International Adoption: Worth the Wait

By: Audra Lynn Tanguay
Posted In: News

A new parent will inevitably wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of his or her baby crying. Mom and dad sleepily drag themselves from the comfort of their own bed to a nearby crib to comfort their newborn, whom they waited nine months to bring into this world. But, for Laurie Donley the road to bringing home her baby lasted much longer than nine months. It took Donley and her husband a year and a half to adopt their daughter, Aine.

Donley decided to adopt after finding out she and her husband were unable to have children, and the Donley family was extended to include their first daughter, an internationally adopted child. The adoption agency sent Donley photos of the child and then, to Donley’s surprise, actually asked if she was still interested in adopting the adorable little girl. “How could I say no?” said Donley.

Recently there has been a rise in the number of international adoptions instead of domestic adoptions. The Boston Globe notes an increase in adoptions between the United States and Africa, influenced by the recent adoptions made by celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. U.S. immigration officials, who gave over 600 VISAS to children adopted from Ethiopia and Liberia last year, estimate that the number of VISAS awarded will rise, most likely by hundreds, in the next year.

According to the Boston Globe, the rise in international adoptions can be attributed to the uncomplicated adoption regulations and more realistic waiting period for adoption.

Despite the rise in adoptions from Africa, China is still the leader in international adoptions. According to Holt International Child Services, an international adoption agency and informational resource, 6,000 out of the 21,000 children adopted in 2002, were from China.

The Donleys’ daughter, Aine, was adopted through an orphanage in Xuwen, China. The adoption process included paperwork to match the family with a child, medical documents, pictures and finally, a trip to China to meet their baby.

The adoption process went smoothly because China’s government is very structured, said Donley. The Donleys arrived in Beijing for a two-week stay along with 11 other families looking to adopt. The families took a cultural tour with a tour guide from the adoption agency and then were brought to the Civil Affairs Office to meet their child. The families took their children back to their hotel for the night and then had an interview at the agency the next morning before they are allowed to leave the country with their child.

When Donley arrived home to the United States with Aine, she said, “the journey is over and I actually have a daughter. It’s amazing.”

Dr. Johnelle Luciani, RSM, professor of Social Work at Salve Regina University, explained the adoption process and regulations more in-depth. According to Luciani, regulations vary from country to country but there are some universal policies. Psychological and environmental studies are done on both prospective parents prior to adopting. These studies include the evaluation of the number of biological children, family income, a background check and a financial check. Each country also has different residency requirements, for example, if adopting a child from Ethiopia; the adoptive parents are only required to stay in the country for days. In Kenya the rules are much stricter. Adoptive parents need a visitor’s VISA and are required to reside in the country for six months.

Luciani explained the rules for contact with biological families depends if the adoption is an “open adoption” or a “closed adoption.” Open adoptions provide a contract between the biological and adoptive parents and the child knows both. Most international adoptions are closed adoptions in which biological parents are not given any information about the adoptive parents and the biological information can only be revealed to the child after a certain age only if he or she asks.

A major factor in a family’s adoption decision is whether to adopt an infant or an older child. “Ninety-nine out of 100 times for a couple looking to adopt their first child, they want an infant,” Luciani said. Because abortion is legal in the United States, fewer infants are up for adoption domestically. As a result so many families look instead to international adoption in order to raise a child from infancy.

Most international adoptions are also interracial adoptions, Luciani explained. The cultural difference between parents and adopted children can be challenging. It is important for adoptive parents to be sure to not cut the child off from his or her native culture and help to educate the children in their native culture as well as their new culture embracing holidays, religions and the like.

Catalina Sears, a junior at Salve Regina University studying Economics and Spanish, is a product of an international, interracial adoption. Sears was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and was adopted by a white family from Connecticut. The Sears family was given some information like the names of their daughter’s biological parents and her medical records. Sears’s surname was changed to her adoptive parent’s name. The family was given the option of changing their daughter’s name to a name of their choice, but they decided to keep her name Catalina.

Sears’s parents always told her that she was adopted. “My mom would say, ‘Here’s the globe. Here’s where you’re from. Here’s where we live, any questions?'” Sears said. Sears’s younger brother was also adopted from Colombia and is four years her junior. Sears’s family welcomed their children’s heritage and culture as well as their own. Sears’s parents have brought her to visit Colombia to learn about her heritage and to see where she was born. Sears’s “appreciates being Latina and being adopted,” because it’s what makes her unique.

The road to adoption for the Sears family was not uncommon; the process took a year and a half, starting with paperwork and ending with an infant in her crib, crying in the middle of the night for her mommy and daddy.