July 2, 2009. Romanian Newspaper Reporting that the UN Commission Recommends that Romania Reopen International Adoption. We are delighted, if surprised, to read in Ultima Ora that the United Nations Commission for Children's Rights has recommended to Romania's National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child that Romania end its moratorium on international adoption as well as "accelerate the procedures for national adoptions." International pressure from the European Union as well as some UNICEF sources had led Romania to close its international adoption programs in 2004. The glaring failure of foster care programs to provide permanency for unparented children in Romania has been a tragedy for the most vulnerable in society, as it always is. We hope these recommendations will soon become reality.

July 1, 2009. The Tide of History and Adoption. The twentieth century and the first decade of this century have seen terrible crimes committed in the name of humanity. Indeed both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia mobilized their citizens to unspeakable acts by appealing to idealism - that the holocaust, on the one hand, and the murder of the kulaks on the other, would bring a better world for the Germans and the workers of the Soviet Union, respectively. If there is one thing we should take away from these ghastly lessons of history it is that focusing on the good of the group allows terrible sins against the individual. And it is that only "an ethical commitment to the fate of the individual" which will make such crimes impossible. In the case of adoption policy, it is the right of each child to grow up in a permanent, loving family and of every child to have his or her own, singular best interests judged that should be the focus of all of our work. For More Information see Timothy Snyder, "Holocaust: The Ignored Reality, New York Review of Books, vol. 56., no 12. I have used Snyder's formulation in the quote above.

June 30, 2009. A Happy Ending. Madonna and her daughter Mercy, adopted from Malawi, are now beginning their lives in London. Mercy is getting to know her new sister Lourdes and her new brothers Rocco and David, also adopted from Malawi. We wish for every unparented child the same ending: a permanent, loving home.

June 29, 2009. Adoption Tax Credit Set to Expire Without New Legislation. The federal adoption tax credit, which allowed a credit for adoption related expenses for families whose income was less than $190,000, is set to expire at the end of December, 2010. Now legislation has been introduced in the House to make this credit permanent. It is crucial to get widespread support for this legislation, known as The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213. We urge members of the adoption community to contact their Representatives to obtain the broadest coalition possible in support of this legislation. This link: http://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml allows people to find the name and address of their Congressman or Congresswoman.

June 25, 2009. Sean Goldman Case Shows Weakness in Enforcement of Other Hague Treaty. We normally talk about the Hague Convention on International Adoption. However, this is another child-related Hague Convention: the Hague Convention on Child Abduction. This treaty is meant to stop child snatching by family members who flee a court's rightful jurisdiction and find a country friendlier to their position whose courts will allow the relative to retain custody. Under the Hague Child Abduction treaty, once a valid custody order has been made, other Hague member countries must honor that order. The United States and Brazil are both signatories to the Hague Abduction treaty. American David Goldman and his wife were divorced seven years ago. Thereafter the wife (a Brazilian national) took their son back to Brazil in violation of a court order. Sean has never been returned to his father although his mother is now dead and his step-father is the one fighting to retain the boy. Under the terms of the Hague Abduction treaty, the proper outcome of this case is perfectly clear. Yet despite the intervention of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, the Brazilain government has not upheld its responsibilities under the abduction treaty. We salute Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.) for his stalwart assistance to David Goldman. Congressman Smith has also been a steadfast ally in the fight to keep international adoption available as an option for unparented children.

June 24, 2009. DOS Travel Alert for China. The State Department has issued a traveI alert concerning American traveling to China. This warning relates to quarantine measures the Chinese government has instituted in response to the H1N1 pandemic. Although only a small number of Americans have been detained in a week long quarantine, for those citizens so affected the trip becomes far more problematic. Especially worrying is the State Department's comment that "in some instances, children have been separated from their parents because either the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 and was placed in quarantine for treatment. This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents." One family who went to China to adopt their daughter has been split; the mother and three children are in a quarantine hotel while the father, who tested positive for swine flu, is in a Beijing hospital. Anyone planning to take their children to China for adoption or heritage trips should consider this warning seriously. More Information.

June 23, 2009. CAP Joins With Other Child Advocacy Groups as Amicus in Florida case. We are pleased to announce that the Center for Adoption Policy has joined with the most highly regarded children's health, welfare and legal groups to file amici briefs asking the Florida appeals court to strike down the Florida statute that bans adoption by gays and lesbians. In the particular case, a gay man and his partner are seeking to adopt two brothers who have been with them for over four years. The best interests of the child standard clearly demands that the petitioners be allowed to adopt the children they have loved and nurtured for so long. Joining CAP in these briefs are, among others, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Psychological Association and the Family Law Section of the Florida bar. More Information.

June 22, 2009. CCAA Sends Referrals For Non-Special Needs Children. The China Center of Adoption Affairs has sent referrals to potential adoptive families whose dossiers were logged in with CCAA between March 15 and March 20, 2006. In addition a limited number of expedited referrals were sent for families with dossiers logged in early in April, 2007. The last three months of referrals have been slower than what we are used to; these delays are apparently due to the H1N1 virus. During the first half of 2009 the CCAA has sent 20 calendar days of referral-March 1 through 20, 2006, the slowest the wait has ever been. The ages of referred children range from 6 months to close to two years. Families whose child is close to two years old should check with their agency to learn what the impact of the new TB testing requirement could be on their trip.

June 18, 2009. Alert: Current Status of Proposed TB testing in China. As of today, starting July 1, 2009 (twelve days from now), all children to be adopted from China who are two as of their medical examination day in Guangzhou must be tested for tuberculosis. Families who are in process with referrals of children two or older should discuss the TB testing timing with their adoption agencies in order to adjust their travel plans accordingly. We urge all agencies to discuss their view of the effect and logistics of this requirement, which was instituted by the CDC not the State Department or CIS. More Information.

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