International Adoption as a Form of Child Trafficking

Since after WWII, the practice of adopting children to form a family has become common in the United States. While some families only wish to adopt babies who are of the same race as themselves (and are thus put on long domestic waiting lists), other families adopt children of different races from impoverished countries, using the logic that they are saving their new child from an otherwise horrific and underprivileged life.

International adoptions are constantly seen in the news, and are perceived by the American public as a good thing. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have now adopted three children (Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia, and Pax from Vietnam). Madonna's attempt to adopt a little boy from Malawi was highly contested in the news, as she seemed to break regulations regarding adoption rules in that country. The latest celebrity to join the international adoption craze was Katherine Hiegl, who adopted a special needs girl from South Korea.

These lucky celeb babies are not alone- The Office of Immigration reported 18,120 international orphans entering the United States in 2000, and 19,087 in 2001. If the majority of these orphans did enter for adoption purposes, this accounts for a little less than 15% of all adoptions that occurred during those years.

Though celebrities give a mostly positive impression of international adoptions, there is an additional side to such adoption cases that needs to be considered. People who adopt babies from other countries for the purpose of giving them a better life are not doing wrong in any way; however, this practice provides the opportunity for exploitation and possible human trafficking. Impoverished families can be coerced into giving up one child to help feed the rest of their families, or may be outright forced to part forever with their child to a stranger. Though these families may believe that their child will be sent to the United States or Europe to live with a rich family and have a life with better opportunities, there is no guarantee that their child will not end up being sold into slavery, exploited for labor or sexual purposes, or killed so their organs be sold for exorbitant profits on the black market. As exiledmothers.com points out, "Once in the possession of "adoptive parents" it will be assumed a child is safe and no one checks up."

In order to protect against possible exploitation of the families giving up their children for international adoption, and against the very real possibility of those children ending up enslaved somewhere, The Hague Conference on Private International Law sponsored the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The convention does not have specific legal power, but provides guidelines for forms to ensure consent of parents giving up children, medical reports, questionnaires, and general practices that should be followed. This convention at the very least provides a means through which people can become more informed about the issues involved in international adoption, and how to ensure that the children obtained in international adoptions have been given up by the parents with full consent and understanding of where their child is going.

International adoption is a very tricky situation to deal with, as exemplified by the recent group of Americans caught trying to get children out of Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. While some people are well-meaning and truly want the best for young children, unfortunately there are individuals in the world who know they can make profits off of ignorance and apathy; the only way to combat this atrocious ordeal is to raise awareness and make sure that those adoptions which do take place are legally and morally sound.

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