Recently it has been rumored that Angelina will be adopting a Namibian child to add to her brood of Jolie-Pitts including Maddox and Zahara plus one biological baby in progress. She is seen as a role model and inspiration by stars including Alyssa Milano and Jessica Simpson who have publicly stated that they too want to adopt third world orphans. It is not a new trend among the stars, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman having adopted children years ago.
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| Understanding Angelina Jolie & the Plight of Third World Children (Image: Dateline) |
But it is an increasing trend in the affluent west where the waiting lists for adoption of children and especially babies are very long, adoption taking years. And the eligibility criteria for being an adoptive parent are rigorous. So it comes as no surprise that many well-qualified people in developed countries are looking to the third world countries to fill their immediate desire to love and care for a child.
Star Magazine has reported that Angelina Jolie is planning to write a book on third world adoption. There is certainly a need for such a book. No doubt she will express her joy with anecdotes from life with Maddox and Zahara. Clearly she has much love to give these children and they return their love daily. But will Angelina talk about the down side of third world adoptions? It is not all roseate.
Third world adoptions are tainted by a history of bribes to officials, donations to orphanages that end up in Swiss accounts, middlemen expenses and forged maternal consent forms and birth certificates. UNICEF estimates that twenty-five per cent of all adoptions from foreign countries still have a commercial, illegal or criminal component. The worst of these have been sham adoptions by pedophiles for the purposes of prostitution. The foreign demand for babies has led to trade in stolen babies and to baby farming in third world countries.
It behooves potential adopters to reconsider whether they really want to support this industry. At the very least they must check out the legitimacy of the supplier. In Angelina's case it turned out that Maddox was not really an orphan. A biological mother did present herself later and it was discovered by the Cambodian authorities that there were irregularities in the adoption. This led the Cambodian government to change adoption policy and to tighten up on adoptions agencies.
Adopters might also want to explore their motivation for adoption. Is it that they primarily want to give some unfortunate ophan a better life or is it primarily that they want a child of their own that they cannot have by other means? If it is the former the money spent in adopting and raising such a child here could be better spent by improving living conditions for many orphans in their own country.
The reality is that babies and children brought from third world countries have many physical and psychological problems from disease, malnourishment, emotional deprivation and lack of stimulation. Not every adopter is up to the challenge. Zahara was dehydrated and malnourished. It is also been reported that she had an AIDS mother.
She is fortunately free of the disease so far, and with the love and care of Angelina and Brad she has flourished into an alert, beautifully chubby baby. Should she have additional health complications in her future, Angelina and Brad will be able to handle them with financial ease.
Third world adoption takes care of the immediate needs of orphans and therefore without a shadow of a doubt is a good thing. But that orphan may not truly be an orphan. There may be a parent or grandmother or some other relative willing to take care of the infant or child if they had the resources to purchase shelter, food, medication and education. So in countries without social safety nets, children who are truly wanted are left to be adopted because the people who love them feel that the child would have a better chance at life this way. Allegedly Zahara, whose biological mother had died from AIDS, had a such a grandmother.
The real long term solution to the unfortunate plight of these children is to encourage social reform in third world countries. But social reform is not a priority where the economy is poor. ...Third world adoption is a good thing if done right. No doubt Angelina Jolie with the help of experts at the UN and UNICEF will produce a most informative and balanced book on third world adoptions.
Jesse Smith lives in Canada and occasionally comments and contributes to media whenever what needs to be said remains unsaid.
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