Leaving the Board of Origins-USA

Sarah Palin and I have something in common - other than supporting options other than adoption. We are both leaving our offices for other pursuits, and not running for re-election in upcoming elections.

I enjoyed serving two terms on the board of Origins-USA, one as chair of Public Relations and the second as Vice President of Communications. I hope I contributed as a member of the blog and membership committees, edited one issue of the newsletter, helped design the current logo with its mobius theme, prepared Press Releases, helped edit the website and worked with other board members on Position Papers, among a myriad of duties.

I remain a lifetime member, as well as a HUGS volunteer - a program I conceived - and maintain a strong commitment to, and am fully allied with, the goals and missions of Origins-USA. As such, I will continue to collaborate and contribute in any manner I am able to, and continue to donate my books to donors.

Origins-USA and I share a focus on family preservation, however, as it names implies, Origins-USA is concerned primarily with domestic adoptions.

Domestic infant non-family adoptions currently represents a relatively small number adoptions by Americans today, and are part of larger global issue of child trafficking that exploits poverty to meet a demand.

The U.S. models many trends and is a major player in international adoptions as one of the largest importers - creating a great deal of the world's demand for infants - and, inexplicably, is also an exporter of babies. Almost of these involve exploitation and various degrees coercion from subtle to kidnapping, while leaving behind older children and children with special needs, both domestically and worldwide. I believe very strongly in a need to keep these atrocities in the spotlight and utilize world pressure to curb abuses. Despite shortcomings, The Hague has already forced the closing of some agencies with the U.S., who were unable to meet compliance..or who merely lost too much income as a result of the international regulations being put in place.

I will thus be devoting more of my time collaborating with others who share this broader, more international focus on adoption as part of child trafficking. I am working on a revised Stork Market II, traveling to Guatemala, writing, publishing... working to get the attention and assistance of Amnesty International for the Guatemalan children who need DNA testing. I have an upcoming presentation in Toronto in the Fall and look forward to more.

And so on this most American holiday, I declare my Independence.

Stay tuned to this blog ....