS had lied when it claimed a five-year-old girl was abandoned....
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August 23, 2008
AT LEAST 13 young children from India were kidnapped, given new identities and adopted by unsuspecting Australian families, according to Indian police.
The allegations, detailed in Time magazine, centre on a dubious Chennai orphanage-cum-adoption agency called Malaysian Social Services.
The agency was able to arrange adoptions for Australians, even after an Indian court cancelled one family's proposed adoption in 1995 because MSS had lied when it claimed a five-year-old girl was abandoned....
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'Maybe now, we will get justice'
Scott Carney
August 30, 2008
NOVEMBER 11, 1998, was like any other day in Chennai: hot and humid. Fatima, a young housewife with three children left her house for a grocery run across the street while two of her children, Zabeen, 2, and Sadaam Hussein, 4, played in an alley.
A three-wheeled auto rickshaw pulled up at the alley entrance and the children peeped inside. A woman reached down and grabbed Zabeen and Sadaam and dragged them into the rickshaw. The driver, a man, sped away but Sadaam managed to break free. He ran home to an empty house and cowered under a small wooden bed....
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August 30, 2008
NOVEMBER 11, 1998, was like any other day in Chennai: hot and humid. Fatima, a young housewife with three children left her house for a grocery run across the street while two of her children, Zabeen, 2, and Sadaam Hussein, 4, played in an alley.
A three-wheeled auto rickshaw pulled up at the alley entrance and the children peeped inside. A woman reached down and grabbed Zabeen and Sadaam and dragged them into the rickshaw. The driver, a man, sped away but Sadaam managed to break free. He ran home to an empty house and cowered under a small wooden bed....
for remaining article
In search of the stolen children
August 30, 2008
Despite a wave of scandals, child-trafficking remains a huge problem for India, reports Matt Wade in Chennai.
Charities are normally keen to get some publicity to raise their profile and help with fund-raising. But that's not the case for orphanages and adoption agencies in Chennai, India's fourth biggest city.
They have closed ranks after years of negative stories about an adoption "scam" at a local orphanage called Malaysian Social Services.
Police say MSS received children who had been taken from poor families, fabricated new identities for them and then offered them for adoption in Western countries including Australia. The investigation has dragged on since 2000 and is now in the hands of India's premier police agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.
But the scandal flared again this week when it was revealed a child called Zabeen had been taken from her family in Chennai and adopted by a Queensland couple in 2000....
for remaining article
Despite a wave of scandals, child-trafficking remains a huge problem for India, reports Matt Wade in Chennai.
Charities are normally keen to get some publicity to raise their profile and help with fund-raising. But that's not the case for orphanages and adoption agencies in Chennai, India's fourth biggest city.
They have closed ranks after years of negative stories about an adoption "scam" at a local orphanage called Malaysian Social Services.
Police say MSS received children who had been taken from poor families, fabricated new identities for them and then offered them for adoption in Western countries including Australia. The investigation has dragged on since 2000 and is now in the hands of India's premier police agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.
But the scandal flared again this week when it was revealed a child called Zabeen had been taken from her family in Chennai and adopted by a Queensland couple in 2000....
for remaining article
Adoptions from India and child trafficking
Indian authorities are investigating the abduction and sale of children who have subsequently been legally adopted internationally.
They estimate that 30 Indian children, adopted by Australians, could have been kidnapped and sold to adoption agencies....
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They estimate that 30 Indian children, adopted by Australians, could have been kidnapped and sold to adoption agencies....
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'Stolen' kids traced to Dutch orphanage
8/28/2008 6:47:40 PM
The case of stolen children sold to foster parents abroad by a child adoption agency Malaysian Social Services is getting murkier. The parents of two children allegedly 'sold' to foster parents in Holland have revealed to TIMES NOW that they had received a letter after 12 years from their children that were abandoned at an orphanage in Netherlands.
The revelation has come as a sharp contrast to the assurances given to them by the adoption agency -- the Malaysian Social Services that their children were safe and with affluent families abroad.
Many adoptions by foreigners through this agency between 1991 and 2002 have come under the scanner after allegations that children were 'stolen' from their parents and handed over adoptions 'illegally'....
for remaining article
The case of stolen children sold to foster parents abroad by a child adoption agency Malaysian Social Services is getting murkier. The parents of two children allegedly 'sold' to foster parents in Holland have revealed to TIMES NOW that they had received a letter after 12 years from their children that were abandoned at an orphanage in Netherlands.
The revelation has come as a sharp contrast to the assurances given to them by the adoption agency -- the Malaysian Social Services that their children were safe and with affluent families abroad.
Many adoptions by foreigners through this agency between 1991 and 2002 have come under the scanner after allegations that children were 'stolen' from their parents and handed over adoptions 'illegally'....
for remaining article
Australia to return 'abducted' children?
8/25/2008 1:50:20 PM
Three years after an illegal adoption racket was busted in Tamil Nadu, in which some of the missing children were traced to foster homes in Australia, the authorities in Australia are debated whether the children should be given back to their parents in India.
Reaction to the case, the Australian High Commission told TIMES NOW that they will look into the matter.
"This is a very serious issue. We are aware of the allegations relating to the company involved. It is for the Australian Attorney General and his department," top diplomats int eh Australian High Commission said.
At least 30 children adopted from India by Australian families may have been kidnapped and sold by child traffickers. A TIME magazine investigation now says 13 of these children are in Australia. The investigation, published this weekend, claims kidnappers stole children from poor neighbourhoods in southern India and sold them to an adoption agency in Malaysia called the Malaysian Social Services for Australian dollar 265 each....
for remaining article
Three years after an illegal adoption racket was busted in Tamil Nadu, in which some of the missing children were traced to foster homes in Australia, the authorities in Australia are debated whether the children should be given back to their parents in India.
Reaction to the case, the Australian High Commission told TIMES NOW that they will look into the matter.
"This is a very serious issue. We are aware of the allegations relating to the company involved. It is for the Australian Attorney General and his department," top diplomats int eh Australian High Commission said.
At least 30 children adopted from India by Australian families may have been kidnapped and sold by child traffickers. A TIME magazine investigation now says 13 of these children are in Australia. The investigation, published this weekend, claims kidnappers stole children from poor neighbourhoods in southern India and sold them to an adoption agency in Malaysia called the Malaysian Social Services for Australian dollar 265 each....
for remaining article
Indian babies 'bought and sold' for foreign adoption
Updated Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:35am AEST
The number of international adoptions has boomed in recent years as the amount of children available to adopt in Western countries has fallen but international adoption has seen its reputation spiral into a mire of bad news, especially through its association with baby traffickers.
An expose by TIME Magazine has discovered babies in India are being stolen from parents who are very much alive and keen to keep their children.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Rory Callinan, TIME journalist
CALLINAN: Yes India was quite interesting because what had happened in India was that there appeared to be quite a lot of checks in place that created very appropriate looking paperwork, but there was a couple of loopholes that were sort of extremely well exploited. But when the Australian authorities saw the paperwork they were quite happy to accept these children, which suggests that the paperwork was sort of the convincing factor. And this is part of the problem, I mean you can have really sort of good looking paperwork but at the end of the day if you sort of don't do the checks behind who's generating the paperwork you can end up in this situation.
PODGER: You've been following one particular child, a girl called Zabeen who was apparently taken from her parents in a Chennai slum, and it seems adopted by Australian parents who believed she was an orphan. And it seems extensive steps were taken by traffickers to disguise the identity of children like her? ....
for remaining article
The number of international adoptions has boomed in recent years as the amount of children available to adopt in Western countries has fallen but international adoption has seen its reputation spiral into a mire of bad news, especially through its association with baby traffickers.
An expose by TIME Magazine has discovered babies in India are being stolen from parents who are very much alive and keen to keep their children.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Rory Callinan, TIME journalist
CALLINAN: Yes India was quite interesting because what had happened in India was that there appeared to be quite a lot of checks in place that created very appropriate looking paperwork, but there was a couple of loopholes that were sort of extremely well exploited. But when the Australian authorities saw the paperwork they were quite happy to accept these children, which suggests that the paperwork was sort of the convincing factor. And this is part of the problem, I mean you can have really sort of good looking paperwork but at the end of the day if you sort of don't do the checks behind who's generating the paperwork you can end up in this situation.
PODGER: You've been following one particular child, a girl called Zabeen who was apparently taken from her parents in a Chennai slum, and it seems adopted by Australian parents who believed she was an orphan. And it seems extensive steps were taken by traffickers to disguise the identity of children like her? ....
for remaining article
Adoptee sifts through a stolen past
At the age of 3, Lily Schur was kidnapped from her parents and adopted away to the United States.
Now 22, Lily is a brightly smiling young woman with a positive outlook on aspects of her past that are just beyond the reach of her memory.
Having been adopted by a white American family, she first returned to the Korean Peninsula at age 13 as part of an adoptee program. “There was that feeling that I’d been here before,” said Lily, whose Korean name is Kim Jang-mee. “Even to this day, I’m not sure if it’s a real memory.” ....
click here for remaining article
Now 22, Lily is a brightly smiling young woman with a positive outlook on aspects of her past that are just beyond the reach of her memory.
Having been adopted by a white American family, she first returned to the Korean Peninsula at age 13 as part of an adoptee program. “There was that feeling that I’d been here before,” said Lily, whose Korean name is Kim Jang-mee. “Even to this day, I’m not sure if it’s a real memory.” ....
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PI Firm Uncovers Adoption Corruption in India
posted by PInow.com Staff August 27th, 2008
A Canberra family who adopted two children from India is still waiting for an investigation into their case more than a year after notifying Indian authorities.
Julia Rollings and her husband Barry adopted brother and sister Akil and Sabila from Madras Social Service Guild orphanage in Chennai, in August 1998.
They understood the children, then aged about two and three, arrived at the orphanage in October 1996 after being relinquished for adoption by their mother.
The Rollings family mounted a private investigation in India after reading reports that one of the orphanage’s staff was arrested on charges of kidnapping....
for remaining article: click here for remaining article
A Canberra family who adopted two children from India is still waiting for an investigation into their case more than a year after notifying Indian authorities.
Julia Rollings and her husband Barry adopted brother and sister Akil and Sabila from Madras Social Service Guild orphanage in Chennai, in August 1998.
They understood the children, then aged about two and three, arrived at the orphanage in October 1996 after being relinquished for adoption by their mother.
The Rollings family mounted a private investigation in India after reading reports that one of the orphanage’s staff was arrested on charges of kidnapping....
for remaining article: click here for remaining article
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