Subject: International Adoption Under Attack

International Adoption continues to be under attack, with disastrous results for children.  The numbers of such adoptions are dramatically down in recent years, dropping by more than half since the peak in 2004.The following chart illustrates:

In addition children lucky enough to be adopted are being held in institutions for longer periods prior to adoption, putting them at higher risk for lifelong damage.

We urge all ACT for Adoption members to consider taking action as indicated below:

(1) Sign the online Petition circulated by the new Both Ends Burning Campaign. This is a grassroots, multimedia campaign to promote reformed methods of regulating international adoption that would enable it to better serve the needs of unparented children. It is producing a film, Wrongfully Detained, which will demonstrate the depth of the damage done by the current international adoption crisis. It has also launched a petition campaign on its web site, with the goal of taking a million-and-one signatures to the UN to demand change. They need your help! To check out this organization, view their Petition, and sign on, go to their web site Both Ends Burning .If you agree with the goals of this Campaign, you can both sign the petition and urge others to do the same by forwarding this email.

(2) The United States recently announced that the U.S. will not participate in the new Guatemalan Adoption Pilot Program. Previously the U.S. had participated, along with UNICEF and others, in closing down Guatemala's adoption program, so that new adoptions from Guatemala stopped on Dec. 31, 2007.  Thousands of adoptions in process at the time have been delayed over the last 3 years, and still hundreds are being obstructed. Little has been done to provide decent alternative care for those children who are not being adopted.  Nothing that either the Department of State or USCIS has done so far has been effective in moving this logjam. Governments like the U.S., which insisted that Guatemala endorse the Hague Treaty, have an obligation to do the maximum possible to help develop acceptable and child centric international adoption systems.  You can help by  emailing your concern, and your demand for action to help children in need of adoptive homes, to:

- Department of State : ASKCI@state.gov

 - UNICEF Director Tony Lake:  alake@unicef.org

For questions about the Guatemala situation, contact: 

Hannah Wallace, Focus on Adoption, which has been active in trying to keep international adoption open in Guatemala: hwall334@aol.com

Please also forward this email to anyone who you think will be interested - Subscription link.

 You are receiving this mailing because of your existing relationship with the Center for Adoption Policy or the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School. To unsubscribe at anytime, please click on the link at the bottom of the e-mail.

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