Pitfalls for Parents
International adoption has become big business, but regulation still lags
Ritter acknowledges that the state's power over adoption facilitators is very limited. Even if the state had done a background check on Latrace, "problems in another country probably would not come back," says Ritter. He adds that Latrace's consulting firm is not licensed to do adoptions in Florida. But the state is powerless if she continues to work with clients outside the state, Ritter says.
In other words, caveat adopter. Advocates are hopeful that the Hague Convention on international adoption, signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000 but yet to be ratified, will provide greater oversight and transparency of at least some international adoptions if it is correctly implemented; some experts have their doubts. For one thing, says Maskew, it will apply only when both countries involved in an adoption have ratified it. And the hottest countriesfor foreign adoptions haven't. Still, it has to be better than the options parents have now: scouring the Internet or trying to pry useful information out of state regulators. Maskew says that facilitators and agencies have been known to post glowing referrals about themselves online under fake screen names. She adds that some also try to curtail complaints by making prospective clients sign blank confidentiality agreements and liability waivers. The states have been no more helpful: According to a 2004 Ethica report, when would-be parents "do manage to reach a licensing specialist, they are often told that the state does not keep complaints on file or that they cannot be released to the public." More often still, Ethica says, regulators just don't answer the phone.
A FOREIGN BABY BOOM
Overseas adoptions by U.S. citizens
[Chart data are incomplete]
1990 7,093
2004 22,884
[Chart labels]
6,000
10,000
14,000
18,000
22,000
Source: State Department; USN&WR
WHERE ALL THOSE BABIES COME FROM
From 1990 to 2004 the list of countries allowing the most foreign adoptions changed dramatically.
1990
S. KOREA 2,620
COLOMBIA 631
PERU 440
PHILIPPINES 421
INDIA 348
CHILE 302
PARAGUAY 282
GUATEMALA 257
BRAZIL 228
HONDURAS 197
2004
CHINA 7,044
RUSSIA 5,865
GUATEMALA 3,264
S. KOREA 1,716
KAZAKHSTAN 826
UKRAINE 723
INDIA 406
HAITI 356
ETHIOPIA 289
COLOMBIA 287
Source: State Department; USN&WR
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