September 11th: War Orphans?

Political upheaval, strife, poverty, war, epidemics, and natural disasters such as quakes and tsunamis often leave orphans in their wake....and are quickly followed by a rush of flesh peddling baby brokers eager to exploit the situation and fill their pockets with fees eagerly paid by those in stable, Western, affluent, industrialized nations.

1,300 children were orphaned on 9/11.

In fact, the Twin Towers Orphan Fund was founded on Sept. 12, 2001, to help provide tuition and other support for these children.

NOW...imagine if you will, in the wake of the attack on 9/11/01, foreigners rushing in to adopt children orphaned. Exploit the terror, the fear, the confusion and come to their "rescue."

Impossible? Would never happen in the US? COULD never happen?

Think again, the US is perhaps the only country in the world that both IMPORTS and EXPORTS for adoption.

In November, 2000 the British press reported the case of “Baby J”. Adopted at two days old in Texas and immediately taken home to the UK to live with a mar-ried couple and their 15-year-old son in the south of England. Seven months later, instead of having the adoption finalized, the baby was ordered returned to the US.
The court found that the initial social worker's report was completed by an independent operator, reportedly with no qualifications. The residency requirement for adopting couples in the US was waived, ignored or never raised. No follow-up checks were possible because the child was permitted to leave the country. Even if, by some legal loophole, all that was permissible, the adoption agency did not see fit to contact its opposite numbers in the British social services. It was the latter who contacted the agency when Baby J was somehow "brought to their attention" back in Britain. Neither the independent social worker nor the adoption agency had paid any regard to arrangements by the UK Government for inter-country adoptions, the judge said.
Social services in Britain "believed there were compelling reasons why the couple should not be regarded as able to provide a safe and secure home for J". Mr Justice Johnson, one of Britain’s senior Family Division judges, said: "I do not think anybody could begin to believe this was a proper way of deciding the future of a human being."
"This little girl is American and her future should be decided by an American court and by American procedures and by American ways." The court ordered the return of the baby, per the Hague Convention, stating: "It might be that this is a thoroughly bad example of the way things happen in the US."
While unconfirmed, it is likely the Texas agency is The Gladney Center for Adoption. Whether these rumors can be substantiated or not regarding this one specific agency, the fact remains that American children are adopted by the very wealthy class in Mexico who prefer white babies. American infants are also exported to Germany, France and the Netherlands, though few are reported in the media, although one such story of a baby born in Philadelphia and adopted in Germany appears at the website, Emmas-Adoption-in-USA.de/.
According to Thomas DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's Services in Virginia. "Approximately 800 American children a year find a home and a family with citizens from other countries such as Canada, Mexico and France," adding that Irish families who wish to adopt privately from the US are also free to do so.
Approximately 18-19 states including Oregon, Washington, California, Texas, Florida, New Hampshire, and Arkansas allow “home state finalization” for the international adoption of US children. Some states require the family to return for the finalization while others do not. In Texas a family can finalize within 90 days and in California it is 6 months. In Oregon the finalization takes place within less than 10 days usually. All families are required to have a home study with FBI cleared fingerprints.
In 2007 another baby exported from the US to Great Britain made headlines. It was the second such adoption for British Foreign Secretary David Milliband and his wife. The second baby they scooped up straight from the delivery room in a little over two years. British press said it revealed the existence of “a much darker side to adopting…in the U.S. that means big business for the thousands of private adoption agencies, which can easily procure a newborn for those prepared to pay up to $40,000.”
Miliband’s wife, 46, said: "It was just like doing it myself without having to go through the whole pregnancy and labour…It was our baby from the word go. It was a perfect scenario - an easy and pleasant experience." It was also, "very, very expensive."
The UK Daily Mail reporting on the case notes, “in the UK, the purpose of adoption is clearly defined as being to help children in need of a secure and stable home. In the U.S., the emphasis has been turned on its head, with many private adoption brokers twisting the procedure into a lucrative way to satisfy the demands of desperate childless couples…. On the rare occasions that a baby is available for adoption in the UK, it cannot be adopted before it is six weeks old.”
"There's a strong imperative in [British] law to sup-port families and keep them together as much as possible and to make decisions for each individual child. The welfare of the child is at the centre of everything,” according to David Holmes, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.

From The Stork Market, revised edition

IMAGINE...imagine OUR children being grabbed up and taken away...