SC - Charleston-based adoption agency accused of human trafficking

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.....Now a CBS News investigation has discovered that growth has turned Ethiopia into fertile ground for child trafficking - a country in which some American agencies and their staff engage in highly questionable conduct.

Adoptive families allege that many children brought to the U.S. are not even orphans, that prospective parents are misled about a child's health and background, that local families are recruited - and sometimes even paid - to give up their kids.

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Christian World Adoption is one of 70 agencies licensed to operate in Ethiopia. Beyond the alleged payment to their father, the Bradshaw sisters say they were told by local employees of Christian World they were only coming to America for an education; that they could return home when school was out. Not true. In fact it's virtually impossible to reverse an adoption in Ethiopia.



more here

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/15/cbsnews_investigates/main6210911.shtml

Thank you so much for posting this TM. Ethiopian and Liberian adoptions are getting out of hand. It's all becoming an issue of money and that is NOT the intention, and never has been, of international adoption. Adoption out of country should always be a very last resort, when all other resources have been explored. The goal is always to keep the child in their home country. The problem with adoptions from Africa (IMO) is that there's too many hands in the pot--too much sliding under the radar. It is just a set up for trafficking and child selling. This is NOT your Korean adoption of the 1970's-80's or even your Chinese baby girl adoptions of the 1990's.

Another, often un-reported fact is that they children arrive with very little disclosure concerning their issues, history, and special needs. Families are led to believe that all they need to do is love these gorgeous kids, feed them, take them to church, and all will be well. In fact, the kids will be grateful. NOT!! These fragile and traumatized and often institutionalized children commonly arrive with undiagnosed illnesses and diseases, PTSD, attachment issues, and culture shock.

Families, who are unprepared for the agony and hard work of raising kids with a high level of special needs go through a gamut of guilt and resentment and many adoptions disrupt and the child moves from home to home--often entering US agencies and group homes. It's become a total morass and an abomination to good adoption practice. I'm so pleased that these articles are getting out there. I don't have statistics at hand but anecdotally, a great number of these adoptions are only marginally successful. Altruism and a big heart is not all that is needed for successful adoption. Not at all.

Please let's not forget that we have almost 400,000 waiting children in the US who need families too.