I am a mother through domestic adoption. I am also an aunt through international adoption. When I first became a blogger, I was surprised at the negative attitudes I frequently encountered about adoption. And I was completely shocked by the vocal advocacy of some bloggers against adoption altogether. The case against adoption was usually summed up in one word: CORRUPTION. And while there were certainly plenty of people with things to say against domestic adoption, the most heinous accusations of corruption were leveled at international adoptions. Accusations of kidnapping and baby buying. Falsification of records. Children being adopted who were only supposed to be in orphanages for a period of respite care.

When I first heard these accusations, I was highly skeptical of their validity. Sure, bad things happen. Corruption always exists. But, certainly, these examples were few and far between and not an accurate reflection of reality.

I don't really believe that anymore. I think it happens way too frequently.

But I still don't condemn international adoption.

Over the past few weeks, the country (or, at least some of us) has waited for a resolution to the scandal in Haiti involving ten Baptist missionaries who attempted to smuggle 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic without proper documentation. While many in the general public have used this as an opportunity to condemn religious groups who attempt to provide aid, the adoption community has been more drawn to the aspect that the children, who were (mostly) NOT orphans, were going to be taken to an orphanage. And the discussion of corruption in adoption gained new fervor.

This week, eight of the ten missionaries involved in this case were released back to the United States. The two women planning to establish the orphanage are still imprisoned in Haiti. It has been reported that one of the freed missionaries, upon returning to the United States, said that he hoped that this situation would not distract from the "real" problems in Haiti. To the contrary, I pray that it will put the focus squarely where it needs to be.

While I have yet to see it reported in the media, there is a very distinct reason that these missionaries got in such severe trouble for trying to take these children to the Dominican Republic. Approximately 3000 Haitian children are smuggled into the Dominican each year to be trafficked as slaves. (Incidentally, things got much stickier for these ten Americans when it was discovered that a lawyer representing them was wanted in El Salvador on suspicion of running a child trafficking ring.) Haiti has a serious human trafficking problem.

So does India.

So does Guatemala.

So does Cambodia.

So does The Ukraine.

So does China.

So does Vietnam.

So does  Uzbekistan. 

So does Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

About the only source country for international adoption that isn't listed as a Tier 2* or "special case" on the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2009 is South Korea (and that one shocked me). Many will see this as more evidence that children are being sold to supply international adoption. Frankly, I can't argue with that. 

But...

But, I've read too much now. I know too much now. And I understand that these children are not being sold BECAUSE international adoption exists. They would be sold, regardless. They are sold because extreme poverty exists. They are sold because a tragic misunderstanding of the sanctity of life exists. They are sold because that is just how it is where they live.

Adoptions have been shut down in Cambodia for years, and children there are still being sold. They are just being sold into slavery. 

When I was reading The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade by Victor Malarek, I was shocked as he discussed the relationship that traffickers have with many Ukrainian orphanages. When girls reach maturity, or are close to aging out of an orphanage, corrupt workers will call known traffickers. Money is exchanged, and an unknown "relative" of the girl (the trafficker), comes to claim the girl, who is then sold into forced prostitution.

Don't tell me that adoption is the problem. Corruption in international adoption is only a symptom of the problem (and, sadly, one of the milder symptoms, at that). 

Selling children is never acceptable. Turning a blind eye to corruption where it exists is not an option. But focusing strictly on solving the problems in international adoption? That's like obsessing over a zit and ignoring the fact that you are dying of cancer. Fixing the problem won't come with just adoption reform. It will take humanity reform.

And you thought just reforming adoption sounded hard.

*Each country included in the TIP is put into one of three categories. Tier 1 is for the countries that are very actively combating human trafficking. Tier 2 is for countries that have significant trafficking problems, but are starting to make changes to improve the situation. Tier 3 are countries with serious problems who really aren't actively trying to fix the problem. Additionally, Tier 2 includes a "watch list" (where several of the international adoption countries currently reside) of countries that are in danger of being demoted to Tier 3. There is also a "special case" designation, which roughly translates into "Where the heck do we even begin???". Haiti is currently the only country on that list. It has been there FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.