What do you think about Vietname ending the ability to adopt from their country internationally?

Question

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-vietnam-us-adoption,1,829472.story

Do you think this is a good thing? A bad thing? A combination?

Answer 1

I say it's their lost, they are the ones who will be having to deal with all those babies/kids that could of been adopted by financially stable Americans. If American's can't adopt from that country they will go to another. Well actually kids in foster care in the u.s isn't as bad as you being a 4 year old eating garbage and living on the streets on your own. Their living conditions are so bad that Im sure they will kill to have a roof over their head, all the food they can eat and a good foster family.

Answer 2

It's good.  

Instead of helping ourselves to these countries' babies, we should be focusing our energies on helping these countries to help their OWN people and provide what their OWN people need in order to survive, to prosper, and for god's sake not have to give up or sell their own flesh and blood.

The only sad thing is that these adoption agencies who were corrupt in Vietnam will just find another poor country to exploit.  Until Americans can put their greed and entitlement aside, this will just continue to happen somewhere else.

Answer 3

Right now, i think it's a good thing. There have been some instances where hospitals have taken the children and adopted them out to pay for medical bills that poor families couldn't afford. in some cases family members kidnapped the children and handed them out to adoption agencies. They just need some time to clean these things up and put in better practices and then go from there. I'm not saying ending the international adoption altogether. Just needs to be stopped to fix the problems and that way going forward things will be  okay. At least that is what I would like to see.

Answer 4

They're only ending their program with the US, not the entire IA program.

I have mixed feelings on this:  I'm glad because of the corruption issue -- the US shouldn't be involved if they can't guarantee with a level of certainty that the children are indeed available for adoption, ethically.  But I'm sad for the children that will grow up in orphanages, without families.

ETA:  Thanks Kristy, I was under the assumption there were far more kids being adopted from Vietnam.

I do think there is something going on there and we haven't even begun to hear the whole story.  If the US can't assure these families that the adoptions are being done ethically and legally, then they need to suspend the program until such time that they can and hopefully Vietnam will be able to find homes for the children.

ETA2:  Thanks wholelottacats, I thought the number was much higher.  That major spike (400%) is very disturbing to me.

Answer 5

I think with all the unwanted children here that needd adopting, we should be looking to our own country for kids to adopt.  i understand it's bad oveer there, but they don't know what they're missing until they come over here, while kids here DO know what they're missing.  how does it help our economy to leave all these beautiful adoptable children in foster care while we bring in foreign babies and care for them like they were born here?  i don't see much difference between that and illegal immigration.  both are bad for our country in one way or another.

Answer 6

I do think it's a good thing.  The economy in Vietnam is thriving and if Vietnamese officials are corrupt and stealing babies that have been "abandoned," that is not right.  Also they go into villages searching for kids that could be adopted, and pressure parents into doing so.  The Vietnamese Communist government is very corrupt.  But I think it's good also because I know too many adoptees that know nothing about who they are and have sunk into deep depression because they look very ASIAN, but want to be WHITE like their adoptive families.  Too many white people are too ignorant to teach these children about their culture and help them take pride in their self identity.  It's bad enough knowing that you were adopted and spending most of your life feeling like you have always been unwanted... but then to have to deal with prejudice, ignorant people who see an Asian face... Racism is still strong.  I know.  I'm half Vietnamese, half white.  And white people have always been very judgmental of me, Asian people too.  But more so of white people because they do not know their own culture or take pride in where their ancestors are from, so they do not understand why it is important.  I hate when people say they are "HEINZ 57" and they are white...  because they are not.  I truly am...  My children definitely are.  My husband is Mexican.  I'm Vietnamese, Chinese, German, Irish, Dutch, & Kickapoo Indian.

Answer 7

Good. ~ Its bad enough trying to find your bparents or adopted baby years later...in the states.But a search and all that goes with it,in another country is staggering.

Answer 8

I think it is mostly a good thing.  The whole issue of baby-selling is appalling.  It has happened already in other countries such as Cambodia, which has never re-opened to U.S. adoptions.  Obviously, there are people in these countries who know that Americans will pay top dollar to adopt their children, and are making the most of it.   There is even evidence now that baby-selling has happened in China, which has been one of the most ethical countries in regard to international adoption.  

However, I do think that these countries should remain open to special needs adoptions.   Most of the special needs children in orphanages are NOT victims of baby-selling scams.  These children need families to attend to their medical conditions.  Here in the U.S., we have health insurance and the means to repair such conditions as cleft lip/palate, heart defects, etc.  These countries should not close down their international adoption programs entirely, because it will deprive the special needs children of getting the care that will restore them to good health.

Answer 9

it should be illegal for US citizens to steal (purchase) children from thier home countries untill EVERY child under 18 in the US has a family

i am disgusted with people that abduct children from foreign nations and deprive them of thier culture and even thier names and religions

Answer 10

I think it is a good thing.  If there is rampant corruption it is a good sign that a country is willing to shut it down entirely to get things under control.  This is better for everyone; a parents, children, bio families.  I'm not against overseas adoptions, as long as they are done ethically.  If a country cannot manage or control the corruption, they do the right thing to end it.

Answer 11

I'm disturbed by the fact that THEY are the ones making this decision. Why is the US not saying "This is what we found, so we're stopping adoptions from here?"  It seems rather obvious that the shutdown in 2003 from the Vietnamese side didn't address the corruption - it just gave time for everyone to figure out how to get around it?  Instead of the US govt saying "We found a lot of corruption - we're not allowing this anymore" the Vietnamese government is stopping the US from adopting there because they are offended the report says there is still corruption?

And if the US Embassy is finding these instances of adoption agencies bribing the orphanages to ensure they continue to have children to be adopted, why is the US not going after the agencies?

Part of this report also mentioned things like parents being forced to give up their children to pay hospital bills?

So - yes, this is a good thing. But still disturbing that the US Embassy appears to be taking the passive route to not renewing the agreement.

ETA: Kristy, the stats are out-of-date. There were 858 children, according to the article, adopted in 2007 (a 400% increase over the previous year) There were so few for the years quoted because Vietnam closed all the adoptions down for a period of time.  They've already taken the time to "clean things up" - the point of the report from the US Embassy is that after around two years of being back open, the corruption still exists, they just know how to get around it now.

Answer 12

I think it depends on the children up for adoption in that country.  So many of the homeless children in Viet Nam were the result of American Military men from years ago.  All of those children would be grown now.  If some of those children grew up in Viet Nam and have children of their own in the system, then I think Americans should be allowed to adopt those mix race children.  The reason I feel this way is that the mix race children are treated badly in Viet Nam.  And I feel that Americans have a responsibility to take care of their own.  If the children are not mix race then I think Viet Nam has every right to keep their children in their own country.  Perhaps they are afraid their children will be mistreated the way they mistreated our children.  Who knows?  In general, I believe that children should be adopted within their own country.  If the child is not an infant, taking that child into a different culture seems cruel to me.  But, I'm always open to new information and different points of view.  Thanks for the question.

Answer 13

I think it is a good thing.  Vietnam was originally closed down for many years for hte same reason they are halting now.  IN order for international adoption to work, it must follow the hague convention, and there must be no concerns on where the children have come from.

My fear is that this may be happening in other countries, and how are we to know if everything is legit.  I really don't have the stats though on how many children are adopted from Vietnam, how many legitimate orphans etc.  Vietnam is not as poor or undeveloped as say Ethiopia, where AIDS and famon (how do you spell that?) have left many orphans.

I think it is good for now anyway until they can get their act together.

Answer 14

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

Until they fix it they should stop it. If something is broken you stop using it until it is working properly, right?

Answer 15

Well it says that they are only discontinuing USA adoptions, other countries will still be able too adopt from there.  I don’t know the % of other countries that adopted from Vietnam.  The US report is the one that outlined the abuses. I don’t see how this is going to change because  this is happening in Vietnam. They are the ones that are selling a child to have its mothers/family’s hospital bills paid for, looking in villages to take and place kids for adoption. It seems the USA called them out and instead of ending this or figuring out a way to make it better they are just going to cease USA from adopting from the country. But they aren’t stopping other countries from adopted so clearly it’s not going fix anything. You’ll just have some kids that will grow up in the Orphanages. An Orphanage is no place for a child to grow up.

Money is the root of all evil.

Answer 16

I think people in this country should look into adopting from this country there are plenty of infants/children who need a loving home.

Answer 17

I think it has good and bad sides.

In the future I'm planning to adopt from my own country if I do adopt, so on the plus side, perhaps it will encourage people to give homes to children in their own countries who need them. It'll be another side to the domestic/international adoption debate.

However, for people who strongly wish to adopt from Vietnam, this will be highly upsetting, and they will have to drastically change their plans. It may also encourage other countries to follow suit, limiting international adoption choices, which would upset a wide number of hopeful PAPs.

Answer 18

I feel really bad for the children who need homes, but if that country wants to stop adoptions from the USA, that's their choice.  There aren't that many children being adopted from Vietnam anyway.  See that attached link:

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/...

(21 children in 2004; 6 children in 2005; I don't know about 2006 or 2007)