An interesting paper

Article of report of investigation in Ethiopian Adoptions from the Netherlands (I believe). See it here.  I would like to note that this is a lengthy read and may be a bit difficult due to the two and three culture and language use. However, I did read the entire thing and as it states in the beginning, that though there are some natural concerns there is nothing to prove that all are unethical.  This is a good report to show what is causing concern and some of the errors made when using two languages as well as when trying to provide many adoptive parents their new children quickly.

I would like to note that I do not post this to be alarmist. That is not my nature, nor is it the purpose of this blog. I post it for informative reasons only and feel that there is cause for the reform of the system but not for panic. I think parents should be patient when waiting for their child. I think it is important to check your agency and it is important to do what you can. I will state that due to these sorts of concerns we requested children who were not abandoned or relinquished. I can only verify the accuracy of the paperwork of one of my children. The other is unknown. I have no reason to suspect it was falsified. Both are orphaned by death. I think, under the current circumstances and the reading of the sections of the law in Ethiopia that this is in line with what they prefer there as well.

I want to note that if you are to read this report that there are a few things not stated.

• This is a relatively old report an many many things have changed since it's writing as well as as some of the laws stated which were not in place when some of the case studies took place. Things are different now and will be different in even a few months, years.....
• Achild must have police paperwork in order to be available for adoption (at least as of 2008). 
•  The social worker who is not an employee of the orphanage or adoption agency is the one who fills out the paperwork sent to the court. Therefore the info could be different from that which the orphanage or agency filled out to send to the adoptive parents. 
•  The court has it's own persons filling out the paperwork  (MOWCYA letter, etc.) and it has often been different from that which the orphanage or agency submitted in the child's dossier. There does not seem any reason for this and after the court has filed this paperwork and it is in error it does not take back and redo it. Therefore if the referral papers and the adoption court papers differ it is the fault of the court not of the agency or orphanage. I believe this will change with the new flow they have over there for the papers in MOWCYA. This is a good thing. 
• In my experience, the agency sends the report to the orphange where the child came from, the orphanage sends to the relative or if they do not know the address, holds in a file for a certain time in case the relative comes. 
• When an orphanage is in overflow because of the number of children there are often private homes the children stay in and that is considered the same as the orphanage. Not an issue.
• Finally there are many places where mis-communications can become questionable, not all things are documented formally as it is not required. (maybe this will change too). The information changes hands many times and between several different entities both formal and informal. I think there is a natural limitation to this in any circumstance. I believe that this will be considered in the new formation of things. Info is taken in by so many different people from so many sources that it is certainly easy to see how slight discrepancies could become large ones. Ever played "telephone"? I am not saying this is ok, I am hoping this will be remedied by the new format they are currently working out to make things more ethical. Because of this I don't think any one person can easily be indited on most of these cases as it is difficult to decipher where the error actually occurred. Many of these sound like it occurs in the court to me...... but could have originated elsewhere.

So that is my opinion of this paper. I find it to be lacking a great deal of pertinent information, but is a good idea of why there needs to be streamlining and change for the better of all.  I would not take this paper as proof of wrongdoing for most of these cases. Some are given court attention and rulings.