Dr Gabriela Misca PhD CPsychol

1. 6th World Congress on Family Law and Human Rights The ‘Quiet Migration’Is international adoption a successful intervention in the lives of vulnerable children worldwide? Dr Gabriela Misca PhD CPsychol

2. Overview • Background on current inter-country adoption (ICA) practice • International legal benchmarks • UNCRC • 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-country adoption • Studies of inter-country adoptions outcomes • The future of inter-country adoptions? Reflections on dilemmas

3. Inter-country adoption: a global phenomenon? • ‘Opening’ of ICA from Korea in 1953 • ‘Quiet migration’ (Weil, 1984) • Significant movement of children across borders from poor countries • “Waves” of ICA in conjunction with major social and political changes – i.e.: Romania, Russia, China • Estimates: • At its peak in 2004: 45,000 children worldwide were involved in ICA in one year (Selman, 2009) • During 2000-2010: 410,000 children (Selman, 2012) • Extent of inter-country adoptions worldwide is difficult to estimate accurately • Due to lack of a central, unified system of recording (Selman, 2002)

4. Shifts in ICA nature • Humanitarian motivation • Korean War • Demand from childless couple from developed countries • ‘Celebrity’ inter-country adoptions

5. ICA Debates • Ethical concerns • Removing children from birth country, culture • “Ultimate form of imperialism” • Children’s rights? • Links between sending country’s use of domestic adoption? • International pressure on sending countries practices and legislation

6. International legal benchmarks: The UNCRC • Article 3 • the best interest of the child shall be of primary consideration • Article 8 • the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations • Article 9 • a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will unless necessary for the best interests of the child • Article 21 • Adoption should only be carried out in the best interest of the child; • Inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child’s care • enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption • does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it

7. International legal benchmarks: • 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-country adoption • reinforces the UNCRC (Article 21) • protects children and their families against the risks of illegal, irregular, premature or ill-prepared adoptions abroad • ensures that inter-country adoptions are made in the best interests of the child and with respect for his or her fundamental rights, and to prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children

8. Concerns • The Matching principle • matching child’s needs to adoptive families • Legitimacy of adopting internationally children with living parents/relatives • Last resort? • Use of internet ‘advertising’ of children (Chou et al., 2007) • The ‘politics’ of inter-country adoptions • Is international adoption a successful intervention in the lives of vulnerable children worldwide?

9. Studies of inter-country adoptions • Focus on outcomes for inter-country adopted children • Understanding their development • Guiding policy and practice • Substantial research 1980s-1990s in countries that were major recipients of internationally adopted children • reviews by Thoburn and Charles (1992); Tizard (1991)

10. Early studies of children’s outcomes in ICA • Primarily optimistic messages about outcomes: • 75–80% of inter-country-adopted children and adolescents function well. • The rapid recovery of children in their first year of adoption is considered remarkable. • Satisfaction with adoption by adoptive parents and adopted children is rated high or very high by over 80% of adoptive families.

11. It’s complicated… • Some problems involved: • on arrival, the children may have to unlearn the ‘survival techniques’ they had used in their home environments (such as lying and stealing) • to reconsider their perceptions of adults as people who mainly obstructed and punished them in their past

12. It’s not always a happily ever after story… April 2010

13. Risk factors involved in ICA outcomes • Age at adoption • emotional and behavioural difficulties seem more likely to occur when children are adopted at a relatively late age. • Children’s early experiences before adoption • adverse conditions such as poverty, malnutrition, institutionalisation, neglect and abuse • Children’s medical and social history prior to birth • Age and the mother’s poor nutrition • abuse of alcohol or drug-taking during pregnancy • a child’s genetic background and lack of neonatal screening in some birth countries • Interaction of risk factors • The lack of information on the above

14. Some barriers to understanding ICA outcomes Research on adoption outcomes has children’s experiences prior to adoption as one of its black holes [and] this is especially true in the case of international adoptions. (Palacios, 2009, p.74)

15. Key factors in ICA success • Adoptive parents • Commitment • Quality of parenting and environment • High levels of support required in their adoptive countries • health, mental health and educational supports • Addressing our knowledge gaps • evidence-based practice on what interventions are best suited to the needs of these children

16. Issues of cultural and self-identity in ICA • Cultural and self-identity • relevant as the children enter their adolescent years (Verhulst, 2000) • inter-country adoptees regard themselves as having the same national identity as those born in the country where they live • many also show a strong interest in their backgrounds (Irhammar and Cederblad, 2000) • some want to distance themselves from immigrants of a similar ethnic background (Saetersdal and Dalen, 2000) • Particularly true where there is ethic stereotyping and discrimination – i.e.: Romanian children adopted in Ireland (Greene et al., 2007)

17. Cultural and self-identity in ICA - revisited • Successful adjustment: children whose parents are open about the ethnic issues • A meta-analytical review across 88 studies • no difference in self-esteem between adoptees and non-adoptees, and this held true for international, domestic and trans-racial adoptees (Juffer and van IJzendoorn, 2007) • Suggestion that ethnic and cultural identity issues are not as salient as first thought for these young people’s adjustment • For example: in the UK the primacy of ethnic matching in domestic adoptions has been removed in 2011 • primary importance now to be given to finding a placement that will meet the child’s needs and will not delay the possibility of adoption

18. The future of ICA? • Opportunities for children: • Positive development following difficult experiences in birth countries • Less stigma attached to ICA? • Globalisation and the declining importance of national borders • Increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse societies and families