Ap's and Paps that have been or are involved in international adoptions.....?

Question

Do you think this Nmother is asking to much of you when you are out looking for babies and toddlers that can't speak up?

Do you think DNA tests should be done on all the children that were adopted from Guatemala and submitted into a data bank to see if they match the "dozens" of nmothers risking their lives to speak out and file reports that their children were taken without "consent"?

Here's a lovely story about how easy it has been to falsifly DNA tests and Birth certificates.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7524514.stm

Answer 1

Independent, if you have a blog I would love to see it.

Being a TRA, I can understand where your anger is coming from. Adoption is not the win-win scenario everyone seems to think it is. The relinquishing mother never wins (and don't bother telling me "It's the choice that she made!", people. The mother doesn't *have* a choice. Relinquishing your child because of poverty and financial issues is NOT a choice.).

I think you need to keep control of your temper... your implied accusations along with these "questions" are clearly turning people away even before you've managed to get your point across.

Even while understanding your perspective of adoption, I would strongly advise that you remain respectful instead of shooting down everyone else's opinions.

Like I said, if you have a blog, I would really like to see it. I'm sure you have a lot of other points that need to be expressed more.

Answer 2

I've kicked this question around a little before answering.  I didn't adopt from Guatemala.  Our circumstances, as an adoptive family, are different than those who adopted from Guatemala or China.

On one hand, I think some kind of database would be an excellent tool in reunion and to help address the allegations of child-stealing.  

On the other hand, I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel having my child's genetic blueprint on file in a communist country.  I'm leery enough about privacy rights in the US, let alone a government with a proven track record of human rights violations.  (Speaking of China here)

I realize DNA swabbing is used all the time when there is suspicion of a crime and that child kidnapping is certainly a crime!  But say there is a suspected kidnapping of a blond haired/blue eyed toddler and the govt decided to do a DNA swab of every blond haired/blue eyed toddler in the country so they could prove that they were NOT the missing one.  

I think I would be more open to it if the database was kept in the US.  I would like to see what assurances would be provided of protection and privacy.  

I would rather see some "narrowing of the field" before taking such a broad brush approach.  Example, if a Guatemalan mother alleges that her child was stolen, swab her DNA and run it against the Guatemalan mothers that supposedly all had DNA tests run.  If there's no match anywhere, then we know she never contributed to the DNA test in the first place.  

Just my thoughts.

ETA: We didn't do a DNA test on our children.  But they were 10 and 5 at the time of adoption.  We met their mother while we were in-country and the children were obviously old enough to identify her as their mother.

Answer 3

The adoption group I'm in has talked about this. A lot of us parents would like to see one central dna database for all international adoptees.  Besides that we know a lot of our children will want to search, there's the possibility of siblings out there.

I did a swab on my son here, our contact did his mother's where she lives, and so I think we have a good match.  But it would be terrific if both their dna info could have been put in a database because my son has a sister somewhere here in the US.  It would be wonderful if should she decide to search in five years (she should be thirteen now) she could just do a cheek swab and send it in to possibly be matched. I'm afraid at this point that she's assuming she's an orphan and won't search, or that her parents didn't get any information and she won't try.  

I think our only hope of getting a registry like this is if a private for profit company takes it on.  They would have the technical abilitiy and resources.  I would pay to put my children's information in there.  The hard part is how to manage getting the natural mothers' information in there - it would have to be for free and it would have to be well publicized and accessible in their countries.

Answer 4

DNA tests ARE done on all children who were adopted from Guatemala.  

I don't think that a "data bank" is a good thing, actually... because I am in favor of the multiple DNA tests to be done BEFORE the adoption is finalized.  BEFORE NOT AFTER.  If there is a problem with the DNA tests then that problem definitely needs to be fixed.

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Randy:  I just read your answer and I agree with you.  With the GUATEMALAN officials trying to coerce mothers to claim their child was stolen so they can get a monthly stipend until their child is 18, it could be a potentially TERRIBLE situation for the children.  

http://www.adaguatemala.org/English/news...

http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000866...

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Mei:  Who said adoption was a "win-win" situation...  certainly not EVERYONE, as you claim.  But, thank you for asking Inde to tone it down a little.  More people will listen to her if she stops accusing people of stealing babies.

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http://www.babysites.com/sites/bellagirl...

Answer 5

I've said many times that I hope China will eventually have a DNA bank, just like Korea, however I don't see that happening until the one-child policy is lifted (2010) and the statute of limitations on abandonment is eradicated. I would love to have even the smallest chance to find baby girls' mama and baba... for my daughter. If they did implement one, obviously you cannot mandate it retroactively, however, I do believe we would do it.

As for Guatemala I can't imagine how everyone involved is feeling. The majority of APs are not of the desire to take a child from a family that wishes to raise them. I know we're not. I believe the majority of families who adopted from Guatemala, did so in good faith. Like Randy said, I don't believe you can compel families to have DNA test run on their children, however, I do think there will be some that will.

Answer 6

This is obviously an issue near and dear to your heart for some reason but in my view this is definitely a local issue that needs to be addressed locally first.  Guatemala needs to get it's own house in order first before it resumes foreign adoptions.  Adoptive parents are often not aware of the local issues at play in a country when they adopt internationally and I honestly don't believe that they should be expected to bear the emotional burden of another countries corruption.  I'm not saying they should just be allowed to adopt blindly but at the same time the local system needs to be cleaned up so that there is a minimum degree of safety in its operation.  

Again, with your idea you run the issue of jurisdiction.  There is no way that Guatemala would ever, ever be able to enforce the collection of DNA samples from children adopted from there.  No court in that country has the authority to reach into the US, Canada, UK, Germany... and compel adoptive parents to provide DNA from their children.

Now, if the country wanted to legislate the collection of DNA samples from children placed for adoption BEFORE the adoption process is completed and the child leaves Guatamala jurisdiction then thats a different story.  In that way, if a mother comes forward at some date in the future and claims her child was abducted for adoption the DNA records could be checked for a match and IF there is a match they would at least know where that child went to.  Then the issue becomes how to prove her story and then get the child back which in and of itself could be impossible.  Not only would a Guatemala court have to be convinced but a court in the child's new country would need to be convinced and then there would still need to be some mechanism in place to compel that child to be returned.  The fight could go on for years with no reliable outcome.

I'm not saying it's not an important issue for the parents of Guatemala or that it shouldn't be an important issue for anyone considering adoption from that country.  I just think that it's potentially such a major issue, with tangled jurisdictions, and perhaps it's best that Guatemala get it's own house in order first to cut off future problems.

Also, what would happen if there was a registry.  It may actually have the potential to spawn even more corruption.  Lets say a mother gets paid to give her child for international adoption only to come back a few years (or less) later and claim the baby was stolen.  Could they not potentially play the system to get more money at that point in time?  I know, a very distasteful thought but the potential is there.

Edit

Yes, I did say that it seems to be an issue for you but I NEVER said that it was an unimportant issue.  I merely pointed out what I saw were problems with your suggestions.  If you take them as ways to throw water on what you are trying to do then that is your problem.  If you were the "glass is half full" type of person you may see them as areas that could be addressed or counteracted to strengthen your attempts to set things straight.  If you don't want to take it that way then so be it.