|
In order to understand this case, it is imperative that you rethink the cultural ideals and beliefs about adoption. During the years when we were at war, many children were abandoned or lost their parents, so adoption was necessary to provide for these children.
Today, however, women in temporarily difficult or vulnerable situations are coerced into adoptions. This is child trafficking. States such as FL have reformed their law such that the protections for mothers are now minimal. The protections that do exist are often ignored by the courts, as it was in my case.
"DeFede reports on a
boutique adoption service in Florida and its
elite baby broker, Richard Gitelman, who
places ads nationally seeking pregnant
women, and then auctions their babies to the
highest bidder among the adopters on his list.
His prices vary from $75,000 to $250,000 for
healthy white infants." Gerow
Some may ask if I am anti-adoption? No, I am not. In fact, I looked into international adoption, hoping to find a child who truly needed a loving home. My siblings have adopted as well.

What I am opposed to is coerced and unnecessary changes in custody that are resulting in the 1.4 billion dollar adoption industry. It is a business as the adoption attorneys will tell you. This is a violation of our constitutional rights and the rights of families are being trampled every day.
By Jessica DelBalzo
12 November, 2007
Countercurrents.org
"Being truly aware of adoption means understanding that adoption is a big business. In the United States alone, billions of dollars change hands through the adoption industry, passing from individuals hoping to adopt to agencies, lawyers, and counselors who procure infants and children from parents at home and abroad. Adoption is heavily marketed as a service dedicated to providing homes for children in need. In truth, the demand for children far exceeds the supply, leading to corrupt and coercive practices.
Most Americans view adoption positively. This is in no small part thanks to the adoption industry and its powerful lobbying arm, the National Council for Adoption. Few people are aware of the profound negative consequences of adoption for separated parents, children, siblings, and extended family members, and so they have no reason to question the practice of adoption. As a researcher and activist, I have had the unique opportunity to form a more accurate, fact-based impression of adoption, and knowing what I do, I cannot support this destructive industry.
Coerced adoption is probably the most important issue from a social justice perspective. However, it is near impossible to pinpoint an adoption that has not involved some undue pressure. Domestic infant adoptions are rife with problems, including unenforceable open adoption agreements, biased counseling from adoption agencies, government-funded training programs that teach others how to promote adoption to pregnant women, and social stigmas against poor, single, and teenage parents. Contrary to popular belief, women who surrender their infants to adoption cite poverty, age, and lack of support as their primary reasons. These mothers usually want their children very much but believe themselves to be inferior to wealthier, usually married, adopting couples. The adoption industry is especially good at preying upon the vulnerability of a nervous mom-to-be." Jessica DelBalzo

|