Upcoming Adoption Forum in NYC: The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches

Upcoming Adoption Forum in NYC: The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches


The Board of Directors of FCC of Greater NY and the Asian/Pacific/ American Institute at New York University are honored to present An Adoption Forum featuring David Smolin, Brian Stuy and Longlan Stuy who will speak about their work and experiences concerning
The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to
Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches
Saturday, October 20, 12PM-6PM
19 University Place, (near E 8th St.), NYU, NY

REGISTER online at www.fccny.org
$15 per person for FCCNY members, $20 for non-members
FREE students (16yrs+) and NYU student registration. Students should rsvp to Kathy at fccnybrooklyn@ aol.com

Brian H. Stuy is the owner and founder of Research-China. org, an organization that obtains information about a China adoptee's history and birthplace. He has visited and researched orphanages throughout China, seeking answers for adoptive parents about their children's beginnings. Brian has been actively involved in FCC -Utah for a number of years, including as president of the chapter. He has had numerous articles regarding adoption research appear in Adoption Today Magazine and various FCC publications.
Brian speaks about the adoption program in China and discusses various issues that confront adoptive parents when contemplating or performing a search, and how individual orphanage programs can impact the success of a search.

Longlan Stuy is Research-China. Org's in-country researcher and translator. She has worked with Brian since the inception of Research-China. She owned "Longlan's Place" on Shamian Island from 1996 until her marriage to Brian in 2004. She shares her vast knowledge and love of her home country with the adoptive community, and is passionate about assisting the children who remain in China's orphanages. Brian and Longlan have three daughters from China: Meikina from DianBai, Meigon from Guangzhou, and Meilan from Luoyang.
Longlan speaks about her first hand experiences with the different orphanages in China in relation to various patterns and issues, finding and talking with birth families, and how and why birth families in China have come to relinquish their children.

Professor David Smolin, Harwell G. Davis Professor of Constitutional Law and Director, Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics, at Cumberland Law School, Samford University, is a noted scholar on the effect of population policies on international adoption and related issues. He has made presentations to the Hague Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Hague Adoption Treaty, to the Central Authorities over Adoption of the Canadian government, at the Sao Paulo, Brazil, State Supreme Court, at the Korean Women's Development Institute and the Second International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies in Seoul, S. Korea, to the Joint Council on International Children's Services annual symposium, and to many academic adoption conferences. David and his wife Desiree have 2 daughters who were adopted from India.
David provides some information for better understanding China's adoption practices in the context of the broader world of intercountry adoption and what has happened in adoptions from other nations. He will discuss the issue of the increasing significance of adult adoptee participation in intercountry adoption discourse and how that might impact the Chinese adoption community in the future. He will also be looking at the aftermath of abusive adoption practices and at some of the difficulties that arise, for families, with those practices, including issues relevant to special needs and older child adoption. He will also discuss competing narratives regarding intercountry adoption from China, and how such narratives can impact adoption triad members.

Questions? Contact Linda Mancini, linda.mancini@ hotmail.com
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Schedule
12:00pm - Arrival/Registration
12:15pm - Opening Remarks
12:30pm - Brian Stuy speaks about the adoption program in China and discusses various issues that confront adoptive parents when contemplating or performing a search, or when presenting a child's pre-adoption history, and how individual orphanage programs can impact our child's understanding of their origins, and the the success of a search.
1:30pm - Longlon Stuy speaks about her first hand experiences with the different orphanages in China in relation to different patterns and issues, finding and talking with birth families, and how and why birth families in China have come to relinquish their children.
2:00pm - Audience Questions/discussion with Brian, Longlan, Adoption Psychologist
2:45pm - Break
3:00pm - David Smolin provides some information for better understanding China's adoption practices in the context of the broader world of intercountry adoption and what has happened in adoptions from other nations. He will discuss the issue of the increasing significance of adult adoptee participation in intercountry adoption discourse and how that might impact the Chinese adoption community in the future. He will also be looking at the aftermath of abusive adoption practices and at some of the difficulties that arise, for families, with those practices, including issues relevant to special needs and older child adoption.
4:00pm - Audience Questions/discussion with David Smolin, Adoption Psych
4:30pm - Wrap-up,concluding remarks with David, Brian and Longlan
5:00pm - Wine & Cheese reception 

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

SYMPOSIUM: Korean-American Academics to Throw Light on Adoption

Korean-American Academics to Throw Light on Adoption

Korean-born academics who were adopted by Americans will attend a symposium titled "From Global to Glocal: The Future of American Studies" by the American Studies Association of Korea at Seoul National University to discuss adoption, still something of a taboo subject in Korea.

In a session titled "Korean Adoptee" on Friday, Eleana Kim (University of Rochester) will give a talk under the heading "Beyond Motherlands and Mother Love: Figuring Korean Adoptees in Global Korea," and Kim Park Nelson (Minnesota State University) under the heading "Uri Nara, Our Country: Global and Translocal Communities of Korean American Adoptees." They will describe how, based on their own experience, foreign adoptees who return to their motherland experience identity transformations through their new daily life.

ASAK president Kim Seong-kon said adoption, along with globalization, diaspora and immigration, has emerged as key topics in the culture review and theory field for the last three or four years.

The ASAK is a nationwide academic society whose members include American specialists in politics, economics, history, and culture

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/10/21/2008102161013.html

Ethics, Transparency, Support~
What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

RESOURCE: Parenting Discussion

PEAR board members have recently been contacted by adoptive families concerned with reports of trafficking in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Vietnam and China. While we attempt to assist families with uncovering the truth behind their adoptions, we also wish to offer them support and resources in dealing with these truths. One resource we would like to recommend to adoptive families is the Adoption Parenting Yahoo Group sponsored by EMK Press. During the next two weeks, Adoption Parenting will be tackling the topic: Family, Friends and Belonging. As part of this discussion, adoptive families will be encouraged to discuss parenting after the discovery (or suspicion) of a corrupted adoption - how to help your child, your family, and your child's family of origin. Below is a description of the topic and a link to join in.

Reprinted with permission of Sheena Macrae, EMK Press, Moderator Adoption Parenting Yahoo Group:
Topic T#161: FAMILY, FRIENDS AND BELONGING

Introduction

There's nothing in private international law that entitles one to become an adoptive parent, but the Hague Convention states that it is a child's right to grow up in family - and when an adoptive home can't be found in country, international adoption can be considered in order to give a child a place in an adoptive family. And of course, finding a family and permanence for a child underscores domestic adoption.

With so much evidence recently of illegalities in international adoption - Guatemala, Egypt, Vietnam and much speculation about trafficking in China, and domestic concerns that children often wait over-long for adoption, our new Topic looks at what constitutes making a family and belonging. What is the gift that an adoptive family gives a child beyond safety? What from us, via our parenting, will we instill in our adopted children, and what will be determined by genetics?

Our Topic therefore has two major thrusts:

~First the gift we give in opening our family to our adopted child. what is the family ethos that supports us, and how can that support all the children in our family, adopted and non-adopted? How do we open our whole family to out adopted children, and what happens if extended family aren't in fact so very welcoming?

~Second, trafficking, and dealing with our children's other families plus consideration of cases in domestic adoption where kids had to wait overlong to be freed for adoption. How do we help our children understand how they came to be adopted, and how do we explain that their families may be grieving for them? This is often the case, no matter how poor the parenting was. How do we talk appropriately about birth family? More, how do we deal with birthfamily should a search be undertaken and the family found? In opened adoptions (however they are opened), how can we help birth and adoptive families get along? How do we learn to be 'mutual family' with them? In intercountry adoptions, what if the family was coerced into losing the child and very much want the child back?

Join in on our discussion of what we give to our children to help them fit OUR families and social circles, and how we also allow our children to 'belong' to their first families.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoptionparenting/

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

DOS Responds to Questions re: Nam Dinh Adoptions

Below is the text of an email from the DOS responding to PEAR's questions concerning notification of families and children involved in the adoption cases leading to the recent criminal convictions in Vietnam

Dear Ms. Weeks,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the recent convictions of individuals involved in adoption fraud in Vietnam. You have raised some important questions. Below are our responses to your specific questions.

Will the US authorities in Vietnam or at DOS be working with the Vietnamese officials to try and determine which children might be affected and will you be notifying their US families?
At this time, the Government of Vietnam has not released the names of specific children who might have been affected by this criminal activity. Nor has the Government of Vietnam requested any action b e taken by the Embassy or the Department of State as a consequence of these convictions.

If families who have adopted from Nam Dinh voluntarily wish to request further information about whether their case may have been affected by these criminal prosecutions, they may send an inquiry to AskCI@state.gov with the birth name, date of birth, and date of adoption for their child. The Office of Children's Issues will forward their request through our Embassy in Hanoi to the Government of Vietnam for a response.

We hope that all possible steps are being taken to preserve information about these children's histories and ties to their families of origin.
In general, the majority of information regarding individual adoption cases is maintained in the child's immigration file (also known as the A-file); this file is maintained by USCIS. The link below explains how adoptive parents may submit a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of adoption documents in their child's A-file.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=34139c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextoid=34139c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Additionally, there were three US adoption agencies licensed to work in Nam Dinh Province, Los Ninos, Orphans Overseas and Faith International. Does the Embassy or DOS plan to investigate these agencies for potential visa fraud?
The Office of Children's Issues does have a role in monitoring and collecting information regarding the activities of U.S. adoption service providers working overseas and when appropriate for referring complaints by U.S. citizens to the State licensing offices with jurisdiction over the adoption agency. I want to assure you that we have taken note of these convictions and, once more information becomes available, will determine what, if any, follow-on action would be appropriate.

Sincerely,


William Bistransky
Adoption Division Chief
Office of Children's Issues
U.S. Department of State



PEAR is not completely satisfied with the answer to the second question, as the original question was trying to get at what, if anything, the DOS is doing to try and preserve and/or recover original adoption files on children adopted from Nam Dinh. We are seeking clarification on that question and answer.

In the meantime, if you are the family of a child adopted from Nam Dinh Province, and you have concerned about your child's adoption, we encourage you to contact Mr. Bistransky and the Departmentt of State for further information and assistance.


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Have a Heart - Support Ethica's "Operation Identity"

In honor of Valentine's Day, PEAR is asking the adoptive family community to support and assist in Ethica's Operation Identity: Cooperating to Protect the Identity of Vietnamese Orphans. Identifying information is extremely important to adopted persons, it is important to all persons. As adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents, it is our duty to preserve and protect our child's identity. It is our duty to make sure that the choices we make in adopting a child, choosing a program, and choosing an agency, do not negatively impact our future children. As a gift of love to our children, we need to stand up for what is right, not what is quick or what is easy.

Please take a few moments to read the following (from Ethica's website), then visit the website to read a further detailed report. Contact your agency, or any agency you know that works in Vietnam and encourage them to participate in this program.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Gina Pollock
Interim President
PEAR

"Operation Identity is a project designed to encourage the accurate identification of Vietnamese orphans and to prevent skyrocketing abandonment rates from impacting the future of adoptions from Vietnam.

The Problem:
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi is reporting that 85% of all adoptions being filed at this time are for "abandoned" children. The Embassy believes that many of these abandonment cases are staged.

Ethica believes that other factors could be influencing the trend, and there is no clear evidence on why the trend is occurring.

The Effects:
There are two serious effects of this trend. Children are being deprived of their identifying information, and the high rate of abandonment in a country without a history of it could be a factor in whether adoption from Vietnam will continue.

The Initiative:
Operation Identity is designed to bring transparency to this situation, and to promote change that will protect the identifying information of children and future adoptions from Vietnam.

Agencies currently operating in Vietnam will be asked to confidentially provide statistics of the rate of abandonments for time periods before the closure of Vietnamese adoptions in 2002 and for the current time period; and from province to province. The database will go live next week.

Each agency working in Vietnam will be encouraged to speak with their overseas representatives, orphanage staff and provincial officials to discuss the need for children to have identifying information and the problems that high numbers of abandonments can cause.

The Desired Outcome:
Through cooperative reporting and concerted effort, the abandonment rate will start to decline.

FAQs:

1. Why do you need statistics?

Statistics are important to establish when the trend changed, and whether or not the changes are geographically limited to particular areas. Statistics also point to where efforts at change need to be targeted.

2. What is causing this trend?

We don't know. The Embassy believes there could be intentional erasure of identities to thwart investigations or to cover illegal activity. But there are other possibilities--the decision could be coming from local officials or orphanages who do not understand the importance of identifying information or who are looking for a simpler way to process cases.

3. Are you investigating agencies?

No! Ethica is not an investigative authority. The statistics reported on our site will not be linked to any particular agency or provider. The Embassy already has the agency by agency statistics--there is thus no need for us to collect statistics in order to "investigate" or harm any agency.

4. Why would abandonment rates impact future adoptions?

Officials become concerned when they cannot trace children's histories. A sudden rise in abandonments can signal that identities are being intentionally erased, perhaps to cover unethical activities or to stop successful investigations. When the U.S. government cannot conduct effective investigations into children's backgrounds, it can be difficult or impossible to determine which children are really "orphans" and concerns rise that visas could be given to trafficked or abducted children. This could lead to a decision to halt adoptions from that country until better practices emerge which provide transparency to the process.

5. What can I do to help?

Adoptive parents and supporters of adoption and adopted children can encourage agencies to cooperate in publishing statistics and take steps to change this practice. Agencies can participate and cooperate with others in finding ways to stop this disturbing trend."

Read a detailed discussion of this issue by visiting Ethica's website:
http://www.ethicanet.org/item.php?recordid=Identity1&pagestyle=default