If you've been following the news over the past decade, you've seen the same headlines, year after year: Intercountry Adoptions Drop Once Again.
It's been the same story since intercountry adoptions peaked in 2004. As evolving regulations have created stronger adoption policies and practices stateside, intercountry adoptions have gotten better—more responsible, transparent, and ethical—but they're also fewer every single year. The Department of State's 2017 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoptions shows yet another dip in 2017. There haven't been this few intercountry adoptions since 1973. Why?
The adoption community has filed an official petition with the White House to address this heartbreaking plummet. We ask you to sign your name to it. The White House will address our petition if it receives 100,000 verified signatures by April 16th. To sign, you must be an American citizen over the age of 13. We the People will send you an automated email to verify your signature—don't miss that crucial step!
We're asking the White House to investigate the causes of the 80% decline in intercountry adoptions and identify how leadership at the Department of State's Office of Children's Issues can collaborate with adopted individuals, adoptive parents, adoption professionals, and advocates to find regulatory solutions that prioritize ethics without sacrificing sustainability.
Intercountry adoption should be a national priority not just because it helps American parents build their families, but because it is a promise we have made to unparented children around the world. By being party to the Hague Adoption Convention and by enacting the Intercountry Adoption Act and the Universal Accreditation Act, we have pledged our support to these children. Our nation recognizes that, for children who don't have kinship care or domestic adoption options, intercountry placements can provide them with a loving home, permanency, and the one-on-one parental support they need to thrive. We ask the White House to reaffirm this commitment.
Everyone can agree that safeguards are needed to ensure that unparented children abroad are protected and care for, that they aren't trafficked or abducted, that adoption is not prioritized over family reunification, and that no one profits from adoption. These are all good things—and they already form the heart of America's adoption policies. Monitoring and oversight by an accrediting entity ensures that our actions live up to our laws and ideals. We ask that this oversight be responsibly implemented.
Signed,
National Council For Adoption
Data Source: The Federalist. March 19, 2018.