Research Invitation

The below invitation for participation is being posted on behalf of the researcher. If you are interested in participating, be sure to reply directly to Ms. Strassberg via her email address below. PEAR is not sponsoring or otherwise involved in the research project or its funding, we are posting this purely as a public service in support of improving pre-adoption services and education.

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Dear Parents,

I invite you to participate in a study of adoptive parents that focuses on your pre-adoption decisions. I hope to gain a more accurate picture of the decision making process involved in international adoption, particularly surrounding the choice of birth country. I am looking for parents who have adopted a child internationally within the past 25 years from three different geographic areas: Africa and the Caribbean Islands, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. I am asking parents to participate in a phone interview that will last about one hour. To compensate you for your time, I will provide an online $15 gift certificate to a store of your choice. If you are willing to be interviewed, please let me know, and I will get in touch with you to arrange a time to talk by phone.

I am a senior Psychology and Education major at Mount Holyoke College. My cousin was adopted from Ethiopia, and my cousin's struggles though the decision-making process of where and how to adopt led me to this investigation. This study is my senior thesis project, and I am working under the direction of my thesis advisor Patricia Ramsey, who is an adoptive parent.

The pre-adoption decision-making process has not been studied in depth. It is my hope this project will provide a better understanding of adoptive parent's choices and lead to better services and guidelines for supporting families through these decisions. Participants, please send me an email if you wish to participate at stras20s@mtholyoke.edu or leave me a message at (617) 680-9086 so I can schedule an interview time.

Thank you very much for considering my request, and please contact me or my advisor Patricia Ramsey (pramsey@mtholyoke.edu) if you have questions. If you have friends who might be willing to complete this survey, please send them my email or send their email addresses to me.

Thank you!

Sophie Strassberg, stras20s@mtholyoke.edu

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

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 and prosepctive adoptive parents not only view the video, but examine the circumstances surrounding the availability of children for adoption. Educate yourselves on where and why a child becomes available for adoption, what role we as adoptive parents play and what steps we can take to ensure that our desires for a family do not unwittingly (or purposefully) perpetuate political, cultural or religous injustices that separate families.

In addition to examining the reasons behind relinquishments, please keep in your heart your child's need to know their full story. Do not underestimate the powerful need for this. Be careful and mindful of processes that may deny access to identity, history or heritage.

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

DOS Adoption Alert: Haiti/Independent Adoptions

June 27, 2011

Alert: Pursuing Independent Adoptions without Licensed Agencies Increases Risks of Delays and Fraud

The Department of State has seen a recent increase in U.S. citizens seeking to pursue adoptions in Haiti through independent agents instead of licensed adoption providers. While these “private” adoptions are currently permissible in Haiti, prospective adoptive parents should be aware of the risks associated with not utilizing experienced, licensed agencies. Non-licensed facilitators may lack experience in navigating the complex Haitian adoption process, and this could lead to delays and critical mistakes in processing the case. Haitian facilitators may also not be familiar with U.S. immigration law governing intercountry adoption processing. Prospective adoptive parents pursuing an independent adoption may place their trust in private facilitators engaging in unethical or illegal practices in Haiti. The Department strongly encourages prospective adoptive parents adopting from Haiti to research U.S. immigration laws and Haitian adoption procedures through the use of a reputable, licensed agency or experienced facilitator. For more information about intercountry adoption in Haiti, please visit our website at: http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_info.php?country-select=haiti.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=haiti_1

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

Article: Ending South Korea's Child Export Shame

Ending South Korea's Child Export Shame

By Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, June 23, 2011

South Korea is on the verge of changing its reputation as the world’s leading baby exporter to a world leader in grassroots adoption reform. The first-ever birth mother, unwed mother, and adoptee co-authored bill is moving toward a National Assembly vote with government sponsorship.

Under current South Korean law, prospective adoptive parents don’t need to undergo criminal background checks. Moreover, agencies counsel unwed mothers, whose children comprise almost 90 percent of adoption placements, to sign illegal paperwork consenting to adoption even though their children are still in their wombs. The new bill proposes urgent revisions to change these realities and stipulates a court process for adoption, a cooling off period for child surrender without duress, and the documentation of identities, among other provisions.

"What makes this reform effort distinctive is that [it] is neither the result of a top-down process nor a powerful adoptive parent lobby,” says tammy ko Robinson, coalition member and professor at Hangyang University. “This bill is co-authored and informed by those of us who have been directly affected by this law.” The bill is a coalition effort that includes Adoptee Solidarity Korea (ASK), Korean Unwed Mothers and Families Association (KUMFA), and several other groups.

"[The revision of the special adoption law] is an opportunity for South Korea to fully enter the 21st century as not just an economically developed nation, but as a socially developed one," says ASK representative Kim Stoker. “It's time for the government to end its outdated attitude toward international adoption and make concrete steps toward protecting the rights of its children and the mothers who give birth to them.”

full article: http://www.fpif.org/articles/ending_south_koreas_child_export_shame

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

Article: Pictures of Hope (Vietnam)

Pictures of Hope

Last updated: 2/25/2011 13:00
Thanh Nien News, Vietnam

Years after their sons and daughters were 'stolen' and adopted abroad without their consent, a number of Vietnamese parents have finally been shown proof the children are alive and well. Now, their poor hill-tribe villagers face a moral dilemma.

Full story: http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20110228180300.aspx

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