The hidden face of international adoptions and mothers' rights in Vietnam

Introduction

1Why has international adoption become a frequent recourse to allow couples or wealthy individuals in the countries of the North to satisfy their desire for a child? What does the transfer of children from poor countries teach us about the new international division of social reproduction? And what is the leeway mothers who decide to give up a child for adoption 1 ? Answering these questions involves knowing the experiences and feelings of mothers / parents who have separated from a child. With the exception of a few testimonies published in the North (among others Jones 2000; Kelly 2005; 2009), the lived stories of mothers living in the South have not attracted attention. Previous research conducted in India (Bos 2008) allowed - for the first time - to document the decision-making process of young pregnant women faced with the following alternative: raising their unborn child themselves or abandoning it for adoption. A two-year stay in the field and meticulous ethnographic work were necessary to identify these mothers and to create safe and confidential meeting conditions. Indeed, mothers who decide to abandon a child for adoption, in India and elsewhere, are often stigmatized and insist on secrecy. The difficulty of conducting research among mothers / parents who have abandoned a child for adoption and the taboo surrounding this "social group" (which is not one) explains the lack of research highlighting their perspective2 .

2In fact, given the difficulty of accessing mothers, most of the existing research is carried out among professionals and organizations that provide support to mothers in distress or children placed in institutions. The available knowledge consists above all of an institutional discourse onthe mothers. These surveys propagate the image of irresponsible or deviant mothers, unable to raise their children (Mykytyn-Gazziero 2006; 2010; Bos, Reysoo and Dambach 2013). This dominant discourse on an alleged “good motherhood” and a “responsible parentage” is the reflection of moral values ??conveyed by the professionals of social assistance or child protection from the middle classes. They generally defend bourgeois norms of marriage and conjugal sexuality. Any mother who, for a variety of reasons, does not correspond to the dominant norm of the “decent mother” is confronted with mechanisms of social exclusion and actions aimed at getting her back on the right path.

3Our contribution in this volume on the international transfer of social reproduction aims to present some of our ethnographic data, more particularly those that have been collected in Vietnam, in order to show how the construction of femininity and gender inequalities shape the field of international adoption. Indeed, the scope of international adoption includes the transfer of children from poor countries, born to certain categories of mothers, to rich countries and certain categories of couples / foster families. If, at the quantitative level, the number of children who migrate within the framework of intercountry adoption - 40,000 per year (United Nations Population Division 2009, 74) - is not significant in the global statistics of the migration,

4The questions underlying our contribution relate to the sociological profile of mothers who consent to abandon a child for adoption and the circumstances in which they make this decision. It is not uncommon to hear that children adopted by wealthy families in the West come from poor mothers without agency and unable to raise their children on their own. This image ignores complex social dynamics as well as hidden power relations.

A little history

5At all times and in different societies, mothers / parents have at times given up on raising their child themselves. For economic, social or cultural reasons, the care of a child may have been entrusted to other members of the family. In some countries, especially countries in post-Soviet transition, an important institutional arrangement for childcare has developed. In these cases of entrustment or placement in an institution, the separation between mothers / parents and children is limited in time and not final. The child knows his mother / parents and, conversely, the mother / parents is informed about the development of the child. The bond of filiation is not broken.

6The situation is different with adoption in general, and intercountry adoption in particular. A quick foray into the history of international adoption takes us back to the 1950s and the Korean War. Many Korean children lose their parents in the armed conflict and many orphans are left to fend for themselves (Hübinette 2004). It was also the time when technological progress in the West brought television sets into homes, and many western families saw the eyes of poor orphans in need. Out of charity, host families volunteer to provide a warm home for these little ones without parents. Baby Lift 3 type operationsare organized and, in a short time, many Korean war orphans are integrated into European and American families (Hübinette 2004). New bonds of filiation are established, new families are born.

7During the following decades, the character of the placement of children from poor countries with foster families in rich countries. In the rich countries and the wealthy social strata of the countries of the South, societal transformations are showing a demand for adoptable children. Indeed, certain advances brought about by feminism in the West have opened up the labor market for highly qualified women (Reysoo and Bos 2011). This massive entry into the labor market has not been accompanied by the creation of childcare facilities so that working mothers can reconcile professional and family life. The opening up of the labor market and career opportunities have placed professional women in a dilemma: when to start procreating and start a family? This dilemma is reflected in the demographic statistics: in most Western countries, the mother's age at first birth has dropped considerably. The postponement of the first pregnancy to the age of thirty or more has led to an increasing risk of primary infertility. The problem of infertility has not only increased the use of medically assisted procreation methods (Gerrits 2008), but it has also led to the emergence of a new social category: couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. in most western countries, the mother's age at first birth has dropped significantly. The postponement of the first pregnancy to the age of thirty or more has led to an increasing risk of primary infertility. The problem of infertility has not only increased the use of medically assisted procreation methods (Gerrits 2008), but it has also led to the emergence of a new social category: couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. in most western countries, the mother's age at first birth has dropped significantly. The postponement of the first pregnancy to the age of thirty or more has led to an increasing risk of primary infertility. The problem of infertility has not only increased the use of medically assisted procreation methods (Gerrits 2008), but it has also led to the emergence of a new social category: couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. The postponement of the first pregnancy to the age of thirty or more has led to an increasing risk of primary infertility. The problem of infertility has not only increased the use of medically assisted procreation methods (Gerrits 2008), but it has also led to the emergence of a new social category: couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. The postponement of the first pregnancy to the age of thirty or more has led to an increasing risk of primary infertility. The problem of infertility has not only increased the use of medically assisted procreation methods (Gerrits 2008), but it has also led to the emergence of a new social category: couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children. couples and individuals with a desire for children. It is no longer a question of providing a home for orphans in distress, but rather of forming a family. The demand becomes more specific and preference is given to young and healthy children.

8During this same period, widespread access to modern contraceptive methods and greater social acceptance of children born to single mothers reduced the number of unwanted pregnancies in Western countries and led to a decrease in the number of children offered for adoption in the United States. national level (Bos, Reysoo and Werdmuller 2011) 4 .

9At the same time, in the countries of the South, social and cultural pressures - implicit or explicit - are exerted on certain categories of mothers. In a context of liberalization of morals, but in the absence of quality sex education, the number of teenage pregnancies is increasing. It tripled in urban areas in Vietnam between 1997 and 2002 (WHO nd). However, the acceptance of premarital pregnancies does not keep pace and, to prevent shame and dishonor on families, it often involves resorting to abortion, hiding these pregnancies or resorting to solutions such as infanticide, anonymous abandonment or consent to abandonment for adoption.

10To understand the difference between anonymous abandonment and consent to abandon for adoption, a semantic digression is necessary. Abandonment anonymously literally means that the child has been abandoned in a public or semi-public place with the intention of being found. The mother remains unknown. This form of abandonment differs from the formal procedure of consent to abandonment for adoption which concerns us here. Often this distinction - which in English is expressed by the use of two different terms, abandonment in the first case and relinquishmentin the second - is not made in administrative records. In Vietnam, for example, it is always a question of abandonment. This vagueness of terminology complicates research and has consequences for the establishment of child protection services as well as for the production of adoptable children.

11As soon as an administration qualifies a child as "abandoned", it passes into the generic category of orphan or that of child deprived of parental care. This certainly facilitates the creation of adoptable children, but hides the current reality of the sociological profiles of children who circulate in the international adoption channel. By carefully deconstructing the phenomenon of anonymous abandonment ( abandonment ) and that of consent to abandonment for adoption ( relinquishment), our research highlights the agency of mothers by analyzing the decision-making processes upstream of the creation of adoptable children. Most often these days adopted children have a living and known mother / parents. Who are these and why are they separating from their child? What interweaving of power relations are at work?

Consent to adoption: stories from Vietnamese mothers

12During the winter of 2011-2012, we conducted a research from the perspective of mothers to study the living conditions and the motivations that operated during the decision to abandon a child for adoption. We arrived on the ground after a stormy period when the practice of intercountry adoption in Vietnam had been strongly criticized. In the mid-2000s, irregular financial transactions were discovered between intermediaries approved by the authorities ( adoption service providers) and institutions for “abandoned” children (Chavla 2011; Clark 2008; ISS 2009; Larsen 2008). According to judicial, police and institutional records, the vast majority of adopted children from Vietnam were abandoned anonymously - and up to 88% of adopted children in Italy (Commission for Inter-country adoption of Italy 2010) 5. This dramatic increase in the number of abandoned children has given cause for concern. Countries such as the United States, Ireland and Sweden have found it appropriate not to renew the bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam in 2008. Subsequently, the Government of Vietnam in consultation with international organizations (including UNICEF) has taken steps to revise its legislation, child protection policy and institutionalization practices 6. Pending the implementation of this reform, the Government of Vietnam decreed a suspension of new cases of intercountry adoption on September 1, 2010 (only cases already underway could be finalized). Our research, commissioned by UNICEF Vietnam in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), aimed to contribute to the implementation of new legal and political mechanisms while respecting the legal frameworks. international.

13In what follows, we outline a series of situations experienced by mothers who have consented to abandon their child (ren) for adoption.

Hoang

14Hoang, a petite 45-year-old woman, looks very nervous when she enters the room of the Social Protection Center (CPS) where we meet for the first time. After reassuring her about the objectives of our research, we begin the interview. She is the mother of five children. The first two, a daughter and a son, are now married and live near her in her village. While her fourth child, a 16-year-old son, lives with her and her husband, her third and fifth daughters have gone abroad through international adoption. Without our asking her explicitly, she describes the context of abandonment: “In those times, we lived in very difficult conditions. "Her eyes fill with tears when she adds," When I think about it, it would have been better if they had stayed at home. It doesn't take much for his story to continue:

At that time, my stepfather was very ill. We had to take care of him. We had a lot of worries. […] At the Center (CPS) here, there was a program for intercountry adoption. So I thought my kids would have a better life if they were adopted. I was advised by Mrs. L., who worked for the social services in my commune. She helped me send my children to the Center and, after several months, my daughters (aged 6 and 8 at the time) went abroad, to France. When they were at the Center, we continued to visit them. In 2000, the adoptive parents came and we met them several times. Then came the day when I had to give my children to the adoptive parents [official ceremony]. It was in the Department of Justice. They went from there. We were promised letters and photos every year. But we never saw anything. After that, we didn't talk about that anymore. I don't like to talk about it.

15Three other families in the same municipality have also agreed to give up a child for adoption, as have two families in a neighboring municipality. Thus, between 1999 and 2000, many children, due to the proximity of the Center to the international adoption program, were sent to France and Denmark. From Hoang's account, it becomes evident that the active mediation of different actors linked to the Center influences the decisions of families at a particularly difficult moment in their lives. The lady of the social services they have held as follows: "Your family is poor and you have a lot of children 7. If you agree to give up on abandonment, the children will have a better future. Hoang and his family's reaction was, "We thought our daughters were going to have a better life abroad." "

16However, it is not well received in Vietnam to separate from your child. Children are culturally very valued and play an important role in the continuity of the family line. Mothers / parents who make the decision to abandon a child for adoption are therefore acting against the grain. “At the beginning, there were people who slandered us. But later they became understanding. They knew very well that we were poor, and that we had a lot of children and that we had to take care of my in-laws. The departure of children destroys the social fabric at different levels. It is not only painful for families, but causes criticism. Mothers / parents who separate from their child are the object of gossip and shame. In addition, in this community, jealousies exist between families who have handed over a child for adoption. The lack of news for some contrasts with the photos and phone calls received by others. Finally, the suspicion of material and financial compensation makes these families feel guilty. In some cases where the mother was able to see her children again, it turned out that, in addition to the happiness of the reunion, this reunion had marked a kind of social rehabilitation. The return of the children proved that their mother had never sold them (a rumor which often circulates in the villages). The shame linked to the image of a “bad mother” that the latter knew was thus able to be dispelled. The lack of news for some contrasts with the photos and phone calls received by others. Finally, the suspicion of material and financial compensation makes these families feel guilty. In some cases where the mother was able to see her children again, it turned out that, in addition to the happiness of the reunion, this reunion had marked a kind of social rehabilitation. The return of the children proved that their mother had never sold them (a rumor which often circulates in the villages). The shame linked to the image of a “bad mother” that the latter knew was thus able to be dispelled. The lack of news for some contrasts with the photos and phone calls received by others. Finally, the suspicion of material and financial compensation makes these families feel guilty. In some cases where the mother was able to see her children again, it turned out that, in addition to the happiness of the reunion, this reunion had marked a kind of social rehabilitation. The return of the children proved that their mother had never sold them (a rumor which often circulates in the villages). The shame linked to the image of a “bad mother” that the latter knew could thus be dispelled. this meeting marked a kind of social rehabilitation. The return of the children proved that their mother had never sold them (a rumor which often circulates in the villages). The shame linked to the image of a “bad mother” that the latter knew was thus able to be dispelled. this meeting marked a kind of social rehabilitation. The return of the children proved that their mother had never sold them (a rumor which often circulates in the villages). The shame linked to the image of a “bad mother” that the latter knew could thus be dispelled.

Thuy

17We meet Thuy (39 years old) in a social protection center where she is employed. She is beaming with joy and seems very willing to share her story with us. Thuy tells us that she has two children from a first marriage. After her divorce, she enters into a romantic relationship and becomes pregnant unexpectedly. It is then that she learns that her lover is a married man. She finds herself in a delicate situation: “When I found out about my pregnancy, the first thought that crossed my head was that I didn't want to live anymore, shame! ". Because of her moral convictions, she does not have an abortion and, at the age of 32, is alone with her two children and a newborn baby. She decides to migrate to the city to escape the stigma. She hopes to find better job prospects there. First of all, she goes there alone with the baby (ten months), leaving her two eldest children with her mother in the village. In town, she hears about the Social Protection Center and brings her 13-month-old baby there. She thus becomes more available for work but does not find a job and tells us about her growing difficulties to make ends meet: “No one wanted to employ a mother with children and a baby like me”. It was then that she asked the director of the Social Protection Center to help her. She hires him to nurture children. Her situation stabilized and Thuy brought in her two other children who were welcomed at the Center and attended school. 13 months old. She thus becomes more available for work but does not find a job and tells us about her growing difficulties to make ends meet: “No one wanted to employ a mother with children and a baby like me”. It was then that she asked the director of the Social Protection Center to help her. She hires him to nurture children. Her situation stabilized and Thuy brought in her two other children who were welcomed at the Center and attended school. 13 months old. She thus becomes more available for work but does not find a job and tells us about her growing difficulties to make ends meet: “No one wanted to employ a mother with children and a baby like me”. It was then that she asked the director of the Social Protection Center to help her. She hires him to nurture children. Her situation stabilized and Thuy brought in her two other children who were welcomed at the Center and attended school. She hires him to nurture children. Her situation stabilized and Thuy brought in her two other children who were welcomed at the Center and attended school. She hires him to nurture children. Her situation stabilized and Thuy brought in her two other children who were welcomed at the Center and attended school.

18While working at the Center, Thuy regularly sees foreign adoptive parents who leave with a child for adoption. Although she was ignorant of the adoption procedures before being hired at the Center, these daily experiences give rise to the idea that her daughter could also be adopted abroad: “I wanted her to have a “Good” family and a better life. So I decided to give it up. However, she does not plan to separate from her two other children on the pretext that they are very attached to each other and that they are already older.

19In Thuy's story, the transgression of the cultural norms of the "good mother" and the shame that ensues from it are combined with the discourse she hears on a daily basis in the Center where she works and which promises a better future for her baby. through international adoption. The convergence of these two factors opens a fertile ground for her decision to abandon her baby. In addition, the director of the Center, in a double language evoking better chances for the child while remonstrating to this divorced mother, further encourages her to hand over her child for adoption.

Thao

20Pre-marital pregnancies, more and more frequent, are still a source of shame. Although mentalities - especially in urban areas - are changing in Vietnam 8, we have observed more than once the stake of the honor of the family and the reputation of a patriarch before the decision to consent to adoption. Thao is a twenty-year-old high school student when she becomes pregnant after dating a boy. The boy, under the influence of his family, does not want to acknowledge his paternity or marry Thao. So she has no real choice. During her pregnancy, to prevent her father from finding out about her condition, she had to hide with a family member living in another municipality. Shortly after the birth of the child, the baby is brought to the Social Protection Center by Thao's mother. It is with her that we conduct the interview and she tells us: “She (Thao) is very young, she has no job and we (the parents) are elderly. People told us to go to the Center. After the newborn was left at the center, the police came to investigate. Thao's mother takes care of the formalities, which means that Thao does not participate in the decision-making. Shame and fear of dishonor mean that, to this day, five years after the events, the Patriarch still does not know. Worse, during the interview, we learn that he would be able to kill them both if he found out what happened. Needless to say, we feel rushed to wrap up the interview. during the interview, we learn that he would be able to kill them both if he found out what happened. Needless to say, we feel rushed to wrap up the interview. during the interview, we learn that he would be able to kill them both if he found out what happened. Needless to say, we feel rushed to wrap up the interview.

21Thao's story, told by his mother, testifies to a transfer of decision-making power to a third person. The young girl, although of age and leading to a premarital pregnancy, could not oppose the decision which resulted in the handing over of her child for international adoption.

22What conclusions can we draw from these examples in view of the questions asked?

Interlocking power relations

23On the official website of the French Government, one can read: “An adoptable child is a child in a position to be able to be adopted” (Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs 2013). Determining the adoptability of a child is therefore the responsibility of social institutions and judicial authorities both in the countries of origin and in the receiving countries.

24The decision-making process of a plurality of institutions and legal systems to establish a child's adoptability status is well documented. On the other hand, the dilemmas, doubts or hesitations of mothers / parents are ignored. Our research focuses more particularly on the conditions under which mothers / parents are required to follow the voluntary consent procedure. They made it possible to deconstruct a number of little-known elements.

25In the first place, it is seldom children without parents who leave for adoption, although the administrative categories continue to use the generic terms of “orphans” and “abandoned children”. Second, mothers are by no means “immoral”, “deviant” or culturally marginalized women. As our examples show, we are dealing with mothers / families who accumulate difficulties at a particular time in their life. In these precise circumstances, the proposals of intermediaries linked to the international adoption system are important pressure factors that make mothers / families decide to separate from a child. In all our examples, the mothers / parents did not receive an alternative proposal (reception in local families, etc.). Unable to “feed their children” (literally translated from Vietnamese), they could only wish for a better life for them. However, at the time of consenting, they were neither aware nor had they been suitably informed about the fact that consent to abandonment for adoption implies a definitive severance of the parentage bond.

26Third, it turns out that the child protection system in Vietnam, and in many other southern countries, for lack of financial means and professional skills, is very dependent on the international adoption system. . Without financial means, neither qualified personnel, nor alternatives seriously considered, the programs of intercountry adoption offer a solution within reach, and inexpensive from the point of view of the governments of the South, to alleviate the needs in social support to the families. and poor children. In Vietnam, for example, before the new adoption law, Social Welfare Centers received “compensation” directly from adoptive parents in return for child care.

27This power relationship results in children and mothers / families being separated more often than is really necessary. This leads us to our fourth point which concerns the implementation of the Hague Convention (1993) inspired by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). These conventions oblige the signatory states to prevent the separation of children from their families. The Hague Convention states in its preamble: “[…] Each State shall take, as a matter of priority, appropriate measures to enable the child to be kept in his family of origin”. By their very nature, these conventions promote children's rights. Fifty years of international adoption experience have brought to the fore the psycho-social and identity problems faced by adopted children. On the other hand, the violation of the rights of mothers has so far been overlooked. Reproductive rights protecting individuals and couples to enable them to decide on the number of their children do not establish a hierarchy between the rights of children to a family and the rights of parents / mothers to their living child (ren) (s).

28Our research shows that there can be no question of legal international adoption without the agency of a mother or of the parents who must at some point make the decision to separate definitively, and irrevocably, from their child. This award is regulated by a legal framework. It must be taken without any form of coercion and must not be induced by any promise of reward (material or financial). A mother / parents who therefore signs the act of abandonment does not sell her child. Consent to abandonment for adoption is therefore fundamentally different from the phenomenon of child trafficking.

29However, international adoption is not exempt from financial interests, although it is taboo to talk about money in this context. We have just seen that mothers / parents do not receive money for the transfer of their child through international adoption. Moreover, the suspicion which strikes the parents as for possible material gains in return for the abadon of a child shows the sensitivity of the subject. The “gift” of the child is legitimized by the mothers / parents as a self-sacrifice in view of a better future for the child. The "gift" of a child in the international adoption circuit contrasts, however, with the often high price that adoptive parents must pay for a child to be adopted.

30Indeed, with the professionalization of the field of international adoption, the services of intermediaries have reached very high prices, as evidenced by the various websites, bringing the cost of adoption per country to an estimate of between 25,000 dollars. Americans in Vietnam and US $ 48,000 in Russia or Kazakhstan (International Adoption Secretariat 2012). The financial side is drowned in a rhetoric of beneficence and mutual benefit : infertile “rich” couples with a desire for children see the possibility of giving a home, love and a future to poor children; “poor” parents are freed from the worries and difficulties of feeding and educating their children.

31Yet this discursive legitimation hides underlying power mechanisms and contributes to reproducing social inequalities at the global level. Through interviews with mothers, intermediary actors (individual or institutional) appear omnipotent (Bos 2008; Mykytyn-Gazziero 2006; 2010; Reysoo and Bos 2011; Bos, Reysoo and Dambach 2013). Not only are they very effective in reuniting children in welfare centers, but they also succeed in “motivating” mothers / parents in distress to formally consent to abandonment for adoption. . In northern countries, other intermediaries - often in partnership with intermediaries and child protection institutions in developing countries - are actively involved in the selection and approval of adoptive parents. From the point of view of the new international division of social reproduction, the imbalance is obvious. The more or less subtle pressure exerted on mothers / parents, combined with a failing child protection system and dependent on the international adoption system, cause children to migrate unwillingly from their families of poor origin. to wealthy families in Western countries. The great paradox is that children are "extirpated" free of charge from their mothers to be sold dearly to adoptive parents. From the point of view of the new international division of social reproduction, the imbalance is obvious. The more or less subtle pressure exerted on mothers / parents, combined with a failing child protection system and dependent on the international adoption system, cause children to migrate unwillingly from their families of poor origin. to wealthy families in Western countries. The great paradox is that children are "extirpated" free of charge from their mothers to be sold dearly to adoptive parents. From the point of view of the new international division of social reproduction, the imbalance is obvious. The more or less subtle pressure exerted on mothers / parents, combined with a failing child protection system and dependent on the international adoption system, cause children to migrate unwillingly from their families of poor origin. to wealthy families in Western countries. The great paradox is that children are "extirpated" free of charge from their mothers to be sold dearly to adoptive parents. cause children to migrate unwillingly from their families of poor origin to well-off families in Western countries. The great paradox is that children are "extirpated" free of charge from their mothers to be sold dearly to adoptive parents. cause children to migrate unwillingly from their families of poor origin to well-off families in Western countries. The great paradox is that children are "extirpated" free of charge from their mothers to be sold dearly to adoptive parents.

32Our research certainly shows that mothers / parents often find themselves in very difficult socio-economic conditions and that they do not always have the necessary means to feed their children or to send them to school (Bos 2008; Mykytyn-Gazziero 2010) , but the mothers' accounts reveal the power of intermediaries and the dependence of the social protection system and of the child on the international adoption system. All of the mothers we spoke with in Vietnam said they were influenced by the intermediary proposals. Additional research is still needed to be able to confirm our hypothesis according to which irreversible separations between children and mothers / parents would not exist without the proximity of institutions active in the field of intercountry adoption. The presence of these institutions may contravene the principle of the Hague Convention that a child should grow up with his family. Moreover, the ratification of the Hague Convention can help to hide the “implicit” pressures exerted on the mothers / parents whereas the partners involved in the field of intercountry adoption claim that with the signature of the Convention, the practices, policies and legal frameworks ensure compliance with internationally defined standards.

Conclusions

33The choice of mothers of children circulating in intercountry adoption is exerted under pressure. The north-south imbalances and the professionalization of the field of international adoption induce a power that a single mother, in a delicate situation, cannot resist.

34In this international configuration, briefly sketched out here, a constellation appears where the demand for adoptable children in the countries of the North rubs shoulders with a supply of adoptable children in the countries of the South. The absorption of supposedly “unwanted” children born in the South fits perfectly into a discourse of charity conveyed in the countries of the North: couples with a desire for children offer a better future to children coming from poor countries. This resulted in the emergence of a professional field around international adoption: intermediary organizations in the countries of the North, institutions for the protection of children in the South, lawyers specializing in adoption and social workers advising. infertile couples in the North and mothers / parents in distress in the South. Nevertheless, this equation does not take into account the fact that the demand for children to be adopted in the countries of the North greatly exceeds the supply of adoptable children in the countries of the South. In Switzerland, for example, the number of files from parents who have obtained approval for adoption is three times greater than the number of children adopted annually (Chervaz-Dramé and Mykytyn-Gazziero 2012, 14).

35This imbalance creates pressure on the professional practice of child protection and intercountry adoption. What room for maneuver then have, in the countries of the South, young women or certain categories of mothers who give birth to children in difficult conditions? Is abandonment for adoption really the solution to the socio-economic or cultural difficulties experienced by these mothers? Our research on their experiences reveals violations of the rights defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Adoption Matters (1993). . But it is more difficult to identify violations of the rights of mothers.

36Ultimately , under the guise of the interests of the child, couples with a desire for a child in the North (including homosexual couples) help to reproduce inequalities within this system. The demand for children to be adopted creates pressure on vulnerable categories of mothers / parents in countries of the South. As long as the demand for children to be adopted does not dry up in the countries of the North, the institutional, social and cultural dynamics in the South encourage mothers / parents to separate from their child (ren). And this notwithstanding the international legal arrangements put in place.

.