International Adoption In The United States

There is one thing that most people look forward to for their entire lives. Grow up, get married and have that perfect, happy family. Sometimes for this to happen, it involves adoption. Whether someone wants to start a family with it, or if they want to expand their family. No matter what the initial reason is adoption is everywhere and involves many people. Most people don’t go through life and say that they don’t know anybody who is adopted. Many people are related to, or know at least one person, that was adopted. So all countries should let people continue saying that by letting them adopt whether they are from a foreign country or not.

Being from Russia and being adopted, this topic really hits home for me. I think it is absolutely appalling what the Russian government has done towards this issue. Two years later and American families still can’t adopt a child from Russia:

Parents wishing to adopt have challenged the adoption laws regarding American-Indian children. For many decades, people wanting to adopt African-American children from disturbing situations have been put through several issues. A law was passed called the “Indian child welfare act” to end what was then a common practice. The state claims they thought that American-Indian children were better off in homes with non-Indian parents. A handful of recent lawsuits say the federal law and similar legislation at state levels make it harder to find stable homes for children. they’ve had many cases fall apart, because parents adopting don’t want the children. Most adopting parents believe it's unfair to them if they can’t adopt American-Indian children.

a. Supporting Material: In today’s society the number of international adoptions have continued to increase in the United States. This is

Since 1980, the United States has offered adoption subsidies to significantly lower the cost of adopting a child in the foster care system. These subsidies are a form of economic incentive and can cover legal, medical, and educational expenses. This system was put in place to increase the adoption of children in the foster care system (Argys). The federal government’s intention behind these cash incentives is to move children through the foster care system and into permanent homes. The number of annual adoptions nationally almost doubled from 1995 to 2001 (Kaufman). For International adoptions, the government will reimburse adoptive parents for travel costs, lodging, food, and transportation while in the foreign country. Many countries require

Adoption can be a wonderful and joyous situation for a child and parent. I personally feel like the ideal of adoption is the birth mother or father, basically giving their child a better chance at life. “About 10% of couples in the United States are affected by infertility. Both men and women can be infertile. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1/3 of the time the diagnosis is due to female infertility, 1/3 of the time it is linked to male infertility, and the remaining cases of infertility are due to a combination of factors from both partners. For approximately 20% of couples, the cause cannot be determined”(webmd.com). Adoption gives these families a chance of having a family that includes children. “Compared to long-term

According to us statistics/history and adoption there is 135,000 children adopted in the U.S alone each year that is significantly growing each year. Out of those 135,000 59% are from welfare and foster systems, 26% from other countries and 15% are voluntarily relinquished meaning a child parents ask the local authority to place their child for adoption. Also shown that the increase in international adoption is "attributed to war, poverty, and the lack of social welfare in sending countries and, in the United States, to increased infertility rates, perceived difficulties associated with domestic adoption, preference to adopt infants rather than older children, and a disinclination toward foster care adoption" (R. M. Lee,

Adopting children from other countries like Russia isn’t and will never be easy because of costs and sometimes the country itself doesn’t want to allow you to adopt an orphan. Russia banned America from adopting Russian children because of money. Russia did this because they didn’t

Many people believe that international adoptions are a positive thing, and help provide a brighter future for the children they adopt. However, many countries have strict laws on international adoptions. The article Home Alone ventures to say that, "poor countries should fix their adoption systems so that, once domestic possibilities have been exhausted, foreigners can step in" (Home Alone). International adoptions can sometimes be tricky. Many countries have constantly changing laws on international adoption. "Adoption laws change from year to year, and from country to country. Changes in intercountry adoption bans and regulations in different countries may cause unexpected challenges for prospective international adoptive parents." (Child Welfare Information Gateway). Often times many international adoptions can become corrupt. Children are sometimes smuggled across borders. "If the children travel through an official border the adult who accompanies them needs to have paperwork, but in its absence a bit of money in an envelope does the trick"

The image of an American family has changed dramatically over the last fifty years. American families are no longer modeled after the Cleavers. International adoption has contributed to this changing family view, bringing in children who are not biologically related to their parents and often of a different race. This new American image has helped eliminate race related issues. So, what is the controversy with international adoption? Children are the future of a country; children are human resources. If a country is losing their children to international adoption; the county is losing the gifts and talents that are irreplaceable in those children. Intercountry adoption should not be a viable adoption source because this process does not adequately benefit those involved, international adoption exploits poor children and hurts their countries of origin.

Adoptive parents often decide to go with international adoption due to absurd argumentation. This leaves thousands of children in the United States adoption system; unfortunately, these children cannot stay in the government funded system

When you adopt out of the country you most likely will not know the medical history or the parent’s information. Most of the time the child or baby will not be able to speak English or speak at all. Before you adopt the child or baby you may have to have fundraisers because it costs a ton of money. Once you adopt the child or baby it does

It is not only the involvement of two families but two countries. I think before any international adoption should proceed, the adoptive parents must make the effort to know the child’s homeland. They must also demonstrate that they are willing to protect the rights of the child against any threat. I think in that way the child won’t lose part of his cultural and ethnic identity. The sending country should make sure the international adoption is the last option after visiting the other options such as extended families that might be able to take care of the child or orphanage agencies or even domestic adoption. Only after these options have been exhausted, only then international adoption should be considered. Once it is done, they need to assure the child is guaranteed to have a better future. I don’t think it should stop at a simple background check or to check if the adopters are good citizens. It should go beyond that; like take for instance the case of Carleton Gajdusek; he was an extraordinary scientist and he received a Nobel prize for his research. Given his background and how he was perceived in society, Gajdusek was given the opportunity to bring back with him in the US 56 children from New Guinea. Parents trusted the scientist and believe that he will offer those kids a higher education. However, he was later accused of molesting those kids. Shouldn’t this be a lesson to society? Therefore, I

The second country researched was Haiti. For several years, particularly during and after the harsh earthquake in Haiti, adoption agencies such as CCAI take huge roles in supporting orphans and abandoned children in Haiti through international adoption. According to the recent Haitian adoption law put into place in November 2013, parents who want to adopt must follow certain guidelines. Unlike other countries, single women are able to adopt, if they are United States citizens, and the ages 35-50 years old. Heterosexual couples who are legally married are eligible to adopt if one applicant is at least 30 years of age, and married for a minimum of 5 years. Unmarried heterosexual couples can also adopt if they are between the ages of 30-50 years,

The necessity of adoption in the world is astounding. Currently, there is an estimated 143 million orphans worldwide (Wingert, vol.151). As of 2007, there were 513,000 children living in foster care within the United States alone (Rousseau 21:14). International adoption in the United States was jumpstarted post World War II as a way of helping those children who were left homeless, after war had taken their parents. Although there are thousands of healthy children awaiting adoption in the United States, several American couples still turn to foreign adoption when seeking potential children. Americans often fail to realize the need for intervention within their own country and their duty to take care of domestic affairs before venturing to