National Adoption Month: Raising Awareness & Rights

Today is the 1st of November, the first day of National Adoption Month, an event centered around raising awareness about adoption. When adoptive families, and legislators, and social workers, and agencies talk of adoption they talk of putting the child's best interests first, of adoption being centered around the rights and needs of children.

If we truly believe this, then we, as adoptive parents, need to put our child's rights first. Are we aware that in 44 US States, people who were adopted have no right to their original birth certificates? No right to their personal history? Are we doing anything about this injustice? Stand up for your children. Take a few minutes to visit the Adoptee Rights Coalition , write a letter to your state legislators, donate a few bucks to the cause. Put the best interests of the adoptee first.

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

Legislative Alerts Concerning Adoptee Rights, Adoption and Open Records: New Jersey, California

The following legislative alerts were issued recently by CalOpen and Bastard Nation concerning pending legislation in state courts.

California

Heads Up! Issued by Cal Open/ JeanUhrich

Assembly Bill 73, authored by Asm. Mike Feurer, Judiciary Chair, has been
introduced.

Bill Text:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/ab_73_bill_2010122
1_introduced.html

Synopsis: This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to provide that juvenile court hearings in juvenile dependency cases shall be presumptively open to the public, unless the court finds that admitting the public would not be in a child's best interest. The bill would also include a statement of legislative findings and declarations. Public access to juvenile court hearings has the benefit of ensuring that the child welfare system can be held more accountable, and of educating the public about the needs of the child welfare system.
Bill Status: Active
Next Hearing: May be heard in committee January 21.

I know last year was difficult for so many of us. Watching AB 372 go through so many defective amendments, and then dying for lack of funding.

This year, while AB 73 does not address open records to adult adoptees, it does send California courts into an open mode on juvenile proceedings. This is so fantastic!

This post serves as a heads up! During this very week, I will begin to make contact with Asm. Feurer's Capitol Office, to learn who sponsors the bill, and what we can do to support more openness.

As many of you will remember, Cal Open met with Chair Mike Feurer on AB 372. While we were not successful in swaying that bill in 2010 to match Oregon and Alabama, it is my hope that our conversations and submissions had an impact on his view of needed change to California's child welfare and court systems. However this came about, here comes AB 73. This is a HUGE step in the right direction! 10 years ago, Cal Open partnered with some very large associations, when dealing with the threat of closure of the California Birth Index. I intend to make contact with several of those organizations, including the California Newspapers Association, to get some assistance on supporting this bill.

Within the next 46 days, until February 18th, more bills will be introduced. Cal Open will keep track of pertinent introductions, and notify members here of legislation that may affect adoptee rights and adoption in general. Unlike last year, we should be able to give adequate notice to members for e-mails, phone calls and letters to support the bill.

Jean Uhrich, CalOpen

_____________________________________________________________

New Jersey:

Distribute Freely

BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT!

STOP DISCLOSURE VETO/WHITE OUT LEGISLATION IN NEW JERSEY!!!

ASK THE NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY: VOTE NO ON A1406/S799

Read full text of A1406 here.
Read full text of S799 here

A1406 (companion to S799 already passed in the NJ Senate) is scheduled for a floor vote sometime in the next few weeks. Proponents of this bad bill hoped to have it on the schedule for a January 6, 2011 vote, but it's not on the list.

Please contact Assembly members immediately and urge them to VOTE NO ON A1406/S799. (Contact information below.) If you are from or in New Jersey or have a New Jersey connection, mention it in your communication.

Be sure to put: "Vote No On Adoptee Birthright Bill "in the header

Bastard Nation's letter to the Assembly is here.

A1406/S799 is: restrictive, discriminatory, creates a new, special and temporary "right" for "birthparents," and exempts the state's adopted adults from equal protection and treatment regarding the release of the government-generated public record of their births.

THE BILL

*includes a 12- month open enrollment period, starting after the Department of Health releases regs for A1406/S799 implementation, that allows "birthparents," to file disclosure vetoes (DV) before obcs, past and future, are unsealed

*authorizes the state to replace the original birth certificat, of those subjected to the DV with a mutilated copy of the obc with all identifying information, including the address of the parent(s) at the time of birth (if it appears on the cert) deleted.

*requires "birthparents" who file a disclosure veto to submit a family history and a possibly illegal intrusive medical form to activate the veto.

*requires "birthparents" who file a "contact preference form," which, in fact, acts as a disclosure veto, to fill out the same family history and possibly illegal intrusive medical history form to activiate the veto.

*seals by default all "safe haven" birth certificates, even though most "safe haven" babies are born in hospitals to identified mothers.

*requires adoption agencies and adoption lawyers to receive a written veto status report from the state before they can release identifying information to adoptees

*requires the state to mount an "information" campaign to inform "birthparents" of their "protection" options

A1406/S799 IS NOT AN OBC ACCESS BILL.
A1406/S799 IS NOT ABOUT RIGHTS.
A1406/S799 IS ABOUT PRIVILEGE

Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization opposes legislation that denies any adult adoptee access to his or her own original birth records on par with all other citizens. Please let the Assembly know that this issue is not about relationships between adoptees and their "birthparents." It is about basic human and civil rights.
Passage of bad legislation is New Jersey could easily undermine efforts of dedicated reformers who are holding the line for adoptee rights in other states.

New Jersey's A1406/S799 is an abomination in light of the restoration of the right of original birth certificate access to all persons adopted in Oregon, Alabama, and New Hampshire, and Maine. Adult adoptees and all who support adoptee rights should stand united for unrestricted access laws and not sell out just to get a bill passed! Disclosure veto legislation is unethical and unjust!

Please e-mail the New Jersey Assembly today and urge members to VOTE NO ON A1406/S799.

CONTACT INFORMATION
(write one letter, cut and past for all)

AsmAlbano@njleg.org, AsmMilam@njleg.org, ASmDeAngelo@njleg.org, AsmGusciora@njleg.org, AsmChivukula@njleg.org, AsmEgan@njleg.org, AsmBarnes@njleg.org, AsmDiegnan@njleg.org, AsmCoughlin@njleg.org, AsmWisniewski@njleg.org, AsmCryan@njleg.org, AsmGreen@njleg.org, AsmMcKeon@njleg.org, AsmCaputo@njleg.org, AsmCoutinho@njleg.org, AsmBurzichelli@njleg.org, AsmMainor@njleg.org, AsmODonnell@njleg.org, AsmPrieto@njleg.org, AsmRamos@njleg.org, AsmGiblin@njleg.org,

AsmSchaer@njleg.org, AsmJohnson@njleg.org, AsmMoriarty@njleg.org, AsmWilson@njleg.org,AsmGreenwald@njleg.org, AsmConaway@njleg.org, ASmConners@njleg.org, AsmHolzapfel@njleg.org, AsmWolfe@njleg.org, AsmRible@njleg.org,AsmOScanlon@njleg.org, AsmThompson@njleg.org, AsmBiondi@njleg.org, AsmAmodeo@njleg.org, AsmPolistina@njleg.org, asmbramnick@njleg.org, AsmDiMaio@njleg.org, AsmPeterson@njleg.org, AsmChiusano@njleg.org, AsmBucco@njleg.org, AsmCarroll@njleg.org, AsmDeCroce@njleg.org, AsmWebber@njleg.org, AsmDancer@njleg.org, AsmMalone@njleg.org, AsmSchroeder@njleg.org, AsmRumana@njleg.org, AsmRusso@njleg.org, AsmDelany@njleg.org, AsmRudder@njleg.org, AsmRumpf@njleg.org,

AsmFuentes@njleg.org, AsmDiCicco@njleg.org, AswWatsonColeman@njleg.org,

AswQuijano@njleg.org, AswStender@njleg.org, AswJasey@njleg.org, AswTucker@njleg.org, AswSpencer@njleg.org, AswRiley@njleg.org, AswQuigley@njleg.org, AswRodriguez@njleg.org, AswOliver@njleg.org, AswEvans@njleg.org,AswPou@njleg.org, AswVainieriHuttle@njleg.org,

AswVoss@njleg.org, AswWagner@njleg.org, AswLampitt@njleg.org,

AswAngelini@njleg.org, AswCasagrande@njleg.org , AswHandlin@njleg.org,

AswCoyle@njleg.org, AswMunoz@njleg.org, AswMcHose@njleg.org, AswVandervalk@njleg.org,

AswGove@njleg.org

ALSO WRITE TO GOVERNOR CHRISTIE

Drop a line to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie now and ask him to veto A1406/S799 if it hits his desk. Letters should be no more than 250 words. Use this template : http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/

or contact him at:

Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
609-292-6000

Bastard Nation's letter to Governor Christie is here.

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

Reminder: Adoptee Rights Demonstation July 21

Adoptee Rights Demonstration, a rally and protest in Philadelphia, PA, is being held at 11 AM on July 21, 2009. This rally will coincide with the opening day of the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislators.

Read more on the blog

Adult adoptees in most of the advanced, industrialized nations of the world have unrestricted access to their original birth records as a matter of right. In contrast, adult adoptees in all but six states in the U.S. are forbidden unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates, due to archaic laws that are a legacy of a culture of shame that stigmatized infertility, out-of-wedlock birth and adoption.

Adult adoptees and their supporters have worked diligently in different states for decades to overturn these laws, but have been opposed by well-funded lobbies representing certain adoption agencies and lawyers who have a vested interest in keeping birth certificates sealed. Their unsupported claims that access violates dubious privacy rights or will increase abortions and decrease adoptions have been categorically refuted by data from states with laws recognizing the rights of adoptees, by studies such as the recently published paper from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and by court decisions affirming the constitutionality of access laws.

PEAR Open Records Statement

PEAR supports unrestricted access to birth records for all adults adopted as minors. We do not believe any citizen should be discriminated against by removing the right to obtain their personal, official documents. We oppose the imposition of contact vetoes, court orders or third-party agency interference with an adoptee’s right to access his or her original birth certificate.

Adoption should be about the formation of a family for the benefit and best interests of children, not the destruction of identity. As an organization we will support clean legislation submitted in any state that seeks to achieve the goal of opening records.

Permanent Link

Message from Cal Open

PEAR is a partner of Cal Open, a legislative movement in California to restore access of the Original Birth Certificate (OBC) to adult adoptees. We would like to encourage our members and all those in support of Open Records who may be in the Sacramento area to attend a rally in support of Cal Open and AB 372 just prior to the Assembly Judiciary Committee Hearing on the morning of April 28. Please see www.calopen.org for more information on AB 372 and click on the red banner "Attend" for more information on the rally!

PEAR Supports The Adoptee Rights Demonstration to be held in Philadelphia July 21, 2009

PEAR believe that ALL Americans have a right to access government records about their own lives. Adoptees should not be singled out as a class of persons to be denied this basic right. Adoption is about the formation of a family for the benefit and best interests of children, not the destruction of identity. That is why we are supporting the Adoptee Rights Demonstration, a rally and protest in Philadelphia, PA, at 11 AM on July 21, 2009. This rally will coincide with the opening day of the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislators. For more information, and to register, please see: http://adopteerightsphilly.blogspot.com/

PEAR Winter Newsletter, March 2009

Winter Newsletter, March 2009

From the Board

We are pleased to formally introduce our two newest Board members, Pamela Veazie and Kim Kennedy.

Pamela Veazie joins the board as both our Membership and Post Adoption Services and Support Chairs. Pam believes that adoption preparation for prospective parents and post-adoption support for health issues is completely inadequate. The lack of insurance coverage for many therapies and lack of affordable educational remediation that targets language loss are two issues not being addressed. Additionally, Pam feels there needs to be a clear, holistic multiyear pathway of healthcare steps to heal internationally adopted children. Pamela is currently a stay-at-home mother of three children. Her youngest was internationally adopted from Moldova in 2005 at the age of two and a half. She has a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Purdue University in 1994. Her professional experience includes clinical research and project management of women’s health products at a large pharmaceutical company and development of training materials for clinical research professionals, doctors and nurses. Over the past four years, Pam has become owner of two online adoption support groups and moderator for three others.

Kim Kennedy joins the board as a general member. She comes to PEAR with many years of experience as an advocate for adoption reform. She and her husband have adopted internationally and know both the joys of successful adoption and the tragedy of adoption scams. They have a special interest in open adoptions and adopting children with special needs and are particularly concerned about the lack of regulation for adoption service providers as well as the illegal procurement of children for adoption. Kim has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from Hope College and a Master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom she taught middle school and worked in community development. Kim has volunteered with non-profit organizations dedicated to improving adoption practices, spoken publicly on ethics in adoption, written for Adoptive Families magazine, facilitated adoption support groups, and volunteered with her local foster care agency.

New Search Engine on PEAR Website

We are pleased to announced the creation of PEAR's Adoption Ethics, Corruption and Reform Search Engine located on our website. PEAR board member Karen Holt has been busy uploading, indexing and updating this search feature to help the adoption community in researching these issues. Our search engine can be accessed by visiting our website: www.pear-now.org. It is located in the upper right-hand side of the webpage.

Adoption Agency Licensure, Regulation, and Oversight Project

PEAR is currently in Phase I of a study on the licensing, regulation and oversight of adoption agencies. The purposes of this study will be to better educate prospective adoptive parents, expectant mothers and the general public on the role of adoption agencies, to ensure best practices in adoption, to find appropriate avenues for resolving conflicts among agencies and clients, and to establish the groundwork for a model system that adequately protects the entire triad. In Phase I, we are researching the current laws and regulations governing adoption agencies with the assistance of the Miller Center for Public Interest Advocacy at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. PEAR is indebted to Ms. Lynn Long and Ms. Karen Wilson, both second year law students at Dickinson, for conducting the research into statutory and regulatory state law. We are hoping to complete this phase of the study in early May 2009.

Phase II will explore current systems for resolving conflict, making formal complaints and overseeing the work of adoption agencies. Phase III will analyze the efficacy of the current system, and propose improvements that will better protect the adoption triad. For further information on this project, please contact Gina Pollock: rmprhp @ yahoo.com.

Post Adoption Services Project

PEAR is pleased to announce that our Post-Adoption Service Project is underway. The first phase of this project is our Observational Survey of Adoptive Parents on Success, Satisfaction and Types of Post-Adoption Services. The survey is currently available through a link on our website: www.pear-now.org. To date, we have received responses from over 300 adoptive families.

This project has three main goals: to identify Post-Adoption support that PEAR can provide to fill in the gaps that currently exist, to lay the groundwork for a joint clinical, randomized study with a larger, well-established adoptive parent organization, and to demonstrate PEAR's commitment as an organization dedicated to wholly supporting adoptive parents. Our hope is that this project will lead PEAR to work with other organizations to provide a comprehensive “healing roadmap” for adopted children and their families. For further information on this this project, please contact Pamela Veazie: PharmGirl13 @ indy.rr.com

Call to Action Vietnam

In November 2007, PEAR launched the Call to Action: Vietnam in response to increasing concerns within the adoption community over the ethical problems surrounding adoptions from Vietnam. Throughout the following year, PEAR has offered support and resources to families with children adopted from Vietnam who are facing the difficult realization that their adoptions may have been corrupted. We also continued to monitor the situation and have offered our perspective to the JCICS, and our government officials in Washington and Hanoi. For further information on Call to Action: Vietnam, please contact Karen Moline or Margaret Weeks at reform @ pear-now.org

Hague Issues

PEAR continues to monitor the transition to the Hague Process by following developments in agencies and approve persons, the applicant process, and the handling of complaints against Hague accredited agencies. Of particular concern are the current practices of umbrellaing, mergers, and employee/board sharing by Hague and non-Hague accredited agencies.

On March 6, 2009, three board members and two regular members of PEAR will travel to New York to attend the New York Law School's Sixth Annual Adoption Policy Conference cosponsored by the Center on Adoption Policy. The focus of the conference is International Adoption, the United States, and the Reality of the Hague System. PEAR highly recommends that triad members participate in this conference and lend voice to a process which we believe discounts the voice and experience of triad in matters of policy creation, attendance is free. Further information can be found at: www.nyls.edu/adoption.

For additional Information on our Hague related activities, please contact us at pearadopt@ yahoo.com

Adoptee Access to Records

PEAR continues in its work to support the right of all adoptees to full and complete access to their birth information. We recently joined forces with Cal Open to support legislation allowing unconditional access by adult adoptees to their original birth certificate in California. Our official Policy Statement on Open Records will be published this month. For further information on PEAR's work in support of Adoptee Access to Records, please contact us at pearadopt@yahoo.com

Adoptive Parents Bill of Rights and Prospective Adoptive Parents Bill of Rights

PEAR has been busy refining versions of a Prospective Adoptive Parent Bill of Rights and an Adoptive Parent Bill of Rights which respect the rights of adoptive parents, families of origin and adoptees and ensures best practices in adoption and post adoption services. Our Prospective Adoptive Parent Bill of Rights is near completion and our Adoptive Parent Rights is in committee for a redraft. For further information on these projects, please contact Kim Kennedy at pearadopt @ yahoo.com

Coming Soon...

International Adoption Statements
PEAR has been closely monitoring international adoptions for many countries. We are very concerned with information and reports coming from adopting families, adoptees, the US Department of State, and local media concerning adoptions from India, Nepal, Ethiopia and China. We will continue to closely monitor these country programs and hope to publish formal statements on our findings and concerns in late March/early April 2009.

In the Spotlight

Tidbits of information, resources and articles worth pursuing in the fight for ethical adoptions:

Focus on Children - 5 Defendants Sentenced on February 24, 2009. ~PEAR would like to express our profound disappointment in the sentencing of the owners and operators of the Focus on Children adoption agency. We believe the U.S. government had a real opportunity for justice in this case, but that justice was not served. Our government could have sent a powerful message to the adoption community that procuring children for adoption, misleading families of origin and lying to adoptive families is wrong and will be punished. Unfortunately, we do not believe the sentence given was proportionate to crimes committed. Five years probation is nothing compared to the lifelong effects all members of the triad will experience. Our sincere sympathies go out to all of the families, both in Samoa and the U.S. and we commend the families who chose to speak out about their experiences. Our organization will continue to advocate for improvement of regulations and enforcement of laws that promote sound ethical adoption practices. We hope for a day when all parents who seek to adopt can trust their agencies to place children honestly, ethically and legally. During the month of March, we will be offering FOC Samoa clients the opportunity to express their perspective and feelings about the issues they face on our blog. FOC clients interested in participating may contact Gina Pollock at rmprhp @ yahoo.com

Ethica’s Webinar Series: PEAR is pleased to support Ethica’s first webinar series for prospective adoptive families. The webinars will explore issues surrounding adoption fraud, how to choose an agency, and the implications of adopting from a "Hague" country. Upcoming webinars include: Webinar 2: March 18, 7-8:30PM EST "From Good Samaritans to Convicts - How to Choose an Ethical International Adoption Agency" and Webinar 3: April 8, 7-8:30PM EST "The Hague Convention 1 Year Later: Successes and Drawbacks" Space is limited so please register early. For more information, visit Ethica at www.ethicanet.org

PEAR is a 501(3)(3) non-profit corporation registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All of our services and resources are offered free of charge and are prepared, maintained, and updated by an all volunteer board and staff. We hope that you will consider assisting PEAR’s activities and goals by making a donation or becoming a member. For more information on how to do this, please visit our website: www.pear-now.org.

Gina Pollock
President
Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform
Make a Difference - Join PEAR Now!
www.pear-now.org
526 N President Ave
Lancaster PA 17603
reform@pear-now.org

BE the change you want to see in the world. - Gandhi

PEAR's Fall Newsletter

Greetings to all of our members, followers, and curious folks wondering what we are up to.

Fall Membership Drive

Our Fall Membership Drive officially commenced on November 20, 2008. An e-blitz to over 400 online and offline adoption information and support groups was undertaken in an effort to make the adoption community aware of the missions and current projects of PEAR and to increase our membership. PEAR has great ideas and lots of work to do but we need the help of dedicated members to get the work done. Please read about our projects below and if you are not yet a member, consider joining us. If you are a member, please consider helping out in one or more of our projects or just drop a line in our members only group and let us know what you would like to see PEAR do to help make adoption practices ethical. For more information on the Membership Drive, please contact Pam Veazie at PharmGirl13@indy.rr.com.

Adoption Agency Licensure, Regulation, and Oversight Project

PEAR is commencing a study on the licensing, regulation and oversight of adoption agencies. The purpose of this study will be to better educate prospective adoptive parents, expectant mothers and the general public on the role of adoption agencies, to ensure best practices in adoption, to find appropriate avenues for resolving conflicts among agencies and clients, and to establish the groundwork for a model system that adequately protects the entire triad. The first phase of the study will explore the current laws and regulations governing adoption agencies. PEAR is working with a Pennsylvania Law School to establish a pro bono research opportunity to help us complete this phase by April 30, 2009.

The second phase will explore current systems for resolving conflict, making formal complaints and overseeing the work of adoption agencies. The final phase will analyze the efficacy of the current system, and propose improvements that will better protect the adoption triad. For further information on this project, please contact Gina Pollock: rmprhp @ yahoo.com.

Post Adoption Services Project

PEAR is pleased to announce the creation of a Post-Adoption Service Project. The first phase of this project will be an Observational Survey of Adoptive Parents on Success, Satisfaction and Types of Post-Adoption Services. To date, there has been no comprehensive survey of this nature ever conducted by any other group. This project has three main goals: to identify Post-Adoption support that PEAR can provide to fill in the gaps that currently exist, to lay the groundwork for a joint clinical, randomized study with a larger, well-established adoptive parent organization, and to demonstrate PEAR's commitment as an organization dedicated to wholly supporting adoptive parents. Our hope is that this project will lead PEAR to work with other organizations to provide a comprehensive “healing roadmap” for adopted children and their families. For further information on this this project, please contact Pamela Veazie: PharmGirl13 @ indy.rr.com

Call to Action Vietnam

Last November, PEAR launched the Call to Action: Vietnam in response to increasing concerns within the adoption community over the ethical problems surrounding adoptions from Vietnam. Although we were officially barred from the JCICS Summit on Vietnam, we were permitted to comment on their proposed Standards of Practice. While JCICS incorporated many of our comments into the proposal, there many issues left unaddressed, or inadequately addressed, such as fees, paper trails, relinquishment/abandonment, and other issues surrounding ethical practices. A copy of our comments can be downloaded at our website http://www.pear-now.org/.

Throughout the following year, PEAR has offered support and resources to families with children adopted from Vietnam who are facing the difficult realization that their adoptions may have been corrupted. We have also continued to monitor the situation and have offered our perspective to our government officials in Washington and Hanoi. For further information on Call to Action: Vietnam, please contact Karen Moline or Margaret Weeks at reform @ pear-now.org

Hague Issues

PEAR has been monitoring the transition to the Hague Process for the past year. We have submitted official comments on the Hague regulations regarding the adoption process and I800 which can be downloaded at our website: http://www.pear-now.org/. We also provided feedback and comments to the COA, Colorado DHS and DOS on applicant and accredited agencies and approved persons throughout the accreditation process. We continue to monitor agencies and approve persons, the applicant process, and complaints against Hague accredited agencies.

In addition to the accreditation and I800 issues, PEAR encouraged the USCIS to properly interpret the federal regulations regarding the grandfathering of transition cases and allow the renewals of I600a approvals. As a result of our efforts and the efforts of numerous adoption advocacy groups and adoptive and prospective adoptive parents, the USCIS changed its position in October to officially permit the continued renewal of I600a's in transition cases.

For additional Information on our Hague related activities, please contact us at reform@pear-now.org

Adoptee Access to Records

PEAR fully supports the right of all adoptees to full and complete access to their birth information. Over the past year, we have written to numerous state legislatures and adoption groups concerning our position and encouraged them to support initiatives and legislation in support of open access. For further information on PEAR's work in support of Adoptee Access to Records, please contact us at reform@pear-now.org

Adoptive Parents Bill of Rights and Prospective Adoptive Parents Bill of Rights

In response to a request at the Ethics and Accountability Conference last fall for a written Bill of Right for Adoptive Parents and Prospective Adoptive Parents, PEAR has been busy drafting and refining a version that respects the rights of adoptive parents, families of origin and adoptees and ensures best practices in adoption and post adoption services. Our committees are currently polishing the final drafts, which we hope to release in early January 2009. For further information on these projects, please contact Gina Pollock at reform@pear-now.org

Nonprofit Status and Corporate Issues

In March of 2008, PEAR became a non profit corporation organized under Pennsylvania law. We completed our 1023 application for 501(c)(3) status which was filed in July of 2008 and are currently awaiting our determination letter. Until we receive a favorable determination from the IRS, donations to PEAR are not tax deductible. However, your financial support is still needed to complete our projects and keep our organization viable! Copies of our corporate documents are available upon request by writing to us at reform @ pear-now.org

In the Spotlight

Tidbits of information, resources and articles worth pursuing in the fight for ethical adoptions:

So, sue me! For far too long adoptive and prospective adoptive families injured by unethical practices remained silent believing they had no power to fight the adoption industry. However, a trend over the past two years shows that families have begun to speak up and demand justice. In October of 2006, a civil RICO case was filed against Waiting Angels Adoption Agency in Michigan. Since that time, numerous adoptive and prospective adoptive parents have sought each other out through online adoption support groups, pooled their resources and banded together to seek justice against agencies engaging in unethical and illegal acts. To date, civil RICO complaints have been filed against Waiting Angels, Adoption International Program (AIP/Orson Moses), Project Oz, and Main Street Adoption Services. Further information on these law suits can be found at the website for Fixel Law Offices fixellawoffices.com. Remember, each of these cases began by families sharing stories and reaching out in online adoption groups. Use your voice, you would be surprised at the power we have when we join forces!

The Lie We Love. A recent article written by EJ Graff and published in Foreign Policy, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/, has generated a lot of discussion in adoption groups in the US and abroad. PEAR highly recommends that prospective and adoptive parents read Ms. Graff's article and visit the Brandeis University Schuster Institute website for more information on corruption in international adoption. Prospective adoptive parents should be sure to check out the interactive map available on the website before selecting a country program.

DOS Updated Adoption Site. It's been a long time coming, but the US Department of State has finally updated and revamped its information on international adoption from both Hague and non-Hague countries. Please take some time to peruse the site, especially if you are just starting the process of adoption. http://www.blogger.com/www.adoption.state.gov

Make a Difference - Join PEAR Now!

Gina Pollock
President
Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform
http://www.pear-now.org/
526 N President Ave
Lancaster PA 17603
reform@pear-now.org

BE the change you want to see in the world. - Gandhi

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