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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard, Mail Stop S2-26-12 Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850

“A Changing World” represents the most extensive independent research into intercountry adoption to date, including into the regulatory framework/treaty called the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (HCIA). The research – funded by the American Ireland Fund and the Adoption Institute – was conducted over the past two years by scholars at Tufts University and the Institute; among its components are surveys of about 1,500 adoptive parents, adoption professionals in the U.S. and other “receiving” countries and countries of origin, as well as interviews with senior policymakers in 19 nations.

Funded by:
American Ireland Fund and the Donaldson Adoption Institute
This report was researched and written by Dr. Ellen Pinderhughes, Associate Professor, Eliot-
Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University; Jessica Matthews, Doctoral Student,
Tufts University; Georgia Deoudes, Legislation & Policy Director of the Adoption Institute; and Adam Pertman, President of the Adoption Institute.

Today’s reality is far different as a result of the Internet, and the changes – some or better, others for worse – are accelerating every day. That means people who want to make connections are being enabled to do so more easily and more quickly than had ever been possible before, but it also means that for-profit brokers and facilitators are expanding their reach, with virtually no monitoring or regulation. And so, for instance, highly commercialized and aggressive marketing is being aimed at expectant mothers and prospective adoptive parents, promising easy and quick solutions to very complex human situations. Ads pop up alongside almost any search related to adoption, sometimes offering “a baby in less than 3 months” or “a free college education” for women who place their infants. Would-be families advertise online, describing an almost perfect future for any baby they might adopt, the kinds of ads one adoptive parent in our study described as “butterflies and rainbows,” while ignoring the pain, loss and grief inherent in adoption. And “desperate” mothers-to-be (who may not be desperate or even pregnant) reach out over the Internet to offer unborn children in exchange for money.!

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This report was researched and written by Dr. Amy Whitesel, Assistant Research
Professor of Psychology, George Washington University, and Dr. Jeanne Howard,
Policy and Research Director, Donaldson Adoption Institute.

It is difficult to describe the extent to which the Internet is changing the everyday realities of adoption – and the lives of the millions of people it encompasses – without using words that sound hyperbolic. But a yearlong examination of the effects of this very new technology on a very old social institution indicates that they are systemic, profound, complex and permanent. Social media, search engines, blogs, chat rooms, webinars, photo-listings and an array of other modern communications tools, all facilitated by the Internet, are transforming adoption practices, challenging current laws and policies, offering unprecedented opportunities and resources, and raising critical ethical, legal and procedural issues about which adoption professionals, legislators and the personally affected parties, by their own accounts, have little reliable information, research or experience to guide them.

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All contents (c) 2012 by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
Send questions and comments to info@adoptioninstitute.org

Presented by:

Marie Dolfi, LCSW

Volunteer Advocacy Chairperson, NYSCCC

On April 9, 1912, the U.S. Children’s Bureau became the first national government agency in the world to focus solely on the needs of children. During the past 100 years, the Children’s Bureau has played a critical role in addressing vital issues affecting families—from reducing infant mortality and eradicating child labor, to preventing child maltreatment and promoting permanency for children and youth.

This report is the first in a series the Institute plans to publish that will address the phenomenon of openness in domestic infant adoptions. It summarizes research knowledge on the topic and presents findings from a survey of 100 infant adoption programs in the U.S. regarding their practices around openness and the qualities that facilitate successful open adoption relationships. The institute is also in the final stages of preparing a related curriculum for pre-adoptive parents and expectant parents considering adoptive placement for their children.

Policy & Practice Perspectives are research-based publications that focus on important and timely issues in the field. This report was researched and written by Dr. Deborah H. Siegel, Professor of Social Work, Rhode Island College, and Susan Livingston Smith, Program and Project Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. It was edited by Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Institute. We are deeply grateful to several graduate student interns who assisted with this research – Rebecca Knickmeier, Sarah Malloy-Good and Preeti Vissa. We also appreciate the assistance of several adoption scholars and professionals who reviewed this paper and provided research and editorial assistance. They include Dr. Ruth McRoy, Leslie Pate Mackinnon, and Dr. Harold Grotevant.

Send questions and comments to info@adoptioninstitute.org.

All contents (c) 2012 by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.