Candace O’Brien Presents Perspectives on International Adoption and Domestic Adoption

Thank you for having me here today. I have been asked to give a presentation on the major differences between domestic versus international adoption and what an adoptive family should expect from each experience. I think this is a particularly interesting topic particularly at this time. On April 1, 2008, the United States ratified the Hague Convention, an international treaty designed to protect the best interests of children. There are now 78 member countries to this treaty. While the treaty stands for principles that all of us can certainly agree on such as ensuring integrity, ethics, licensing standards for adoption organizations and strict disallowance of child buying, the treaty has in my opinion also served to create obstacles to international adoption that have gone beyond issues of ethics and integrity and have served to create great obstacles to finding permanent homes for children.

The preceding discussions on the UNICEF, the Hague Treaty have great impact, in fact, on this discussion regarding international versus domestic adoption. International adoption is, in my opinion, under systematic attack by powerful human rights organizations resulting in severe restrictions and ultimately greatly reduced numbers of adoptions. Quotas or closures are not the only form of attack - implementation of adoption procedures so lengthy, cumbersome and costly that many Americans are re-evaluating domestic adoption.

For some families, adopting a child from a developing nation where life and death could hang on an adoption decree is compelling and often the single reason for pursuing adoption. While adopting a child from a developing nation seems to be the most humanistic decision, one should not ignore the poverty and overwhelming odds that some here in America face. For some families, the prospects of “open” adoption issues in the U.S. are daunting, Whether an adoption occurs internationally or domestically has bearing on the degree of openness that adoption can possess. Domestic adoptions vary widely in their degree of openness, depending on the preferences of the birth parents; however, international adoptions are more likely to be closed with little or no contact between birth and adoptive parents.

International and domestic adoption options each offer distinct advantages and disadvantages, depending on the concerns, motivations and preferences of adoptive parents. In domestic adoption situations, agencies generally are able to provide more detailed and accurate information about birth parents' medical information than it can in an international adoption scenario. They are also better able to provide the option of an open or semi-open adoption than are international agencies. Whether this is a benefit or a deficit depends on the preferences of the adopting parents.

Certainly a distinct advantage of domestic adoption is that it offers the opportunity to participate in a newborn or young infant adoption. In domestic adoption situations, parents are typically matched with a pregnant woman who has not yet given birth. In contrast, when dealing with international adoption, parents are matched after the birth of a child and in many instances, after a waiting period of 6 months – 1 year during which time the child is on a registry for possible adoption by a family in the child’s country. If a family pursues an international adoption of an infant, the child will most likely be several months old at best, and possibly over a year old or more, before all administrative hurdles are cleared and the child is permitted to travel to its adoptive home.

While adoptive families choosing either international or domestic adoption face the possibility of not being able to complete the adoption of a particular child, often involving a birth parent or other family member changing their minds, families adopting internationally with an ethical agency rarely risk losing the adoption monies paid for the services as most agencies will refer another child at no additional expense. In domestic scenarios, expenses paid towards birth mother living expenses will be forfeited if she later changes her mind.

When it comes to adoption, many families balk at the prospect of preparing birth mother introductory letters and photo albums feeling that they are competing with other families or begging for a birth mother to choose them. In international adoption, birth mothers don’t choose adoptive families; however, many countries impose restrictions that families cannot meet. In some instances, foreign countries may impose restrictions after the adoption process has begun and families are suddenly not qualified to adopt and must choose another country, often involving additional expenses and creating delays in the overall process.

Families adopting internationally must prepare themselves for particular medical, emotional, learning, and behavioral issues that their adopted children, who have often spent their entire lives in an institutionalized settings, often face. Adoption blogs, support groups, and online groups are rife with stories of families facing extremely difficult and challenging situations. While the process and waiting times for referral may seem more predictable for international adoption than for domestic adoption, changes in policy, procedure, closures, moratoria are all regular occurrences in international adoption.

Lastly, international travel, sometimes lengthy, can prove disruptive to work and family life, particularly when families have other children they must leave at home, and very challenging for some people who have not traveled outside of their country very often.

Deciding whether to pursue international or domestic adoption necessitates careful examination of the many pluses and minuses of each option. Selecting an agency that can offer guidance, expertise, counseling and honest answers to the advantages and disadvantages of the program they offer can be the single most important decision that an adoptive parent makes on this most extraordinary journey.