o  Read about President George W. Bush's connection to international trafficking of children via Gladney Center -- Bush's "Other battle with the United Nations"; read Opposing Viewpoints on latest Corporate Funding of Gladney.

o  Read the "Pfund Memo", the U.S. State Dept. legal opinion condoning legalizing illegal kidnapping of foreign children "in child's best interests" for adoption under state sealed records laws in the U.S.

o  View Comments, add yours, and e-mail the U.N. your adoption abuse complaint.

THE UNITED NATIONS IS LISTENING !!

"The sad thing is that some human rights concerns do take so long to change, and as a UN body, we can try to push Governments and keep trying to push, but if they are not prepared to change from within, the process doesn't happen overnight. With certain other Governments we have started to see results on the adoption front and I do believe things will improve for you too, I just wish I knew how long it will take."

-Jennifer Philpot, jphilpot@ohchr.org, United Nations "Rights of the Child" project

Comment by Attorney Frank Ledbetter, Esq., St. Louis, MO
#503 on AbolishAdoption Petition, March 3, 2003:

"As an attorney I view the current laws in this country regarding adoption as reprehensible for the most part. Everyone should have the right to know who his or her biological parents are. No one should be subjected to being taken away from one's biological parent due to the biological parent being in a stressful situation when a child is born and pressured by social workers to give up all parental rights to the child. Nor should any child be subjected to being given to an infertile couple who most likely see prospective adoptees as little more than commodities available to meet the adoptive parents' desires. Adoption law reform is long overdue."

In a California case, the Budapest Sun reported that women were offered "between $1,000 and $8,000" in exchange for their infants (1 Aug. 2002). In 1996, RNC Agency reported that, since 1994, more than 100 babies were sold to American couples for a reported US $80,000 per child with birth mothers receiving US $18,000 for "white babies" and US $1,000 for "mothers of Roma babies" (10 July 1996). Other reports noted that mothers received US $1,000 for dark-skinned children or US $12,000 for white-skinned ones and agents charged American couples US $20,000 per child (RFE/RL 18 July 1996; Reuters 16 July 1996; CNN 23 June 1996). CNN cited a US Internal Revenue Service agent as providing the latter information (ibid.).

For more example and sources see "Adoption and Race" at http://www.AmFOR.net/race.html

ADOPTION vs. GUARDIANSHIP
A Comparison from Findlaw.com

o ADOPTION: Parent's rights are voluntarily relinquished or involuntarily terminated.
o GUARDIANSHIP: Parent/s' rights may or may not be voluntarily relinquished or involuntarily terminated [may depend on whether the court declares parent/s "unfit" etc.]

o ADOPTION: Adopters given all rights and responsibilities that once belonged to Parents.
o GUARDIANSHIP: Guardian is given legal responsibility for the child and assumes rights of care, custody and supervision of the child.

o ADOPTION: When Adopters are married, BOTH spouses must adopt unless separated for more than a year.
o GUARDIANSHIP: When married EITHER ONE or BOTH spouses may be named Guardian.

o ADOPTION: Adoption is a permanent, lifelong, legal relationship which creates a "legal fiction" of the Adoptee with falsified birth certificate [restricts the Adoptee for life].
o GUARDIANSHIP: The child retains all rights for life. The Parent/s retain "residual rights" when parental rights have not yet been relinquished or terminated. These rights presently include: visitation, consent to adoption, choice of religion and the right to claim the body of a deceased child. The Court makes all decisions regarding the transfer of Guardianship, but the Parent/s can request that Guardianship be taken away from the Caregiver if parental rights have not been terminated. If the parent/s' parental rights are terminated, the Guardian may legally adopt the child with DCYF's help [not favored because Guardianship better serves the Child than Adoption with individualized conditions of custody over time, including accountability, open records--all the things that Adoption activists claim they want Adoption to be].

o ADOPTION: All decisions are made by the Adopters. In most states, "Open Adoption" agreements between Parents and Adopters are separate from Adoption consents and agreement and are not enforceable by law [statute being tested in CA].
o GUARDIANSHIP: Major decisions regarding school, medical treatment and consent for other major life decisions are made by the Guardian. Parent/s retain rights such as choice of religion, visitation, consent to adoption, when personal rights have not been relinquished or terminated.