Born in America, adopted abroad | csmonitor.com
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from the October 27, 2004 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p11s01-lifp.html
Born in America, adopted abroad
African-American babies are going to parents overseas even as US couples
adopt children from other countries
By Dawn Davenport | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
Adrian Stokkeland, a 2-year-old in Canada, dances with his mom to the music
of Elvis and sleeps with his most treasured possession, a box of toy cars.
Emma
Sonnenschein, an energetic 19-month-old in Germany, loves to "help" her mom
around the house. Elisa van Meurs, a 5-year-old in the Netherlands, is a
real
girly-girl. Her favorite outfit is a Minnie Mouse dress, paired with a Snow
White tiara and pink Barbie shoes.
Adrian, Emma, and Elisa have more in common than their charm and being the
apple of their parents' eyes. All are black children born in the United
States
and adopted as infants by parents in other countries.
They also are representatives of a little-known trend: At the same time the
US is "importing" increasing numbers of adoptive children from Russia,
China,
and Guatemala, it is "exporting" black babies to be adopted in other
countries.
Since 1995, US State Department records indicate that international
adoptions by Americans have increased more than 140 percent. Couples often
cite the
lack of American babies as the reason for adopting from abroad.
But the US is now the fourth largest "supplier" of babies for adoption to
Canada. Adoption by Shepherd Care, an agency in Hollywood, Fla., places 90
percent
of its African-American babies in Canada. One-third of the children placed
through Adoption-Link in Chicago, which specializes in adoptions for black
babies,
go to people from other countries.
The exact numbers are not available, but interviews with adoption agencies
and families in Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands indicate that
the
US also sends babies to those four countries as well as Belgium and England.
Most of the children are black newborns. Most of the adoptingparents are
Caucasian.
Why is it happening?
There is no simple explanation for why many white Americans prefer to adopt
from abroad rather than adopt the available black babies at home. Racism is
one reason, says Cheryl Kinnaird of Adoption-Link in Chicago. But there are
others, she adds.
Families might choose an international adoption because of an affinity for a
particular country or a desire to help. Many couples want a child who
resembles
them so that their family will not stand out as an "adoptive family." Since
most adoptive families are Caucasian, this might explain the rise in
adoptions
from Russia and other eastern European countries.
In 2003, 37 percent of all international adoptions to the US were from
countries where the majority of children adopted were Caucasian.
White couples may also be concerned about how their extended family will
react to a black child. And they sometimes worry they are not up to the task
of
raising a black child in America and are not sure it is in the best interest
of the child to be raised in a white environment.
Then, too, whites often are uncertain whether they can provide the child
with cultural exposure to the African-American community.
Most adoption professionals agree that, all other things being equal, it is
best to place an African- American child with an African-American family.
The
National Association of Black Social Workers' position is that every effort
should be made to place children with families of the same race and culture.
Most, but not all, birth mothers agree, if they have the choice. However,
they do not often have the choice, since fewer African-American couples
apply
to adoption agencies. One reason is that babies are frequently available
within their extended family or community, and they have no need to go
through
the expense of an agency to adopt. Also, the number of infertile black
couples who can afford to adopt is simply not as large as the number of
black babies
available.
The word hasn't gotten out
Some speculate that African-American babies have lagged behind in adoption
rates because many Americans don't realize they're available. Media coverage
and popular culture have focused on Americans adopting internationally
rather than domestically.
"When we started to think about adoption, we thought only of international
adoption because that's all we were hearing about," says Lisa Malaquin-Prey
of
North Carolina, mother of an adopted Russian baby. "We thought it would cost
too much and that we would have to wait for a long time if we adopted
domestically."
"I think that more Americans would adopt these babies if they knew they were
available," says Stacy Hyer, a white American living in Germany with two
adopted
black children.
There is evidence of increasing adoption of black babies by white American
families. But ingrained preferences still play a part in who is chosen for
adoption.
The majority of couples seeking to adopt are white, but there aren't nearly
enough Caucasian babies available in the US to meet the demand. Although
exceptions
certainly exist, American parents generally prefer babies to toddlers, girls
to boys, and Caucasians to African-Americans, adoption professionals report.
Other ethnicities fall in between, depending on their skin color.
African-American boys are at the bottom of this "ranking" system, they say,
which is
why they're harder to place.
"We have to work much harder to find homes for our African-American babies,"
says Robert Springer of Christian Homes, an adoption agency in Texas.
No one is equating babies with commodities, but the principles of supply and
demand apply. Adoption costs and waiting times in the US vary depending on
a baby's ranking in the "desirability list."
The children who are in the greatest demand are also in the shortest supply.
Those who want to adopt healthy white babies in the US may wait as long as
five years, agencies say. In contrast, they add, the waiting for
African-Americans is often measured in weeks and months, especially for baby
boys.
The demand for biracial (black/white) babies falls in between, and the wait
reflects this. The waiting period for a biracial girl can be more than a
year.
It's also the case that adopting a white baby costs more than adopting a
black or biracial one.
Adoption fees for healthy Caucasian babies can be as high as $40,000,
according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. For biracial
babies,
the cost is about $18,000. For African-American newborns, it ranges from
$10,000 to $12,000, agencies say.
The costs to the adoption agency for each child also vary greatly, not
because of race but due to circumstances. The agency may have paid all the
prenatal
expenses and living costs for one birth mother, for instance, and not
another, who decided on adoption in her ninth month of pregnancy.
Why fees are less for black babies
But instead of passing along the actual costs to the new parents, many
adoption agencies - most of which are nonprofit - charge a set fee that is
determined
by how difficult the baby may be to place. The agencies say this enables
them to find homes for the children who are hardest to place.
Fees and waiting times for American families adopting internationally vary
by country, but total costs, including travel, are usually about $30,000,
with
a waiting time of nine to 18 months.
Because of regulations and laws in the country of origin, most of the
foreign children adopted from abroad by Americans are more than 1 year old
when they
arrive in the US.
In contrast, American babies can be adopted as soon as their parents
relinquish them.
Families in foreign countries cite the availability of newborns as the
primary reason they choose to adopt in the US. Canada and Europe don't have
as many
babies available for adoption. Therefore, "if you want a newborn, you go to
America, " says Bart van Meurs, Elisa's dad. Families also cite the health
of the babies, the short waiting time, and the availability of medical
records as additional advantages. Race is seldom a consideration.
"Most of our families just want a baby as young as possible, and the US is
the best place to go for a newborn," explainsLorneWelwood of Hope Adoption
Services
in Abbotsford, British Columbia. "They are not ignoring the race issues, but
they don't think, like the Americans, that the less black the better."
"The families from abroad do not think of black babies as being second best,
babies that they'll 'settle' for because white babies are hard to find,"
says
Ms. Kinnaird.
Most adoption agencies encourage the birth mother to select the adoptive
family for her child. Sometimes a black birth mother prefers having her
child adopted
overseas because she believes there is less prejudice there than in the US.
"Some birth mothers view placing their child abroad as a way for them to
have a better life with less struggle," says Joe Sica of Shepherd Care in
Hollywood,
Fla.
Long-term studies of black children adopted by white parents paint a picture
of well-adjusted children and teens strongly bonded to their families.
Tianna Broad, who's 12, readily fits into this picture. She's into makeup,
clothes, soccer, and horses, as are most of her friends in British Columbia.
"She's pretty much a typical Canadian teen," says her mother, Karen
Madeiros.
Most parents abroad report little prejudice against their adopted black
children. "Canada doesn't have the same race history as the US," notes Dawn
Stokkeland,
Adrian's Elvis-rocking mom. "There isn't the 'us' versus 'them' mentality
here."
There are also not the numbers of blacks in Canada. "In my son's elementary
school [in British Columbia], there are only eight blacks out of 450 kids
and
even fewer in my daughter's middle school," says Ms. Madeiros. "Most of the
blacks here are middle-class professionals, and our neighborhoods are
completely
integrated."
"For the most part Germans have very positive views of blacks - they see
them as singers, actors, and athletes - all positive images," explains Ms.
Hyer.
"My children are almost always accepted for who they are without any
expectation of who they should be because of the color of their skin."
"I think the main reason there is little prejudice against blacks in Germany
is because there are so few blacks here," says Peter Sonnenschein, father of
two black children.
That's not to say there are never problems. Some parents say their children
have encountered racism.
"Because Holland had many colonies, many [black] people live here and there
is prejudice against them," says van Meurs.
"Although my [12-year-old] daughter has never experienced any racism that I
know of, I can't say the same for my [10-year-old] son," says Madeiros.
Parents in Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands have formed support groups
to help their children develop a positive self-image.
Signs of change
While the news may be encouraging for African-American children adopted
abroad, there's evidence of change on the home front, too, as more white
Americans
look into adopting black babies.
Since the US doesn't keep statistics on private domestic adoptions, the
exact numbers of trans-racial adoptions are not known, but anecdotal
evidence abounds
of a shift toward black infants being placed with white American families.
"We can find homes for all our babies in the US, but there are regional
differences," notesRobert Springer of Christian Homes in Texas, who adds
that "many
families in the Northeast, Northwest, and Minnesota are eager to adopt
African-American babies."
Dick Van Deelen, with Adoption Associates in Michigan, reports that for the
first time in 35 years they have a list of white families waiting to adopt
black
babies.
In a twist to the import/export world of international adoption, "We are
thinking of looking to Africa to bring over more children to meet this
need," he
says.
Adoption-Link, in Chicago, also has a waiting list of families for black
babies.
"The younger generation that is now adopting is less prejudiced and more
open to becoming a mixed-race family," says Mr. Van Deelen.
Some say that the growing willingness of Americans to adopt US babies
regardless of skin color comes at a good time, since placement of American
babies
abroad may be threatened by new regulations.
The US is in the process of ratifying an international treaty on
international adoption. Although the regulations are not final, it is
expected that they
will make it harder for agencies to place American babies abroad.
But all the talk of adoption trends and prejudice fades in the day-to-day
existence of parenting after the child arrives.
Ms. Stokkeland sums up what most parents feel. After a particularly trying
day with a strong-willed 2-year-old, she sighs and says, "I wouldn't trade
[Adrian]
for the world. He is truly the child God wanted me to have."
The adoption was such a success that Stokkeland did it again. Earlier this
month, Adrian got a new little sister, as Claire Lisa, also
African-American,
came north from Georgia to join him and his mother in Canada. Stokkeland
says she couldn't feel more blessed.
Miriam's Comments: One of the reasons why more white Americans are adopting
transracially, is that legislative and procedural barriers to this kind of
adoption have lessened.
