The Reality of Corruption
If you’re in any way associated with international adoption, some of the worst news you can hear involves the word “corruption.” Ugh. Knowing that there is enough bad information out there about international adoption, I hate to hear new news of scandals and corruption. A couple weeks ago, news broke that 16 people were on trial in Vietnam — where my wife and I adopted our daughter — because of unethical practices (some awful stuff) in more than 200 adoptions. Even though our agency wasn’t involved, and even though no one from our daughter’s province was involved, our hearts sank. We don’t want the unfortunate reality of corruption to cloud the miracle of adoption in the eyes of our friends and family, our daughter, or society at large.(Besides, our process was almost cut short when Vietnam closed to US adoptions because of, you guessed it, suspicion of wrongdoing in some Vietnamese provinces.)
Of course, we’d much rather these unethical practices come to light than stay hidden. We’d much rather the corruption at home and abroad be exposed so that the worldwide adoptive community can learn from it, seek to correct the wrongs, and move forward in a healthy and ethical way. It’ll continue to bother me when stories like these break, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that feeling will remind me to do whatever I can to promote lawful and ethical adoptions so that no one’s family journey is marred by wrongdoing. Hopefully, those reminders (and the stories that inspire them) eventually grow fewer and farther between.
New Dad Blog Link « Responsible Father says:
[...] a blog that belonged there, it’s this one. I like the most recent commentary about “The Reality Of-Corruption/”. It’s a good thing to point [...]
ken eden says:
My wife and I also adopted from Vietnam shortly before it closed. We brought our son home in May and it closed in September. I am also saddened by allegations and convictions of unethical conduct. These children are the ones who lose when governments lock horns and will not consider the needs of the children first and foremost. We are pursuing another boy from China. It was good to see a large article that was sent to us by another adoptive family that tells how our agency came to be in Luoyang. It is not an easy thing to gain the trust of another country and culture. I have to hand it to our agency for having the long term goals in mind and staying the course to see some great things happening in their China program.