Vietnamese babies 'stolen for adoption in West'

Vietnamese babies 'stolen for adoption in West'
By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
Last Updated: 5:50pm BST 25/04/2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/25/wviet125.xml


Vietnamese babies are being kidnapped, bought and stolen from their parents then - in effect - sold for adoption in America, Britain and other Western countries, according to a new investigation.


Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie legally adopted their fourth child from Vietnam in 2007
In some cases hospitals have sent babies to orphanages for adoption after their parents were unable to pay medical bills.

In another, a grandmother sent a baby girl for adoption without informing her parents. The child was reunited with its mother following embassy enquiries.

The report by the US embassy in Hanoi states: "In five provinces, we discovered unlicensed, unregulated facilities that provide free room and board to pregnant women in return for their commitment to relinquish their children upon birth."

Fraudulent documents then record that the baby was "deserted". If the mother has a change of heart she must repay the facility for the accommodation she received.

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More commonly, parents are persuaded by health officials or orphanage staff to place their children in orphanages in exchange for a typical payment of around £190. They are often told they can visit the child regularly or that it will be returned to them after a few years.

"In a terrifying number of cases the parents had no idea that they would never see their child again," said Angela Aggeler, the embassy spokeswoman.

Forty-two American adoption agencies are licensed by the Vietnamese government. Many note on their websites that they make charitable donations to orphanages in the country or fund them outright. The average cost in official fees and travel expenses quoted to would-be adoptive parents is around £12,000.

According to the report, donations to the orphanages often amount to a kind of finder's fee. One orphanage surveyed, "receives a fixed monthly donation for each child in the orphanage who is available for international adoption and the payment is made in cash directly to the orphanage director.

"This orphanage has seen the number of infants in its care increase by more than 2000 per cent in the past year, but it has not made significant increases in staff," the report states.

Some adoption agencies flew the government officials who licensed them to the United States for shopping trips - and paid for their shopping.

Vietnam's top adoption official, Vu Doc Long, called the report's allegations "groundless" and rejected DNA testing or spot-checks on orphanages as an "unacceptable" way to reduce the problem.

Last year 828 Vietnamese children were adopted to America and this year is on course to exceed that figure. Other common destination countries include Ireland, Canada and France. A British consular official said the number of Vietnamese children adopted to Britain averages under 10 a year.

In 2007 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopted their fourth child from Vietnam, but there is no suggestion of impropriety in their case.

Ms Aggaler said she believes the growing popularity of American adoptions from Vietnam reflects the huge number of American couples anxious to adopt, rather than people following Ms Jolie's example.

The agreement allowing American adoptions from Vietnam is due to expire in September and may not be renewed if the problems are not addressed.

"We are very committed to international adoption," said Ms Aggeler. "We just want to make sure that no child is not really an orphan."

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

This is not just a problem in Vietnam, its a problem in many countries. Adoption agencies are in business to make a profit. Any way they can. They may or may not investigate where the child is coming from. The fact is, they are going to make 30 to 50 grand off each child that they provide to couples who want children. The adoption industry is very corrupt.

Some people think adoption is about unwanted children. Most of those children were wanted - but were STOLEN from their biological parents.

Why don't they just round up all the orphans worldwide, bring them here to the US - you know, like they do livestock - and have a big auction?

All the rich celebs can come and pay hundreds of thousands for the newest fashion accessory and the orphanages will make millions!

Celebrities make adoption look easy - but the fact is, its not. Foreign adoption is very expensive and out of reach for the average, middle class American. I know couples who are still trying to adopt overseas, and they've spent years and thousands of dollars, and still do not have a child.

It does bug me that celebrities all copycat each other, even when it comes to things like having kids. I really think Madonna was copycatting Anjelina Jolie by adopting a child from overseas. Apologies to those of you who are Madonna fans, but I don't know if her heart was in the right place. Madonna is well known for constantly changing and going through different phases. This won't be fair to the little boy she adopted, if he is just another "phase" she is going through.

I'm watching Airline, a show which depicts what goes on at Southwest at their major hubs. This episode has an American white couple bringing back a baby from China. They are so ga-ga over their foreign baby purchase. Of course, these asses took away the infant's Chinese name and renamed her 'Rebecca'. I hate that these yuppies buy these children as human accessories and then take away their culture. What is wrong with the child keeping her Chinese name? Madonna is a nasty person. She only wants to be in the same league as Angelina Jolie which is why she is doing a copy-cat with the African adoptions. I bet Madonna is not involved in her kids' life except for publicity.

Unfortunately, I think we are going to see more and more celebrities jumping on this bandwagon, and adopting kids from overseas.

for heaven's sake if you're going to steal something, steal something useful.

My co-worker is Indian..
He mentioned to me that women from his country are being paid what amounts to $50/month to be surrogates.
I don't think he likes this/neither do I for more reasons than he does.
There is nothing more selfish than baby-rabid people.

They are walking people farms! That's pretty inhumane...and very contra-child.

two cents ¢¢ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My co-worker is Indian..
> He mentioned to me that women from his country are
> being paid what amounts to $50/month to be
> surrogates.
> I don't think he likes this/neither do I for more
> reasons than he does.
> There is nothing more selfish than baby-rabid
> people.

That is fucked up! Surrogacy is another form of oppression for women. I also get sick of gay guys advertising for poorer college students here in the States so they can play "My Two Daddies". Nothing against gays but I just hate that trend. The gay guys I know are not into sprogs at all. $50 a month to shit out a kid is nothing more than a different form of human trafficking and as bad as the sex trade where women are abused.

Very timely point, A. and what happens when it doesn't work out? Gays haven't explored the world of parenting long enough for the rest of us to get a clear picture of the results......

two cents ¢¢ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My co-worker is Indian..
> He mentioned to me that women from his country are
> being paid what amounts to $50/month to be
> surrogates.
> I don't think he likes this/neither do I for more
> reasons than he does.
> There is nothing more selfish than baby-rabid
> people.

In some cases (not all) the surrogacy industry is a boon for women in India. Through the right agency, carrying a baby will give an Indian woman good medical care, enough money to buy a small house, and provide a decent standard of living and an education for her existing children. In some cases, it's a lifeline out of an abusive marriage. Properly done, it can be an effective way to a baby for the couple, and a pretty good deal for the woman.

I don't have any problems with surrogacy provided there's protections in place for all parties. Supply and demand, I guess.

International adoptions are about to become a whole lot harder over the next little while. From some of the reading I've done, it can be a pretty fast way to a lot of heartbreak and a very empty bank account.