User:DamSom/sandbox

International Adoption and National Laws in Africa

Much interest is shown for cases of international adoption in Africa especially after highly publicized stories of adoption of African children by celebrities like Madonna and Angelina Jolie. Legal frameworks on adoption in general and on international adoption in particular are available across Africa and may vary from one country to another. We give, here, an overview of legal provisions put into place by a couple of African countries as to reflect a diverse but not a comprehensive view on how the question of international adoption is dealt with on the African continent. We have decided to focus on countries for which bibliographical resources were immediately accessible.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Law on international adoption

According to the DRC Family Code, an adopted holds the same rights as a biological child in the adopting family. Their links with original family are preserved. This regime is applied to simple adoption. As far as international adoption is concerned, the DRC Law does not provide a definition about specifically; but the judicial practice authorizes the adoption of Congolese children by foreign parents. Fundamental principles for any child adoption are defined by Law No. 09/001 from 10 January 2009 relating child protection, as follow  :

• All children are entitled to adoption
• The adoption of a child by a foreigner can only happen when competent authorities from the origin state:

1. Have verified, after having examined the social conditions in the origin state that the adoption is to be done in the best interest of the child.
2. Have made sure that:
   1. The consent for adoption is not given in exchange with payment or any kind of compensation and that this consent was not later retrieved.
   2. The Child’s wishes and opinions have been taken into account in accordance with their age and level of maturity
   3. When the consent expressed by the child for their adoption, when it is required, is freely expressed in ways required by the law, and that this consent is given or recorded in a written form

As for conditions to be met in the host state for a valid international adoption, article 19 of the Child Protection Code explains that the host state should certify that:

• The future parents are qualified and are capable of adopting children
• The adopted child is authorized to enter and reside permanently in the host country

However, even though international adoption is allowed under fulfillment of the above-mentioned conditions, article 20 of the DRC Child Protection Code denies the right to adoption to homosexuals, pedophiles and mentally-ill people.

International Adoption according to Ethiopian Law

Existing data shows that, in Africa, Ethiopia has the highest number of adoptions into US families Ethiopia does not make prior short or long residency in Ethiopia, a precondition for child adoption. However, Ethiopian authorities usually expect prospective parents to travel to Ethiopia before completing adoption process before local courts. The main requirements for international adoption in Ethiopia include:

• Age limits: future adoptive parents must be at least 25 years of age and at most 65 years old. Also, the age difference between the adopted child and adoptive parents should not exceed 40 years.
• Marriage: prospective adoptive parents who are married for more than 5 years may have better chance for adopting a child in Ethiopia. Unmarried women have recently been granted the right to adoption children in Ethiopia but unmarried men cannot adopt unless they are from Ethiopian descent.
• Financial capacity: parents who wish to adopt a child in Ethiopia must prove their financial ability before local courts. However there is not a minimum level of income that is required at the moment.

Like in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adoption of children by gay or lesbian individuals or couples is prohibited under Ethiopian Law.

International adoption in Burkina Faso

As a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention), international adoption in Burkina Faso is done according to Hague Convention and its implementing legislation in Burkina Faso. Requirements for adoption in Burkina Faso are as follow:

• Residency: there is no residency requirement for parents who live abroad. For those reside in Burkina Faso, a minimum residence of 2 years is required
• Age: adopting parents must be 32 to 55 year-old and at least 15 years older than the child that they would like to adopt.
• Marriage: In order to adopt couples must be legally married for at least 5 years.
• Income: parents who seek to adopt a child must insert into their application a proof of sufficient funds for taking care of the child.

In common practice homosexuals are prohibited for children adoption in Burkina Faso even though it is not specifically written in the law.

Outline_ International Adoption

Team Member: Carolina Prandelli, Hanjie Wang, David Gertiser, Damien N. Somé

Note: Dear Professor, We have endeavored to sketch the outline in a very comprehensive manner in the hope you could help us narrow down to the core priorities in line with your expectations from this exercise.

The current Wikipedia entry for the topic of “International adoption” has many inadequacies. It has been evaluated by Wikipedia itself as an article that has multiple issues and therefore needs to be improved. Concerns expressed by Wikipedia include the need of “additional citations for verification” and the fact that the article may not represent a “worldwide view of the subject”. Our task, henceforth, consists essentially of: 1. locating and editing the contentious parts; 2. adding new content in order to improve the overall quality of the article and to make it reflect a global perspective on the question of international adoption. We will do so by grounding our writing into the existing literature on the subject, by taking other Wikipedia contributors’ opinion on the “talk” page, and also by following strictly Wikipedia’s recommendations for a good Wikipedia article.

Concretely, we hope to improve the article with regard to the following aspects:

1-Terminology [edit]

Problem observed:

The current article uses confusedly and interchangeably the terms “transnational or intercountry/ international/ interracial adoption or transracial/ transcultural” adoption.

Solution:

For more clarity we intend to consistently use the term “International adoption” which seems to us more comprehensive. Meanwhile, we will devote 1~2 lines to clarify the difference between these confusing terms.

2- Concept and History of international adoption [New Section]

Problem observed:

The current article simply addresses the term of “international adoption” without any reference to its history, despite the fact that “international adoption” is plentiful in meaning and has evolved historically.

Solution:

To help understand the current situation and problems of today’s international adoption in a historical context, we will create the new section of “Concept and History of International adoption”. Here, we show the history narrative of international adoption, its evolution, and its current situation.

Reference:

UNDP Child Adoption Trend and policies, 2009, available at http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/adoption2010/child_adoption.pdf

Claire Gore, « L’adoption. Adoptables, adoptés, quelles sont les réalités de l’adoption ? Sa place en lien avec les évolutions de la parentalité ? Son devenir institutionnel ? »,

Armand Colin, Paris, 2007 (p. 55 and p. 77 about the current trends of the international adoption as tool of child protection)

Trevor Buck ,“International Child Law”,New York : Routledge, 2011 ( brief history of international adoption and current trends, p. 243)

Isabelle Lammerant, Marlène Hofstetter , “Adoption: at what cost? For an ethical responsibility of receiving countries in intercountry adoption”, Terre des homes, 2007 (sensitive introduction on the current trends of the phenomenon of international adoption)

Ingeborg Schwenzer, “International Adoption”,Bern: Stämpfli, 2009 (p.99 historical perspective of the phenomenon of adoption (not specifically “international adoption”), from Roman Law, Middle Age, to Modern and Contemporary Ages )

3- International Legal Framework [Editing on current section of “International Law”]

Problem observed:

In the current section of “International Law”, only two conventions are mentioned, the “Hague Adoption Convention” and very briefly the “UN Declaration Relating to the Welfare of Children”. Important literature missing includes the “UN Convention on the Rights of the Child” as well as an attempt to systematically present laws/ regulations on a regional/ national level. There are only scattered and very general references to specific countries’ laws and policies with regard to international adoption.

In addition, the existing section on the Hague Adoption Convention seems to contain “original research” showing a specific point of view: the implementation of the Convention results in hindering adoptions instead of implementing them. However the argument seems underdeveloped (only the case of one country is presented, namely Guatemala). The section also lacks proper references and it is biased in the sense that the opposite point of view (e.g. positive effects of the Convention’s implementation in some countries) is not reported.

Solution:

We will change the name of the section into International Legal Framework. First we aim at completing the section about the international laws on international adoption, including other legal sources and presenting a less biased point of view with regard to the Hague Convention. Second, we consider it necessaryto improve the Law section adding more information about the general legal frameworks (and policy trends) specifically for 4 regions. Basically, each team member will briefly contribute analysis of Asian , African, American and European perspectives. Although an exhaustive mapping of national laws on international adoption is impossible, by presenting the general legal aspects of four regions at least we aim to provide a broader and global picture.

Reference:

UNDP Child Adoption Trend and policies, 2009, available at http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/adoption2010/child_adoption.pdf

Isabelle Lammerant, Marlène Hofstetter , “Adoption: at what cost? For an ethical responsibility of receiving countries in intercountry adoption”, Terre des homes, 2007 ( Europe trends p. 21)

Claire Gore, « L’adoption. Adoptables, adoptés, quelles sont les réalités de l’adoption ? Sa place en lien avec les évolutions de la parentalité ? Son devenir institutionnel ? », Armand Colin, Paris, 2007 (European Context p. 190)

P.R. China Adoption Law (2005)

Aime Wata, « La protection internationale de l’enfant en droit congolais » Geneva :: Schulthess éd. Romandes, 2013

4- Sources of children for adoptive parents [ Editing on current section of “Sources of children for adoptive parents in the United States”]

Problem observed:

1) The current section is too biased and narrow, focussing only on the case of the US. Even though parents in the US are those adopting the most, International Adoption is a global issue and more standpoints have to be included.

2) Russia’s ban on US adoption is mentioned in this section. Considering the fact that some other countries are also placing bans on international adoption, this emphasis on the Russia- US story is partial.

Solution:

1) We will work on sources of children for adoptive parents from a worldwide perspective, not simply the US. Might be providing statistics by region/ country.

2) We will also include other countries implementing bans on international adoption, and whether these ban are against specific countries.

5- An “adoption market”? [New Entry]

As some of the literature so far reviewed raise several issues related to the “politicization” or “monetization” of international adoption, we are considering mentioning them by reporting the accurate references and trying to balance the positive and negative aspects related to the phenomenon. It will be a very challenging attempt to maintain a “neutral point of view”. We still have to discuss this potential “new entry” in greater detail. Specifically the main issues related to the topic we found are:

1) Demand and supply/ offer logic and international dynamics, gender perspective (Reference: Reysoo Fenneke, Bos Pien «N’est pas mère qui veut. Le paradoxe de l’adoption interntionale» Nouvelles Questions Féministes, vol. 30 n. 1, 2011; Herman Ellen, The paradoxical rationalization of Modern Adoption) – The politics of international adoption (Wcelebrities’participation in international adoption. Reference: Trevor Buck ,“International Child Law”,New York : Routledge, 2011)

2) Financial transparency (Isabelle Lammerant, Marlène Hofstetter , “Adoption: at what cost? For an ethical responsibility of receiving countries in intercountry adoption”, Terre des hommes)

3) Child Trafficking:

Problems observed:

Due to large demand of children adoption and situation of under- supply, many children are trafficked. This is closely linked with International Adoption, and is identified as one of the major drawbacks as pointed out by Wiki contributors on “talk” page.

Solution:

We will 1) briefly explain the relationship between international adoption and child trafficking; and 2) create the link to the Wikipedia entry of “Child Trafficking”.

Reference:

Isabelle Lammerant, Marlène Hofstetter , “Adoption: at what cost? For an ethical responsibility of receiving countries in intercountry adoption”, Terre des hommes

7- Positive consequence of international adoption. [edit]

Problem observed:

The current section of “Consequences of international adoption” has been very imbalanced distributed into negative and positive, with negative outweighing the positive parts. It threatens the neutrality of this article. Also identified by Wiki contributors on the “talk” page as major drawbacks.

Solution:

1) We will look into literatures to find more positive consequences and add these to the article, so as to recover the neutrality of wikipedia articles.

2) We will also improve the existing part of negative consequences, possibly adding some findings/questions that have been raised about “the ethics of adoption”

Reference:

Claire Gore, « L’adoption. Adoptables, adoptés, quelles sont les réalités de l’adoption ? Sa place en lien avec les évolutions de la parentalité ? Son devenir institutionnel ? », Armand Colin, Paris, 2007, (p. 77 -78)

Ingeborg Schwenzer, “International Adoption”,Bern: Stämpfli, 2009 (p.26)

Elements of Bibliography:

Aime Wata, « La protection internationale de l’enfant en droit congolais », Geneva :: Schulthess chulthess :n inter

Claire Gore, « L’adoption. Adoptables, adoptés, quelles sont les réalités de l’adoption ? Sa place en lien avec les évolutions de la parentalité ? Son devenir institutionnel ? », Armand Colin, Paris, 2007

Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, (concluded 29 may 1993)

Herman Ellen, “The paradoxical rationalization of Modern Adoption”, Journal of Social History, Vol. 36, No. 2, Winter 2002

Ingeborg Schwenzer, “International Adoption”, Bern: Stämpfli, 2009

Isabelle Lammerant, Marlène Hofstetter , “Adoption: at what cost? For an ethical responsibility of receiving countries in intercountry adoption”, Terre des homes, 2007

Nevena Vučković Šahović et al, “The Rights of the Child in International Law”,Stampfli Publishers, Berne, 2012

Reysoo Fenneke, Bos Pien «N’est pas mère qui veut. Le paradoxe de l’adoption interntionale» Nouvelles Questions Féministes, vol. 30 n. 1, 2011

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Trevor Buck ,“International Child Law”,New York : Routledge, 2011

UNDP Child Adoption Trend and policies, 2009, available at http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/adoption2010/child_adoption.pdf

Some other links to double check:

1- Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism’s Gender and Justice Project

2- http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2011/05/26/international-adoption/

3- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2366972/