adapting my identity

More and more big name celebrities are adopting children from abroad. The media is awash with images of well known faces clutching their newly acquired children. We have heard the heart wrenching stories and how the celebrities fell in love at first sight with their children.  Hearts have been touched once again by the actions  of celebrities.

While hearts are being touched, sadly, the protection of children diminishes. Recognizing the need and understanding adoption awareness also means accepting corruption. Baby trafficking and  child abduction for adoption  is a lucrative industry. The flow of baby smuggling is nearly always between the under developed  and poorest countries to the developed countries.

The Hague Convention unilateral inter country adoption agreement was set up to protect children from  illegal adoption and stop the trafficking and selling of babies.  At the last count there were approximately 65 country members signed up to the international treaty, all working together as a central governing body.

The importance of the Hague agreement goes so much deeper than stopping the flow of human traffik. It ensures that all cross country adoptions follow the same guide lines and most importantly all documentation relating to the adoption is held safe in a governing central place. Prospective adoptive parents must all follow the same guide lines. Applying to adopt in their own country and then if accepted applying in the same manner to the country they want to adopt from.

Ensuring that adoptions are carried out this way is vital for the children, their families and the adoptive parents. Parents are interviewed to make sure they fully understand the implications of freeing their child for adoption and DNA test are carried out to ensure they are the true parents and that the child has not been abducted.  All paperwork crosses the two countries and guarantees the adoption is recognized and legal in both.

All together the country agreements halt the supply and call for trafficking. Adoptive parents will have full medical knowledge for their child and most importantly the adopted child will  when adult have access to their adoption records and true information regarding their birth, family and heritage.

How are the latest celebrity adopters damaging the international adoption efforts? Malawi, not a signed member of the Hague convention agreement. Madonna laughingly told how they had to make the adoption laws up as they went along. Malawi does have one adoption 'law'. The adoptive parents must be from Malawi or spend at least 18 months as residents of the country. Madonna and Guy spent nine days in total.

Cambodia, not a signed member of the Hague convention agreement. Ethiopia, not a member of the Hague convention agreement. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jollie chose both countries to adopt their children.

Child trafficking and illegal adoptions would fail to exist without the people eager to take these children. More and more countries are realizing the importance of protecting the rights of children and are joining the Hague convention.

It is time to ask, did these celebrities choose their countries of adoption through ignorance or did they choose them because they could take their pick with rapid collection.

Ok, so all this is old news,yadda, yadda, yadda and you probably got bored half way and stopped reading. Who wants to hear the same old thing  over and over again.   Well, not the profiteers thats for sure. The quicker the media turnover the sooner the interest dies away.

I have made my new years resolution, or is it revolution , to be  more active in fighting for changes.

Posted by Tina with much2say at 04:30