This relatively new issue regarding International adoption could greatly impact American society. Certainly it will affect families trying to adopt children; I can only imagine the frustration that families like the Shimkus' face when they have to wait over four years to retrieve their child. But I believe this will affect the world on a larger scale as well: though this isn't the case for all children put up for adoption, many of them are indeed escaping things like poverty and neglect. If International adoption is being discouraged then the number of children growing up in unsafe and poor households will increase. This could potentially be very detrimental towards the rising generations in developing countries.
I wonder why countries like Kyrgyzstan (the country the Shinkus' adopted from) are becoming more and more hesitant to send their children to a developed world? As the article shows, the uncertainty has grown significantly over the years to say the least--the decline in foreign children being adopted by Americans has dropped 60% since 2004. The picture above also demonstrates very well the steady decline in adoption over the years.Since that is so drastic a drop, I wonder what has caused certain countries such reservations so fast about their children living in America.
I currently have no idea of what both the government and American families plan to do about this, especially as it is a sensitive topic. However, I hope that adoption rates do rise again for the sake of many children and families.
http://world.time.com/2013/01/10/caught-in-the-international-adoption-slowdown/?iid=gs-main-lead
I currently have no idea of what both the government and American families plan to do about this, especially as it is a sensitive topic. However, I hope that adoption rates do rise again for the sake of many children and families.
http://world.time.com/2013/01/10/caught-in-the-international-adoption-slowdown/?iid=gs-main-lead
Today, I was reading an article on international adoption between the US and Russia. A law passed in Russia has banned all US citizens from adopting Russian orphans. This is not because Americans have proven to treat Russian children poorly, but instead, the Russian government used this law to retaliate against the US as the US passed a bill putting travel sanctions on russian citizens who have seemed to violate human rights (Magnitsky Act.) Russia has over 750,000 children in orphanages. Instead of treating children with compassion, governments around the world are using their children as pawns in international power-play. For these numerous children without families, I hope that governments around the world can come to the realization that it is morally wrong to deny children access to adoption to increase their political power.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/8/russian-ban-on-us-adoption-turns-children-into-paw/