The Year International Adoption Became the Latest Fashion Statement

Hardly a day seems to pass by nowadays withouta massive earthquake.
some emissary and entourage from a well-heeledIn itself there is nothing wrong with this supposed
location somewhere in the west jetting off to someoutpouring of communal generosity but sometimes
third world country and returning days later havingyou have to try and view these activities from the
effectively bought themselves a shining bright newother side to obtain a better rounded picture of what
baby. These actions in themselves has in a ratheris exactly the best course of action to take here.
brutal way highlighted one of the great iniquities ofAdoption experts say the best thing people can do is
modern lifeto donate money to causes that directly help the
It is hard not to view these incidents as just thischildren. They say it's wrong to take a traumatized
year's fashion statement on behalf of the rich andchild away from the environment that they have
famous.grown up in. "Adoptions, especially inter-country ones,
Last year it was "let's all campaign against theare inappropriate during the emergency phase as
brutality of hunting animals for their fur" and this yearchildren are better placed being cared for by their
it's a case of lets take our obscene amounts ofwider families and the communities they know," said
money and go and buy a baby from Africa.the charity Save the Children in a statement released
There are several issues on different levels here andJan. 6, 2005. International Adoption needs to be well
on one hand we have to accept that it is everyplanned "The last thing they need to do is be rushed
child's right to live in a happy, stable and loving familyaway to some foreign land," said Cory Barron of
unit where possible, a right that is sadly all too lackingChildren's Hope International, an American adoption
for about 95 percent of the worlds children. On theagency. "We have to think of the child first."
other hand you have to accept that in some casesPerhaps that is the problem with so many designer
money isn't necessarily the Universal Panacea for theInternational Adoptions nowadays the parties
World ills that we sometimes believe it to be.involved don't necessarily think of the interests of
More often than not there is an upsurge in this sortthe child first rather a case of satisfying the maternal
of activity right after some natural disaster of almostlongings of people who should know better and most
biblical proportions has wiped out either entirecases don't.
coastlines or communities built out of brick living onPerhaps now would be a good time to start to
some geophysical fault line somewhere have sufferedimplement and effect that change.