LilMtnCbn
11-03-2003, 05:57 AM
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,525035296,00.html
Overseas adoption about to get more expensive, complex
By Jeff D. Opdyke
Wall Street Journal
For years, the face of adoption has been changing dramatically as
American families increasingly adopt children from overseas.
Now, it is set to change again.
The State Department in September proposed regulations for implementing a
global treaty designed to curb abuses, such as child trafficking, that have
long plagued overseas adoptions.
The result is that adopting a baby overseas is about to get more
expensive and complicated than it already is. In addition, there may initially
be fewer adoptions from abroad as agencies adjust to the treaty.
Already, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, as the treaty is
known, has disrupted adoptions in Guatemala — one of the most popular
countries for prospective U.S. parents. Concern about abuses has halted
adoptions from Cambodia and Vietnam as well, leaving in limbo many U.S. parents
in the midst of adopting children there.
The treaty is viewed by many as a necessary step to making overseas
adoption more predictable and safer for everyone involved — children and
biological and adoptive parents. When the treaty is implemented, expected
within a year or so, it will play a big role in determining which countries
parents can go to for a child.
One expected outcome: Countries generally not allowing adoptions by U.S.
residents — such as Bolivia, Brazil and Slovakia — would likely open their
orphanages to Americans.
The new guidelines come as international adoptions are exploding in
popularity. While no definitive numbers exist, the best estimate is that
adoptions overall in the United States have been running at about 120,000 a
year for the past decade. But some of the fastest growth comes from
international adoptions. The State Department last year processed more than
20,000 immigrant visas for orphans, nearly tripling 1990's level.
The United States adopts more foreign children than all other nations
combined. Since the mid-1990s, the vast majority of those kids have come from
the same four countries: China, Russia, South Korea and Guatemala. Last year
alone, China, which provided 5,053 kids, and Russia, with 4,939, together
accounted for nearly half of overseas adoptions.
U.S. parents increasingly are crossing borders to build families because
domestic adoptions often are more restrictive, more time-consuming and
costlier. Many of the would-be parents are older adults who have put off
starting a family to focus on their careers. Now that they want kids, they've
found they can't conceive. Unlike many countries, Russia, Guatemala and
Kazakhstan all permit parents into their 50s to adopt toddlers, sometimes even
infants. Increasingly, single and gay parents can adopt as well.
Generally, parents adopting overseas can expect to receive a healthy
infant within about a year, sometimes in just a few months, depending on the
country. The cost: between $15,000 and $25,000.
The Hague Convention is ultimately expected to make the international
adoption process more predictable and orderly. In general, the treaty requires
that countries signing on must create a central authority to oversee
international adoptions, and must enact measures to ensure children are legally
adoptable and that there have been no illegal payments to obtain a child.
Adoption agencies, meanwhile, must be nonprofits to be accredited through the
new authority, which in the United States will be run by the State Department.
The State Department Web site, www.travel.state.gov/adopt, provides
detailed information on specifics affecting various countries.
Overseas adoption about to get more expensive, complex
By Jeff D. Opdyke
Wall Street Journal
For years, the face of adoption has been changing dramatically as
American families increasingly adopt children from overseas.
Now, it is set to change again.
The State Department in September proposed regulations for implementing a
global treaty designed to curb abuses, such as child trafficking, that have
long plagued overseas adoptions.
The result is that adopting a baby overseas is about to get more
expensive and complicated than it already is. In addition, there may initially
be fewer adoptions from abroad as agencies adjust to the treaty.
Already, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, as the treaty is
known, has disrupted adoptions in Guatemala — one of the most popular
countries for prospective U.S. parents. Concern about abuses has halted
adoptions from Cambodia and Vietnam as well, leaving in limbo many U.S. parents
in the midst of adopting children there.
The treaty is viewed by many as a necessary step to making overseas
adoption more predictable and safer for everyone involved — children and
biological and adoptive parents. When the treaty is implemented, expected
within a year or so, it will play a big role in determining which countries
parents can go to for a child.
One expected outcome: Countries generally not allowing adoptions by U.S.
residents — such as Bolivia, Brazil and Slovakia — would likely open their
orphanages to Americans.
The new guidelines come as international adoptions are exploding in
popularity. While no definitive numbers exist, the best estimate is that
adoptions overall in the United States have been running at about 120,000 a
year for the past decade. But some of the fastest growth comes from
international adoptions. The State Department last year processed more than
20,000 immigrant visas for orphans, nearly tripling 1990's level.
The United States adopts more foreign children than all other nations
combined. Since the mid-1990s, the vast majority of those kids have come from
the same four countries: China, Russia, South Korea and Guatemala. Last year
alone, China, which provided 5,053 kids, and Russia, with 4,939, together
accounted for nearly half of overseas adoptions.
U.S. parents increasingly are crossing borders to build families because
domestic adoptions often are more restrictive, more time-consuming and
costlier. Many of the would-be parents are older adults who have put off
starting a family to focus on their careers. Now that they want kids, they've
found they can't conceive. Unlike many countries, Russia, Guatemala and
Kazakhstan all permit parents into their 50s to adopt toddlers, sometimes even
infants. Increasingly, single and gay parents can adopt as well.
Generally, parents adopting overseas can expect to receive a healthy
infant within about a year, sometimes in just a few months, depending on the
country. The cost: between $15,000 and $25,000.
The Hague Convention is ultimately expected to make the international
adoption process more predictable and orderly. In general, the treaty requires
that countries signing on must create a central authority to oversee
international adoptions, and must enact measures to ensure children are legally
adoptable and that there have been no illegal payments to obtain a child.
Adoption agencies, meanwhile, must be nonprofits to be accredited through the
new authority, which in the United States will be run by the State Department.
The State Department Web site, www.travel.state.gov/adopt, provides
detailed information on specifics affecting various countries.
