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Italy 2013 - crisis confirmed

Date: 01/23/14

International adoptions: a first look at the data of 2013. Crisis confirmed, couples fall (-7.2%) and adopted children (9.1%)

statistiche350By the Commission for International Adoptions reach tentative signs of life on the corporate website, it is in fact appeared an extract from the annual statistical report containing the data of adoptions for the year 2013 , which will be published in full in February.

There is a crisis, and it is confirmed: during the past year, there was in fact a decrease of 9.1% in the number of children adottat i, which follows the actual "collapse" of 2012 (-22.8% ). Since 2010, the year when there was a peak with 4,130 adopted children, began a steady and gradual downward trend, which led, in fact, the "only" 2,825 children in 2013: less than 1350, for an overall decrease of nearly 32% in 4 years .

The decline of the past year, according to the CAI, was due mostly to the sharp slowdown in international adoption in Colombia, but also in Brazil and Ukraine. Favorable instead was recorded in Ethiopia, Poland and Vietnam.

Last chance for adoption agency

Last chance for adoption agency

Today, the adoption agency AC International Child Support submits its report on the cases that led to the suspension 10 January. The agency has received unexpected help in the process, hundreds of couples waiting anxiously for clarification.

22 JANUARY 2014

Adoption agency AC International Child must now hand over the report that they have been asked for by the Social Development Fund. © AC International Child Support

By Esben Christensen

Hundreds of parents are still searching for their missing children in Guatemala

Google Translation:

Hundreds of parents are still searching for their missing children in Guatemala

The Alba- Keneth alert unit investigating 1,130 cases of missing children

Guillermo gives orientation courses since the police killed her son

A foster mother returned to Mildred 's daughter , stolen from her belly in check

Les adoptions en forte baisse en Belgique

En baisse de 50%, l'adoption internationale de plus en plus compliquée

SOCIETE | Mis à jour le mardi 21 janvier 2014 à 9h31

Les adoptions en forte baisse en Belgique

Les adoptions en forte baisse en Belgique - Belga

Mots clés

65 surrogate babies of Israeli gay couples stranded in Thailand

65 surrogate babies of Israeli gay couples stranded in Thailand

65 surrogate children of Israeli gay couples are stuck in Thailand while the Government of Israel refuses to grant them Israeli citizenship

20 JANUARY 2014 | BY ANDREW POTTS

One of the affected couples with their baby

Photo by Facebook

48 Hours Investigation Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

As I thought about watching the 48 Hours investigative show on international adoption that ran Saturday night, I became anxious. Would their story be similar to the recent negative, sensationalized stories on international adoption that have wreaked havoc on the adoption policies in countries such as Russia and Democratic Republic of Congo? Would they even mention the tremendous number of successful international adoptions that have provided children in need with loving, permanent homes? My hope was they would choose to maintain a proper perspective as the show was being reported by Maureen Mahrer, a reporter who has herself been adopted. We in the adoption world are all too familiar with these stories and their focus on the rare unethical adoption practitioners when we know, in fact, the majority of adoption agencies have processes in place to fiercely guard the welfare of the children they serve and to ensure that adoptions happen in an ethical and transparent manner.

“Perilous Journey” examined two adoption stories, one from Guatemala and one from Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the adoption agency, Celebrate Children International, and the practices of Sue Hedberg, the agency’s Executive Director. It does not need to be said that everyone will agree that what transpired in Guatemala was horrific and we applaud the efforts of the adoptive parent in this story for her fortitude in finding the truth and finally uniting the birth mother with her children. I will admit that when birth mom and adoptive parent finally met, I had tears in my eyes. I am sure that everyone also celebrated when the Owen family was finally able to leave Congo with their two adopted daughters.

Although, shedding light on stories such as these may make for high TV ratings, they don’t accurately reflect the reality that the great majority of international adoptions and adoption agencies are ethical and that adoption can have a positive outcome for the growing number of orphaned children worldwide. The story reported little on the extreme poverty in Congo. No mention of the fact that Congo is listed as the poorest country on earth. As a result there are an estimated 1,000,000 orphans in Kinshasa alone and 5,000,000 in the entire country. International adoption is a much needed avenue for these children in need to find the forever families that they deserve. Due to the poverty in Congo, children die in orphanages from malnutrition and preventable diseases. The orphanage presented in this news story was not reflective of the majority of orphanages in Congo who struggle daily just to feed the children.

As quoted by Maureen Mahrer herself, “Adoption is an amazing, wonderful opportunity for all parties when done correctly.”* I will state unequivocally that the majority of adoptions and agencies are doing international adoption correctly. As a Hague Approved international adoption agency, MLJ Adoptions has an exhaustive list of safeguards in place to ensure ethical adoptions. These include:

  • Requiring all of our staff both domestic and international to submit criminal/abuse background checks prior to employment;
  • Requiring our domestic and international staff to submit an Affidavit of Ethical Practices (a document that explicitly states the ethics that the individual will uphold while working in adoptions); 
  • Obtaining reputable references for all adoption agency staff and foreign providers; 
  • Travelling to our program countries on a regular basis to develop, monitor, and provide oversight of procedures and processes; 
  • Training for domestic and international staff regarding the proper ethical considerations when working in international adoption and the consequences of unethical practices (termination of employment, criminal prosecution, halting of international adoptions in foreign program, changes in laws, etc); 
  • Monthly monitoring for foreign supervised providers and continued quality improvement in all programs based upon observations, additional information and client feedback. 

Blog - 3 children with mother

Looking Up - Part Two

2trust verb \?tr?st\

: to believe that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc. : to have confidence in (someone or something)

: to believe that something is true or correct

: to hope or expect that something is true or will happen

France suspends adoptions from Central African Republic

AFRIQUE

Le quai d'Orsay a pris vendredi un arrêté suspendant les procédures d'adoption des enfants centrafricains. Motif : la situation actuelle sur place ne permet de garantir suffisamment qu'il en va "de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant".

43 adoptions en 2012, 66 en 2013... La Centrafrique est devenue ces dernières années le premier pays d'adoption pour la France sur le continent africain. Vendredi, le ministère des affaires étrangères a décidé de mettre un coup d'arrêt immédiat à ces adoptions. "Les procédures d'adoption internationale par toute personne résidant en France ou ressortissant français résidant à l'étranger concernant des enfants de nationalité centrafricaine résidant en République centrafricaine sont suspendues jusqu'à nouvel ordre", indique l'arrêté.

Interrogé par MYTF1News, le quai d'Orsay explique que cette décision a été prise en raison "du climat qui a changé sur place". "La RCA connaît une crise sans précédent. Les conditions politiques, administratives et sécuritaires ne permettent plus de garantir le respect de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant et de la famille adoptante", précise le ministère. En clair, les autorités craignent de ne pas pouvoir s'assurer de toutes les garanties quant à l'origine et à l'adoptabilité des enfants, dont beaucoup sont actuellement déplacés et séparés momentanément de leurs parents. Si la mesure est immédiate, elle reste provisoire, précise le ministère, le temps que la situation se stabilise dans ce pays.

Les procédures en cours sont maintenues