When I saw the headline, "To Catch a Baby Broker," I felt that familiar knot in my stomach, the one I get whenever I am about to watch or read news about international adoption.
NBC's Dateline aired an investigation into corruption in Guatemala adoptions. I missed the show, but read the transcript on MSNBC.com. (Or watch snippets here.)
This is how Dateline billed their story:

Some children offered for international adoption are exploited, even kidnapped--forcing families into a desperate battle to save them.

Well, the producers document that sleazy operators are still doing business, and that international adoption in Guatemala is rife with corruption that leads to heartbreaking scenarios, including kidnappings.
It is precisely these stories that led Guatemala to shut down its international adoption program as of January 1.
Let's hope that the reforms being instituted will result in ethical adoptions--not simply no adoptions. I worry that in all this negative publicity, governments and experts lose track of the many kids who will benefit and have already benefitted from international adoption. And then what we end up with is Romania, where international adoptions have been banned since June 2001 while it supposedly was cleaning up its system.

Labels: international adoption

Stumble It!