Overview
International adoption–bringing a child into one’s home from another country–has some special benefits for children. Children arriving from war-torn countries enter a safer environment in America. Children suffering discrimination because of mixed parentage or gender live in a more supportive U.S. society. Adoptees with major health problems receive better medical care from American families.
History
Large-scale American international adoptions began in the 1940s after WWII, when U.S. troops were stationed in many different foreign countries.
“International Adoptions,” an article by the Adoption History Project, states that the first international adoptees were the children of unmarried German birth mothers and U.S. military personnel. The Korean War produced biracial children who were sometimes brought to the United States for adoption, as were Korean children.
Between 1953 and 1962, U.S. families adopted an estimated 15,000 foreign children.
Post-War Benefits
Children adopted internationally during the Cold War received some extra benefits beyond finding new homes. Biracial children of U.S. military personnel were often despised and abused in their countries of origin and were treated better in the United States.
Children brought to America from countries ravaged by war entered a stable American environment, where they received education and medical care not currently available in their countries.
Benefits For Girls
International adoption can benefit girls when they come from a culture that favors males. “China Adoption,” an essay by Adoptive Families, notes that 90 percent of all Chinese adoptees are girls, because of China’s one child per family policy. Since Chinese boys are more valued than girls, it is girls who are offered for adoption.
“China Adoption” quotes the text of a note found on one abandoned Chinese girl, who was later adopted. It said: “In our countryside, the thought that man is more important than woman is very popular. I don’t have the strength to overthrow it.” A Chinese girl adopted by a U.S. family will grow up in a society where women are valued more than they are in China.
Health Benefits
Russian children adopted by Americans have frequently spent years in substandard orphanages, which has left some of them with mild to severe medical and psychological problems.
Russian adoptees have benefited from the advanced medical care that American families are able to provide, but adoptive parents should consider in advance whether they can afford the financial and emotional expenses.
For example, Dr. Jane E. Aronson, a specialist in international adoptees’ health problems, notes in a study, “Health and Developmental Issues of Internationally Adopted Children,” that 30 percent of all Russian adoptees that she has examined have latent tuberculosis.
Warning
International adoption can provide tremendous benefits for adoptees, offering them chances for better lives in America. But adoptive parents need to be cautious. Prospective adoptive parents should carefully doublecheck the credentials and behavior of international adoption agencies before working with them.
One example of the need for caution is the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism’s report, “Adoption: Ethiopia,” which warns that some Ethiopian adoptees are not orphans. Their parents were tricked into surrendering them by fraudulent adoption agencies.
About this Author
Robin Elizabeth Margolis is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area. She has been writing health care, science and legal articles since 1988. Margolis was the editor of a health law newsletter, and has a B.A. in biology, a master’s degree in counseling and a paralegal certificate.
