One of the important things that people need to do when becoming involved with an adoption agency, is to read the contract carefully before signing it. People need to understand the schedule of payments and how much money will be refunded if a planned adoption doesn’t work out. Unfortunately, over the years, I’ve encountered large numbers of prospective adoptive applicants who do not do this.

Also, because international adoptions are not stable, people need to look carefully at the countries in which the agency that they are planning to work with, has programs. If an agency works only in one country and that country closes its adoptions, there are no alternatives for the family. Therefore, there is always the danger that if a family wants to adopt from only one particular country and chooses an agency that only works in that country, the family may very well lose money if the country closes adoptions.

In the article, there is a quote from a state department official to the effect that many agencies may be closing because they cannot meet the high standards of practice required by the Hague treaty. Unfortunately, this is not the only, nor the major reason for agencies having to close their doors. The standards of practice imposed on adoption agencies by our government’s interpretation of the treaty have severe financial consequences for small adoption agencies, even those whose standards of practice have been very high over the years. The requirements favor large, financially wealthy and well connected agencies. Further, many questions have been raised about the expertise of some of the people who are making the on-site visits to agencies and passing judgments on their work. Although agencies have to pay high fees for these visits to the accrediting entities, the evaluators are unpaid and many have received only recent training for the very important job they are doing.

Last but not least, there has been tremendous pressure placed on other countries by our government to ratify the treaty, even when workers in the field of international adoptions have not found problems with the adoption systems already in existence in those countries. The international adoption environment, therefore, is discouraging to countries with children needing adoption, and to potential adoptive parents who wish to provide permanent and loving homes to their children.

Miriam Vieni, L.C.S.W.