Um this is nothing new .....

No, it isn't but the fact that there is more evidence and also, a major US magazine carrying the story, does make it new, in a way. These kinds of stories were usually carried in obscure places and there seems to be a groundswell of revelations and education around the underbelly of the world of international adoption.

And there is a fine line between adoption and human trafficking....

Shyima was 10 when a wealthy Egyptian couple brought her from a poor village in northern Egypt to work in their California home. She awoke before dawn and often worked past midnight to iron their clothes, mop the marble floors and dust the family's crystal. She earned $45 a month working up to 20 hours a day. She had no breaks during the day and no days off

Huffington Post Child maid trafficking spreads from Africa to US.

In 1989, Nigerian native Beatrice was recruited at age 13 to live with an American child welfare worker and her husband to help with housework and attend school. Her parents, hoping for a better standard of living and a better education for their daughter, agreed. Upon arrival in to the U.S., however, Beatrice found herself enslaved. She was locked in a suburban home, forced to work up to 20 hours a day, and denied education. Beatrice was regularly beaten while forced to hold her hands above her head and kneel on the floor. One day in 1998, after she was beaten for over an hour, Beatrice's screams caught the neighbors' attention. The police were called, and Beatrice was rescued. Beatrice had been held as a slave in the U.S. for nine years.

     American Anti-slavery Group, Country Report:  USA

Don't think Canada is exempt ...

Department of Justice - People for sale in Canada?

This is a growing problem exacerbated by the deepening poverty and exploited by those with more money and power.

LB

Someday, maybe there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child's spirit.

     Eric Erickson

There are places that do this.  There are a lot of legitimate adoption agencies out there as well.

Perhaps but how do you know one from the other? Who's doing the checking and to whom do they report?

I watched an interesting movie on Saturday.  I think it was based on a true story.  A woman had a one night stand with her photographer.   She became pregnant and was not sure whose child it was but did not say anthing.  The photographer lived accross the street.   After the baby was born the photographer broke in and stole some of the baby's hair off a hairbrush.  He did a home DNA test and found out the baby was his.  He arranged for someone to kidnap the baby because he found out that he had no paternal rights because the father of the baby was the man who was married to the mother.  The guy he hired to kidnap the baby sold the baby for about $300,000 to an ultra rich couple who was infertile and did not want to wait.

The couple had the money and that is how they were "screened"  Could have been pedophiles or anything.  At the end of the movie a narrator came on and said that it was believed that many of the  missing children were sold either for adoption or some form of slavery.

The movie was eyeopening and I thought of this thread.

"The Dark Side of International Adoption"

Are you talking about adopting black children? THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO, Racist! Your not gonna live for eternity like people with feelings will, you terrible person.

DJJ ---- there will soon be a bunch of people responding to your post and taking it seriously.  Be patient.

DJJ is likely one of revjohn's sockpuppets.  Just ignore him.  He needs attention.

Some may be interested in the latest international incident.  

Russia Calls for Halt on U.S. Adoptions

Now I know I am certainly not the world's best mother, but I think 8 months is not sufficient to claim  "giving my best to this child" and I question a 7 year old boy's capacity to instill enough fear in two grown woman that they believed the best option was to send that child - alone - back to where he came from.

LB

What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.

     P.D. James

I listned to an interesting discussion yesterday, I think it was a repeat, about some of these orphans that have arrived from Russia and Ukraine....  I think they said there are 200,000 children in state run orphanages which is a very scary thought.

The gist of the discussion was that north american parents are eager to help these kids.  But they assuem, erroneously , that they can adopt a baby with real issues and that "love" will solve  all.

A certain percentage of these kids, up to 10% they said, have fetal alcohol syndrome issues as well os others.

This woman talked about how families need a plan for dealing with it all, including a real idea of the cost for psychotherapy.  It was quite sad to listen to

 Eastern European orphanges are notorious. Children in them often receive minimal stimulation and many have major attachment issues as a result. And - yes - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a problem as well.

When my wife and I adopted we looked into a variety of options (private adoption, Children's Aid, international from various countries) and, for our own reasons, ended up adopting from China. Although that program is not without problems, China generally has a very good reputation of taking good care of the children (many are in foster homes rather than in orphanages), a very streamlined process so there are few surprises, and the children tend to be very healthy. China is seriously working at reducing international adoptions though, partly to address the problem of gender imbalance in their society. This will lead to a lot of parents looking at other options in places with less history of adoption and perhaps more potential for abuse.