What are the issues associated with international adoption?

International Adoption

International adoption is defined as the adoption of a child from a nationality or home country which is different to that of their adoptive parents. China, Ethiopia, India, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam are the main origin countries for international adoptees while the top 10 receiving countries are the USA, Spain, France, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Australia (Selman, 2009). The USA is responsible for 50% of all international adoption cases.

Summary: What is international adoption? Where do most international adoptees come from and where are they likely to go?

Adoption raises some concerns regarding privation, the absence of attachment in children. This is especially likely to happen in poor-quality institutional care (eg. orphanages) and can have negative effects on a child's emotional, social and cognitive development. International adoption may add complex issues to adoption and whether or not it causes a negative effect or can be avoided must be explored.

International adoption makes the obstacles to raising a happy healthy child increasingly complex. In the case of Huxley Stauffer, the child ended up being rehomed. Huxley was an international adoptee from China, adopted into an American family. Huxley also had autism and the family cited the lack of transparency about his background as making him too difficult to care for, eventually rehoming him to parents who they felt could better raise him.

Summary: What are some issues associated with adoption and privation?

Using your notes on privation, how can these issues be avoided?

Negative effects of international adoption

One study on international adoption by Rutter & Sonuga-Barke was the English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) Team which investigated the development of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK longitudinally. They were split into two groups: those adopted before 6 months and those adopted after 6 months. The Romanian adoptees were compared to 52 adopted children born in the UK.

Romanian adoptees adopted before 6 months caught up in physical and cognitive development by the age of 11 years old, compared to the UK counterparts. However, those adopted after 6 months had significant problems despite their continued development: overactivity, difficulties forming attachments and social interactions.

Some children from countries affected by war and extreme suffering often suffer poor health. This caused some of the children to show behavioural problems even after adoption such as difficulty sleeping, unusual eating patterns (not eating or eating too much), anxiety and insecurity, showing insecure-resistant attachment styles.

The report "A Changing World" (2013) gathered information from 1500 adoptive parents, adoption professionals and other experts from 19 nations. The report revealed that many countries of origin are increasing allowing inter-cultural adoption of children with special needs, older, have been in orphanages for longer periods of time.

Application: What major factors of international adoption make the problems of privation worse in the paragraphs above?

Dalen and Saetersdal (1992) found that Vietnamese adopted teens in Norway showed identiy problems, expressing to be Norwegian and perceived as Norwegian. They were anxious about being perceived as immigrants or refugees. However, when they became older, their concerns shifted away from their identity issues caused by international adoption and instead focused on their careers and education (Saetersdal & Dalen, 1999). Feast et al. (2013) found that most of their participants, who were women Hong Kongers adopted to the UK, reported some experience of racism or prejudice in both child and adulthood.

International adoptees are over-represented in clinical populations, seeming to have more behavioural problems at home and in school, being refered to mental health services twice as often as non-adopted children (Juffer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2005). Juffer (2006) further found that children in middle childhood understand the concept of adoption and this awareness made them vulnerable to stress.

Application: What are some of the psychological effects of international adoption on the adoptees?

Countering the negative effects of privation in international adoption

As found by the ERA Team, Romanian adoptees adopted before the age of 6 months seemed to develop typically compared to their UK counterparts. Feast et al (2013) who explored the adoption of Hong Konger girls to the UK found that they had generally positive experiences of family life and were matched as adults in their well bein g and life satisfaction. The quality of adoptive homes in Hong Kong seemed to be quite high compared to other countries like Romania, and could have explained why these women fared well.

The "A Changing World" report (2013) strongly suggests that countries of origin should provide more complete and accurate records on the medical and mental health of their adoptees. Receiving countries also need to offer more training and resources to help the origin countries as well as the families adopting international children.

Application & conclusion: How might we ameliorate the negative effects of international adoption?

Resources

Huxley, the autistic Chinese boy who was internationally adopted and rehomed by his adoptive parents.