|
Throughout the world, the
number of parentless children is growing. In Russia
alone, there are estimated to be at least 700,000
orphans under the age of 16 who are eligible for
adoption. International adoption agencies have made a
business out of connecting thousands of these children
with new parents in the West. But some critics say
these children can be subject to abuse and isolation
as they travel thousands of miles away from their
birth countries. In some cases, countries have cracked
down on international adoptions. Many are working to
make domestic adoption a more viable option. In the
first of a two-part series on foreign adoptions, RFE/RL
looks at the argument for keeping parentless children
in the countries where they were born. (Click
here for Part 2 of this
series, which looks at the challenges of foreign
adoption for children and parents.)
Prague, 19 November 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Belarus has
almost 12,000 parentless children available for
adoption.
But a new law may mean many will have to wait a year
before they are eligible for foreign adoption --
something that may put them beyond the desirable age
range for many potential parents.
International adoptions had been on the rise in
Belarus. Nearly 2,500 children have been adopted by
foreign families during the past decade.
But President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has strongly
condemned what he calls the "sale" of Belarusian
children abroad. As he sees it, the new legislation --
which went into effect 1 November -- will protect many
children from potential exploitation and abuse at the
hands of foreigners.
Deputy Education Minister Tatsiana Kavaliova said that
abuse of adopted children -- and not only by foreign
families -- is a constant concern.
"There was a case in Sweden, where the adoptive
parents were abusive to the little girl," Kavaliova
said. "The adoption was rescinded and the little girl
was then adopted by another Swedish family. This
happens with Belarusian [adoptive] families, as well.
Every year, we rescind the rights of 4,000 sets of
adoptive parents."
Many countries in the former Soviet Union have
provisions aimed at keeping orphaned children in the
country of their birth. Russia and other countries
have specific terms during which orphans can only be
adopted by parents in those countries.
Many observers defend such measures as protecting the
rights of children to find homes in their native
countries.
But critics say it extends the time many children
spend in orphanages -- an experience that will make
their transition even more difficult if and when they
are finally adopted.
Russia is by far the biggest source of adoptable
children within the former Soviet Union. The
popularity of adopting Russian children was emphasized
last summer when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
and his wife adopted a 3-year-old girl from St.
Petersburg. Even Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who
already has one adopted son from Cambodia, is
reportedly looking to adopt a second child in Russia.
But Russian officials have become increasingly
critical of foreign adoptions, which they say are
prone to corruption.
Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General Vladimir Kolesnikov
this week cited numerous cases of regional officials
accepting large amounts of cash to facilitate
adoptions to foreign families. He described adoption
as a "profitable business" and said a child can
sometimes be sold for as much as $50,000.
Many countries in the
former Soviet Union have provisions aimed at keeping
orphaned children in the country of their birth.
It's an issue that has put new emphasis on finding
Russian homes for Russian orphans.
Yurii Kudinov is humanitarian aid director for
Children's Hope International, a U.S.-based
international adoption agency that has also been
promoting domestic adoptions since 1999.
"Our first priority is to help the child back to its
biological family, if it's possible," Kudinov said.
"If it's, for example, [a matter] of financial needs,
or some kind of situation when the child was lost
during a war conflict, we try to help [get] the child
back to its biological family. The second option is
domestic adoption -- domestic foster families and
domestic adoption. Only the third one is international
adoption."
As Kudinov sees it, there are many reasons to promote
domestic adoption. In Russia, where the population is
undergoing a steady decline, keeping children in the
country is a smart step demographically. It also
simply means that more orphaned children will find
loving homes.
Kudinov noted that that even China -- which leads the
world in foreign adoptions -- has fewer children
living in orphanages, due to an aggressive campaign to
promote domestic adoptions, as well.
Are domestic adoptions preferable to international
adoptions? Kudinov said definitely yes.
"Because the child has the same language, especially
the older kids -- and I'm talking about kids over
three years old," Kudinov said. "Because we don't need
to change the language, we don't need to go far away.
Because actually, this is a big stress, even for a
child who's three years old, to go outside of the
country and fly 18 hours to the United States and
after to meet parents who don't speak their language.
Of course, they switch to the new language very
quickly, but it's still very, very different."
Groups like Children's Hope International are aiming
to help Russia move away from its long-standing
tradition of institutionalized care toward more
individual, family-based solutions like domestic
adoption.
But other former Soviet countries, meanwhile, are
quietly paving the way for their orphaned children to
find homes abroad.
Azerbaijan recently eased restrictions on foreign
adoptions, despite a heated parliamentary debate that
saw some lawmakers worrying that children could be
sold into prostitution or slavery.
Under the new guidelines, Azerbaijani families looking
to adopt are given no special preference over
foreigners. In the past decade, fewer than 100
Azerbaijani children were adopted by couples in the
United States. But that number now looks likely to
grow.
Irade Musayeva is the chief doctor at a
psycho-neurological hospital in Baku that is home to
some 100 orphaned children. She said that no
institution can ever take the place of a real family
-- whether Azerbaijani or foreign.
"Nothing can replace the family's warm environment of
love, even if it is an excellent state institution,"
Musaeva said. "It doesn't matter if it's the child's
real parents or adoptive parents. That's why I say
that if there is an adopting family in Azerbaijan, it
should go to that family. Otherwise, it should go to
an adopting family in foreign countries."
The highly emotional issue of adoption leaves no easy
answers for critics on either side of the debate. The
Belarusian crackdown on foreign adoptions may seem
shortsighted to a hopeful family in the West. The
continued outflow of Russian children abroad could be
lining the pockets of greedy regional officials.
Even advocates of domestic adoption admit there is no
sure way to protect those children from coming in
harm's way -- as a recent case in Tajikistan
illustrates. There, a woman was sentenced to a lengthy
jail term for forcing her 12-year-old adopted daughter
into prostitution.
(RFE/RL's Azeri and Belarus services contributed to
this report.)
|
