Stranger in your own family?
More and more children from Africa are being adopted abroad. But organizations warn of a lack of regulations and control mechanisms - and the loss of cultural identity. A report on World Children's Day.
"I'm embarrassed that my mother is white." Ten-year-old Lerato Dieterich spits out the sentence angrily and turns away. She doesn't want to talk about the fact that she is adopted. Lerato's adoptive mother, South African Merle Dieterich, explains: It hurts her daughter too much that her biological mother gave her away after she was born. The feeling of not being wanted accompanies most adopted children, says Dieterich, who took in two children. The different skin color creates additional boundaries.
Adoptions outside the cultural circle should be the very last resort in an effort to give children a good life, demands the child protection organization "African Child Policy Forum" (ACPF). Unfortunately, only a few African countries have laws that offer adopted children sufficient protection against human trafficking and loss of cultural identity, according to a study by the pan-African institution based in Ethiopia, which researches and compares children's rights in Africa.
The number of African children adopted abroad has tripled in the last decade. One reason for this is that other countries of origin such as Russia and China have introduced stricter rules for foreign adoptions. Celebrities have also discovered Africa for adoption: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt took in a girl from Ethiopia, and after some wrangling, Madonna has two children from Malawi.
German adoptive parents rank eighth
Between 2004 and 2010, a total of more than 33,000 African children were placed with foreign parents, 21,000 of them from Ethiopia. South Africa is the second most common country of origin. Most adoptive parents came from the USA and Italy. German adoptive parents rank eighth on the ACPF list.
"In South Africa, around 2,500 children are placed in care every year," explains Pam Wilson of the Johannesburg child welfare service. The vast majority of parents live in the country, because foreign adoption "is really only an option if absolutely no parents can be found here in South Africa." South Africa tries to place minors within the country with parents of the same skin color and with the same cultural background. "But that is almost impossible," sighs Wilson. Because most parentless children, but very few potential parents, are black.
There are always around 400 children on the adoption waiting list, but only 300 parents looking for them, around 35 of them black. Almost all children are given away because of lack of money, AIDS and poverty, explains Wilson. "There are too few parents in South Africa who want to adopt a child," explains Wilson. That is why the number of intercultural adoptions is increasing.
In South Africa, the process is better organized and regulated than in other African countries. "The adoption process usually takes as long as a pregnancy," explains Wilson. Parents must submit medical and psychological tests, be financially secure and provide a child-friendly environment. For adoptive parents from abroad, this is done through an adoption agency in the parents' country of origin, which in turn has agreements with partner organizations in South Africa. South Africa charges 32,000 Rand (around 3,000 euros) for an international adoption, plus fees in the country of origin.
Cases of illegal adoption and child trafficking
In other countries such as Togo, Liberia and Chad, cases of illegal adoption and child trafficking have come to light in recent years. Some states have reacted by banning adoptions, according to the ACPF report. In some countries such as Malawi, the relevant legislation dates back to the colonial era, in many states there are no legal regulations for adoptions, and in others there are no state structures or qualified personnel.
The child protection organization expressly emphasizes the importance of cultural identity, which is often forgotten in adoptions. This is also an issue for the Dieterichs, although Lerato is growing up in her country of birth. "I think Lerato is struggling to find out who she really is," says Merle Dieterich. She is often spoken to in Zulu, the language of the majority of black South Africans. But Lerato does not speak Zulu. "That always gives her the feeling of being different."