Friday, October 7, 2011

The failure of international adoption policies?



This is probably the most one-sided documentary I've ever seen -- and I've seen LOTS of one-sided documentaries!  Completely dismissive of corruption and abuse, completely dismissive of the Hague Convention, completely dismissive of the losses in adoption.  No mention of the cases that led Guatemala to have to test DNA to make sure the woman claiming to be the relinquishing birth mother was actually the mother of the child. No mention of the convictions of lawyers and judges involved in corrupt adoptions in Guatemala.  I love the line from Elizabeth Bartholet that the PROFIT MOTIVE in adoption is actually a GOOD thing because it "makes things happen."  Yikes! 

And of course UNICEF is presented as the bad guy.  That's like saying the police are the bad guys for actually enforcing the law!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw this tweeted by JCICS yesterday so I knew it would not be worth my time to view...

So much easier to lay the blame on Unicef rather than those who actually caused the closure because of their illegal actions.

Does anyone really believe that an ethical international adoption program that followed the sanctioned protocals of best interests of the child would be closed?

Anonymous said...

Romania much?

Jessica said...

True, this documentary doesn't address the losses in adoption, which are real and painful. But it does point out the real and painful consequences endured by children sentenced to 18 years of institutional care.

Anonymous said...

My only comeback comment then, is that Unicef should have responded. They declined an interview, which doesn't look good on their end. And the Mother taking care of the kids was pretty good at claiming her case. It might not have worked ethically before, but she doesn't see it working the way it is now. And she LIVES it. Just saying....