Dr. Jane Aronson Sets the Record Straight on E.J. Graff’s Ill-founded Claims about International Adoption

The following press statement was issued by Dr. Jane Aronson, Founder and CEO of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation in response to E.J. Graff reports on international adoption.

The recent media coverage of E.J. Graff’s investigative report claiming that international adoptions are somehow fueling an underground baby trading industry is a gross mischaracterization of thousands of legal adoptions that take place worldwide every year. Her report falsely alleges that birth mothers in impoverished countries are tricked and forced to give up (or sell) their babies to meet a greedy Western demand for healthy infants. She is wrong; the facts must be clearly laid out to stop the further spread of these myths.

Ms. Graff’s research fails to recognize that millions of children around the globe are parentless due to circumstances beyond their control. The truth is that grinding poverty, war and the AIDS pandemic have devastated entire communities throughout the developing world often forcing parentless children to live on the street for basic survival. In Africa, overstretched grandmothers are caring for sometimes ten or more grandchildren after losing their own children to AIDS. Many surviving older siblings are now the primary caretakers of younger brothers and sisters. And millions of children live in refugee camps after escaping violence and being separated from their parents or even witnessing their parents’ brutal murders in war torn countries.

Is Graff suggesting that if international adoption came to a complete halt, the orphanages, streets, sewers, and dumps in the developing world would magically empty of parentless children and that the cribs in orphanage nurseries would stand empty?

International adoption is an enormously complex issue; it’s emotional and highly personal and should not be dismissed in the broad generalizations and harsh tones of Ms. Graff’s various articles and interviews. Let’s look at the unsubstantiated allegations in Ms. Graff’s yearlong study contrasted with the on-the-ground reality:

ALLEGATION: Adoptive parents are unwittingly engaging in international trafficking of healthy children
FACT: Ms. Graff’s charge that adoptive parents are engaging (unknowingly or not) in the international trafficking of healthy children with parents for personal gain is factually inaccurate and flat-out wrong. While unscrupulous operators may exist, a vast majority of international adoptions are lawful.

As a pediatrician specializing in international adoptions and head of a leading organization seeking to transform the lives of orphans, I have witnessed and treated the deplorable health conditions of newly-adopted orphaned children of all ages, as well as orphans living in institutions around the globe. I’ve seen firsthand orphans living in appalling and squalid living environments, often facing severe psychological trauma, neglect and abuse. International adoption is one clear way to give these children a better future.

ALLEGATION: The official number of 133 million orphans worldwide is inaccurate.
FACT: UNICEF and other international agencies invest millions of dollars for epidemiologists, social scientists and other researchers to conduct responsible and rigorous statistical accounting and analysis of the number of orphaned children around the world. Here are the facts:
     • Globally, an estimated 133 million children are orphaned (children aged 0–17 who have lost one or both parents).
     • South Asia, East Asia and Pacific regions have 72 million orphaned children.
     • Sub-Sahara Africa alone has some 46 million orphaned children. (UNICEF)
Ms. Graff’s yearlong study dubiously cites unnamed sources, offers generalizations, and fails to name specific orphanages and experts to confirm her findings or support her questioning of the number of orphaned children.

ALLEGATION: The term “orphans” is wrongly defined.
FACT: The United Nations and other international agencies have defined “orphans” as children who have lost one or both parents. Ms. Graff seems to dismiss this internationally-agreed upon definition by imposing Western criteria--even Dickensian-- of who qualifies as an orphan. Her definition does not take into account the sheer vulnerability of families, particularly in countries devastated by poverty, war or HIV/AIDS. For example, if one parent dies of AIDS, the other parent is most likely to succumb to the disease as well, leaving parentless children.

Putting Forth Solutions to the World Orphan Crisis

Instead of blaming Western prospective adoptive parents for the existence of orphans in the world, we must focus on and invest in sustainable solutions to ending the all-too-real orphan crisis. Innovative strategies must be identified to raise awareness about the world’s orphaned children, and more resources must be devoted to tackling the root causes of why children are left behind.

International adoption is just one solution to the world’s orphan crisis. Realizing that millions of orphaned children will never be adopted by a family was the reason I founded Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO). WWO offers orphaned children medical, developmental, and psycho-social care and educational opportunities. WWO’s goal is for orphaned children to have as bright a future as any child in the U.S., Canada or Europe, and become future leaders in their countries. By strengthening in-country capacity, WWO and its partners are working with communities to improve local socio-economic infrastructures to deal with poverty, the devastating AIDS pandemic, and other development challenges.

Finally, Ms. Graff’s inaccurate account of international adoption is extremely painful to both adoptive parents and their children. The blunt language accusing adoptive parents of orphaned children as being “baby snatchers” is painful and malicious, causing harm to these precious children and their devoted parents.

We must take a stand and demand that news organizations publish accurate reporting and research on international adoption. Misleading reports like Ms. Graff’s have the potential to create enormous damage to the work of reputable organizations delivering live-saving services to orphaned children worldwide and the adoption agencies that provide loving homes to millions of children in need of care and protection.

CONTACT: Shanta Bryant Gyan 646-290-8211• shanta@sbgcommunications.com
Meg Bode, Bode & Associates • 516-869-6610 • meg@bodeassociates.com