Passport To Parenthood
21 June 2009
Compass explores the changing nature of inter-country adoption in Australia. In the 1970s hundreds of babies were airlifted out of Vietnam for adoption by Australian families. Today increasing affluence in the developing world, and tighter controls on adoption procedures mean fewer babies are available to would-be Australian parents. It's no longer common for overseas babies to be adopted. They are more likely to be young children. This program explores what happens when a child is adopted out of its birth culture, and examines whether an adopting parent has an obligation to manage ongoing relationships with their child's birth parents and culture.