Bethany outlines int'l adoption process

Apr 23, 2010 6:35 p.m.

Bethany Christian Services "always talks to parents about the unknowns" involved in the international adoption process, adoption services director Kris Faasse told 24 Hour News 8. "We get a certain amount of information, but there's a lot that we don't know."

The agency spoke about general protocols and procedures Friday, but not the specifics tied to a federal lawsuit claiming Bethany deceived a Virginia couple about the child they were adopting.

Chip and Julie Harshaw said their son has fetal alcohol syndrome and other developmental problems. In the suit, the two claim they saw the potential for medical problems in the child they were adopting and they wanted to be sure the child was healthy. The parents said a Bethany employee told them a doctor associated with the agency had examined their son. But the exam never happened, Harshaw said. Target 8 reported on the suit Thursday.

The unknowns in the process, Faasse said, can differ depending on the region from which a family is adopting.

"Eastern Europe, there may be more alcohol usage during pregnancy," she said. "And so that would affect a baby so we would share that information with a family."

As far as medical testing, Faasse said there are protocols in a number of countries, "but we really can't control the quality of the testing or the amount of the testing and we really have to receive what we're given."

What agencies are given may come from an orphanage or the biological parent -- and Faasse said it's not always accurate.

In countries like Russia, where the Hershaws' child was born, Faasse said the agency has no authority to order medical tests for a child . The agency recommends parents forward any health information they receive about the child prior to adoption to a doctor who specializes in adoptions.

"We're not physicians, we're not medical experts. So we really want them to bring in their pediatrician, an international adoption specialist or another expert," Faasse said.

Even if the information is sent to an expert, will a doctor be able to see a problem such as fetal alcohol syndrome?

Psychologist Tracy Kroeger, who said she sees about 10 families dealing with the issue every year, said FAS "can be very difficult to identify unless you have a child who has severe brain damage."

"The vast majority, however, don't get identified until at least between the ages of 3 to 7 years old," said Kroeger, who works in Jenison for the firm Developmental Enhancement.

The psychologist agreed with Faasse's statement that it can be difficult to get certain information about children up for adoption. Families adopting internationally should be educated about the possible health issues their children could face, Kroeger said.

"Because in terms of the parenting efforts that are involved, it's just phenomenal," she said. "It requires just 10 times the amount of the time, the amount of effort, the amount of energy and over a much longer period in that child's life."

http://wood.m0bl.net/w/main/story/10644562/

By DAVID CRARY (AP) – 6 hours ago

NEW YORK — Amid high-profile furor over adoptions from Haiti and Russia, about 60 American families are persevering with a two-year struggle to complete adoptions from Kyrgyzstan — an already emotionally draining quest further complicated by recent political upheaval.

The families were formally matched with the children — most suffering from serious medical problems — in 2008 and have grown deeply attached to them after visiting their orphanages and bringing back photographs and videos.

"I feel that's my daughter, and she's my responsibility. I can't let go," said Angela Sharp, a 36-year-old cosmetology instructor from Flint, Mich., who visited for a week in April 2008 with the now 2-year-old orphan she hopes to adopt. A room with a crib and children's clothes awaits the girl, already given a new name by Sharp — Mia Angelina.

Minister Ojha in CIAA soup

KANTIPUR REPORT:

KATHMANDU, APR 22 - Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Sarba Dev Ojha and other officials at the ministry are under scrutiny of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on charge of misusing money collected for Child Rights Fund.

The CIAA has taken the original documents relating to the newly-established fund and blocked its bank account (001010102) at Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL). The account has Rs 11,343,960.

"Procedures followed while establishing the Child Rights Fund and opening the bank account were illegal," said a CIAA source.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Adoption Extremes Hurt Children

My friend Meghan has been in Uganda for almost 11 weeks. Away from her 2 year old daughter and husband here in Louisiana, she is there trying to adopt 4 year old Moses. When she went to Uganda 11 weeks ago she knew she would be there at least 3 weeks, that is how long it was taking at the time to get the paper work done. She was willing to pay that price of being away from her family that long because she knew there was a little boy named Moses who had been in the orphanage for almost 4 years, and he was meant to be her son. She had met him and spent time with him on a previous trip to Uganda. She fell in-love with him and him with her.

But on week two of her stay in Uganda, something catastrophic happened on the other side of the world, the earthquake hit Haiti and hundreds of thousands of people died. The world mourned with Haiti and focused on this small island that was now so desperate for the worlds attention. A huge humanitarian effort was launched, the media covered every aspect of the tremendous loss and destruction. Thousands of orphans started being spotlighted on the news all around the world..

..and 10 American's decided to "help" 30 Haitian orphans by illegally taking them across the border from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

Psst! Babies for Sale!

Monday, Oct. 21, 1991PrintReprintsEmailTwitterLinkedInBuzz up!Facebook
MORE...

Five years ago, police in the resort town of Wadduwa, Sri Lanka,
raided a seaside hotel owned by a German and his Sri Lankan wife. The
building was occupied not by tourists but by 20 young Sri Lankan women
and their 22 infants, some just a few weeks old. The hotel was a "baby
farm," where foreigners looking for children to adopt could come to
browse, and for a fee $ of $1,000 to $5,000, have their pick of the
babies. The mothers, all desperately poor, would get about $50 in
exchange for each of their children.

A Long Way From Home

After two years, prospective parents hoping to adopt children trapped behind bureaucracy and chaos in Kyrgyzstan are running out of hope.

By Laurie Rich Salerno | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Apr 21, 2010

When the news broke about Torry Ann Hansen, the Tennessee woman who pinned a note on her adopted son and sent him alone on a plane back to Russia, Pennsylvania pediatric nurse Ann Bates composed a one-word e-mail from her Moscow hotel room. It said: "Seriously?"

Amend adoption policies to improve placement

Monday, 19 April 2010

Tags: brand kenya, cars in kenya, kenya holidays, kenya times

Recent incidents involving international adoptions gone awry highlight the limited protections that are available to children. Russian and American authorities are in a tizzy over a boy sent back to Moscow by his adoptive mother. Then there is the case of the missionaries being charged with kidnapping for attempting to move some Haitian children to a neighbouring country.

While most countries have the basic protections to prevent trafficking in persons, there remain far too many “grey areas” in legal adoptions. Kenya should be particularly sensitive to this considering we are still in the middle of unravelling a trafficking scandal in the miracle babies saga involving Pastor Gilbert Deya.

The Himalayan Time, April 21st, 2010

CIAA freezes Minister Ojha's relief fund, bank account

Kathmandu,

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today directed Nepal Investment Bank to freeze the account of the financial relief fund being operated by Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare Sarvadev Ojha.

Suspecting misuse of the fund after initial inquiry, the anti-graft constitutional body seized the related file of the fund and froze the bank account.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007

Farewell Natalie

Sadly, we are not going to be able to adopt Natalie. We received official word today that she will not be staying in the Acres of Hope (AOH) program. An explanation follows, divided by headings so you can easily skim for important details.

NATALIE’S REAL STORY: We accepted Natalie’s referral late in July, and in August we learned that her case was being reinvestigated. Gradually the truth came out. A group of older girls, including Natalie, were presented to AOH by their “aunts” who asked AOH to please try to help them find a home in America like all the little children that get adopted. Apparently adoption is not well understood in Liberian culture and so the girls were told to lie and say that their parents were killed in the civil war. As it turns out, they all had living parents and all but Natalie were immediately dismissed from the program. AOH understood the desperation of parents who would do anything to seek a better life for their children. However, they could not let the community think this was an acceptable way to get help.

For reasons we don’t fully understand, they thought Natalie’s case could be worked out. Natalie is the youngest of approximately 13 children born to her mother. Her mother wanted some hope for her “baby”. Natalie’s father was a skilled mechanic before the war, but like many men in Liberia, he became discouraged in a society of approximately 90% unemployment. He became indifferent to his children and their mother and a little too friendly with palm wine. He was OK with Natalie being adopted.