World's need for adoptive parents hits home

Editor's note: This is the second and last in a series on international adoptions. Last week's article focused on a couple who adopted two children from China and the complex procedures parents must complete before adopting from that country. This segment will focus on several other countries seeking parents to adopt children.

The world's population just peaked at seven billion people; and of that number, 163 million are orphans.

As the world has changed and become more global, views and trends on adoption have changed. A local adoption agency explains the process of adoption and its pros and cons, and adoptive families are speaking out about how their life has changed since adopting.

Face of global adoption

In 2010, Americans adopted 11,059 children from other countries. While that number may seem high, the number of international adoptions into the U.S. has decreased since 2008 for a number of reasons, Bethany Christian Services of Waukesha Director Sue Hubbell said. Numbers began dropping after the U.S. joined The Hague Adoption Convention that same year.

According to the U.S. Department of State's website, The Hague Adoption Convention is "an international agreement to establish safeguards to ensure that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of the child … The Hague Adoption Convention applies to adoptions between the United States and the other countries that have joined it."

Hubbell said that Bethany Christian Services only participates in adoptions from Hague accredited countries. The Hague helps prevent child trafficking and ensures paper trails are nearly the same for all approved countries.

"Its very complicated and I don't think most people really understand that," Hubbell said.

From 2006 to 2009, China, Guatemala, Russia, South Korea, and Ethiopia were the top five countries Americans adopted from. In 2010, Ukraine replaced Guatemala on that list.

Ethiopia

Bethany began adoptions from Ethiopia in 2008 with just a few infants. Hubbell explained that the country has a lot of orphaned children .

"There are a lot of children (waiting to be adopted) because the country is so poor," Hubbell said. "A lot of children die waiting to be adopted" from poor medical care, watered down formula, and little medication. Adoptive parents should be aware that Aids can be dormant in Ethiopian children.

Mothers in Ethiopia often don't mark a child's birthday, so adoption agencies have been using X-rays of wrists to determine a child's approximate age.

Families adopting a child from Ethiopia are required to visit the country twice: the first time for a court hearing, the second time to pick up the child.

"What's interesting about Ethiopia is the culture is very rich, the people are wonderful, and they are resilient," Hubbell said. "It's a very familial kind of culture."

Haiti

After the earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, many people sought to adopt the country's orphaned children. Nearly six times the normal number of people became interested in adopting from Haiti.

"I think it's an interesting human nature kind of quirk where you see devastation and everyone's heart goes out wanting to do something," she said.

The orphanage survived undamaged but the judge who handled adoptions died and the building where adoption paperwork was completed was destroyed in the quake. Haiti is still in the process of rebuilding an infrastructure to be able to conduct adoptions. Even though the country had adoptable children, they didn't have the ability to complete proper paperwork until just recently, Hubbell explained.

Now that the country is beginning adoptions again, the disaster is out of many people's minds and interest in adopting from Haiti has decreased.

Haitian children in orphanages are often taught English, giving them a head start for life in the United States. Adoptive parents are able to send letters and gifts, and be in contact with their child through most of the process which can be a draw for some families. Parents are often able to get a social history on a child's birth parents.

"There is a lot of good going on in Haiti, but it will take time," Hubbell said.

Guatemala

Because of violations to Hague regulations, adoptions in Guatemala have ceased until they fall back into compliance.

"What happened in Guatemala is that families who needed money were paying to sell their children," Hubbell said.

This was not always the case, but it occurred enough for operations to be shut down.

"We're hopeful that Guatemala will open again because there are lots of orphans there," Hubbell said.

Russia

Russia is not a Hague accredited country but Bethany is able to facilitate adoptions in Russia through two or three accredited agencies. Russia does not have a large number of children waiting to be adopted, but many of the children they do have are older children in a group of siblings. The majority of Russian kids that spend their entire childhood in an orphanage often struggle in the real world with alcoholism, prostitution and suicide, Hubbell said. Orphans are seen as third class citizens. During the Iron Curtain years in Russia, adoptions were very structured.

"We've got a long way to go in Russia," she added.

Little information is usually available about children as many mothers are young and struggle with alcoholism. Adoptive parents are informed of cultural concerns such as this during the adoption process.

"We prepare our families through education for whatever a country's specific issue(s) might be," Hubbell said.

Why international?

Hubbell said that many people look to international adoption to create a more diverse family. Some people have visited countries where they see needy children and feel moved to help. Bethany encourages adoptive parents to commit to that child's country; to go back to that country and teach that child where they came from.

"That's so important to a child's identity," Hubbell said.

For many families and for Bethany, "it doesn't matter where you help as long as you help a child," Hubbell said.

Wisconsin's adoptive families are required to complete 18 hours of pre-adoption education, but Bethany requires 30 because of the adoption trend moving toward older and special needs children. Bethany provides post-adoption resources and around 13 different training courses each month for families to choose from.

The future of global adoption

"One of the things that I think about is that, at some point, once the war is done in Iraq and we eventually get out of Afghanistan, will there be someone going in to assist in making sure children are being cared for?" Hubbell wonders.

Wars leave a trail of destruction for many years, not only to buildings and morale, but to the children who may be left without parents or a home. Hubbell said that even after a war is over, dangers often lurk for years.

"How do you ensure kids are cared for?" asked Hubbell.

While everyone is busy literally picking up the pieces, "What about the kids? You don't hear about that."