Not long ago, Desiree Smolin and Usha Smerdon had an excellent blog on intercountry adoption, called “fleas biting,” that has been inactive of late. They are re-activating the blog along with Desiree’s husband, Professor David Smolin. Professor Smolin has recently posted there on the subject of “Intercountry Adoption and Accountability (Part I)”. PEAR welcomes the reactivation of Fleas Biting and …
Category: Ethics/Unethical Practices
The Children Left Behind (The Pulitzer Center)
The Children Left Behind LISA DESAI AND HABIBA NOSHEEN, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, KATHMANDU, NEPAL Published on June 29, 2011 Nepal became an important source of children for international adoption in part because adoption is not widely practiced or accepted among the Nepalese, an attitude that is prevalent across South Asia. But the United States and several other countries have …
Better Sit By the River Than Be a Bird of Cage (Terre des hommes)
– Published by Darcissac, Marion From our delegate in Nepal, Joseph Aguettant A new publication highlights new ways to support families in rural areas instead of institutions such as orphanages and children’s homes (mostly in urban areas). The news came as an earthquake in the world of child care: Naxal’s Bal Mandir, the oldest orphanage in Nepal, was taken over …
A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post)
A trafficker remains scot-free (The Kathmandu Post) SHAHANI SINGH JUL 08 – It was in April this year when three worried adults in Humla submitted a letter of appeal to the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), a statutory body under the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. Humble words requested for help in repatriating girl children from Tamil Nadu, …
Adoptee Voice: Jennifer Kwon Dobbs
On June 26, PEAR published a link to an article written by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs entitled “Ending South Korea’s Child Export Shame“, http://pear-now.blogspot.com/2011/06/article-ending-south-koreas-child.html. Today we wish to share a video of Jennifer that was put together and published on the blog Land of Gazillion Adoptees, Birth Searches as Public Pedagogy http://landofgazillionadoptees.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/%E2%80%9Cbirth-searches-as-public-pedagogy%E2%80%9D-unedited-voices-of-adoption-featuring-jennifer-kwon-dobbs/ The video is quite powerful. We recommend that adoptive …
Children trapped between supply and demand (Nepali Times)
Children trapped between supply and demand Where does adoption end and trafficking begin for Nepal’s children? JENNIFER LOWE Nepali Times (17 JUNE 2011 – 23 JUNE 2011): http://nepalitimes.com/issue/2011/06/17/Nation/18300 [Photo] — SHHH: Sign on the wall of an “orphanage” in Kathmandu housing children like the one, right, who have biological parents. The children are offered for international adoption, often without the …
COMMENTARY: Response to China’s Latest Adoption Scandal
— by Brian H. Stuy The news this week that Chinese Family Planning officials had raided a small farming community in rural Hunan Province and confiscated nearly twenty young children has citizens in China understandably outraged. Family Planning officials are already despised by most Chinese, due to their ability to blatantly and capriciously impose their will on local families. As …
U.S. Still Suspects Fraud In Nepalese Orphanages (NPR)
U.S. Still Suspects Fraud In Nepalese Orphanages by Monica Brady-Myerov May 10, 2011 Listen to the Story: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/10/136179395/u-s-still-suspects-fraud-in-nepalese-orphanages All Things Considered — National Public Radio Photo — Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images The Helpless Children Protection Home is an orphanage in Katmandu. Last August, the U.S. government suspended adoptions from Nepal because it was concerned about fraud in Nepal’s adoption system — …
MEDIA: Adoption Scandal Being Reported in Media
Allegations in the Chinese and other international media are emerging concerning reports that babies were confiscated under the country’s one-child policy and put up for intercountry adoption against their families’ wishes. Adoptive and prospective adoptive families should fully investigate adoptions programs both with their agency and through independent and alternative information sources. Be aware of potential issues and be prepared …
Left in limbo: Nepalese adoptions halted (PBS)
Left in limbo: Nepalese adoptions halted (PBS) On Mother’s Day weekend, adoptive parents on the verge of bringing home a child find themselves caught between two governments. By Habiba Nosheen and Lisa Desai May 6, 2011 The U.S. State Department has suspended adoption of abandoned Nepalese children, citing numerous examples of unreliable and possibly fraudulent documents. For Dee Dee Milton …