NCFA News : Current News

Atwood testifies before U.S. Senate on adoptions from Asian countries

On June 8, Tom Atwood appeared at the invitation of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, to offer testimony on the adoption of Asian children by American parents. Atwood gave an overview of the current state of Asian adoptions to the U.S., noting that American adoptions from Asian countries has increased ten out of the past twelve years, and that approximately half of the adopted children living in our country today were
adopted from Asia.

Atwood pointed out that with the State Department’s February publication of the implementing regulations for the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, the next 12-18 months are a critical time for intercountry adoption. America is finally making its transition to the entry into force of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Now is not the time to jeopardize this transition, said Atwood, by introducing other major bureaucratic and organizational transitions, such as proposed by the ICARE amendment to the Senate version of the immigration reform bill.

Atwood also noted that America, which has long been the most adoption-friendly country in the world, with decades of experience in adoption and child welfare policy making, now has the opportunity to go beyond merely promoting our own citizens’ ability to adopt internationally. By sponsoring educational seminars and exchanges with other Hague Central Authorities, for example, the U.S. can promote and inform the global establishment of sound adoption and child welfare policies.

Click here to read Tom Atwood’s full written testimony submitted to the Senate Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations.