The Schuster Institute
for Investigative Journalism

Associated Links

Our work
Maps
Background
Reader responses to
    our work
Research sources
In related news
Country by country:
    reports from around
    the world
Site map: adoption

Our work:

Corruption in international adoptions

NEW!
  Orphaned or Stolen?
  The U.S. State Dept.
  investigates adoption
  from Nepal, 2006-2008

"Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis," ForeignPolicy.com, September 12, 2010

• Map: Geography of an Adoption Crisis
• Experts respond
  to "Anatomy of an
  Adoption Crisis"  
  
• Primary sources: U.S. government documents, 2007-2008 (obtained via Freedom of Information Act)
• Startling quotes from released documents
• By province: References to adoption problems
• Denying an orphan visa: USCIS appeals
• Visa denied: The story of one family
• U.S.-VN Memorandum of Agreement, 2005
• U.S. Department of State: Vietnam adoption notices
• Licensed adoption agencies listed by province, 2006-2008
• Adoption agencies licensed to work in Vietnam, 2006-2008

"The Baby Business," Democracy Journal, Summer 2010

• "The Baby Business"
  with footnotes
• Experts respond
  to "The Baby Business" 
• Policy proposals for
  fairer international
  adoption practice
• Key documents:
  Hague regulation
  • How much does it cost?
• Specific regulation changes
• Cash required: Bad practice

"The Lie We Love," Foreign Policy magazine, Nov./Dec. 2008

• “Where do babies come from?”: country-by-country map of reported adoption irregularities
• "The Orphan Trade: A look at families affected by corrupt international adoptions," Slate.com,
  May 8, 2009
• "The Adoption Underworld," The Washington Post,
  Jan. 11, 2009
  • "The orphan manufacturing chain," The Washington Post, Jan. 11, 2009
  • "Out of Cambodia," The Washington Post, Jan. 11, 2009
• Awards for "The Lie We Love"

  Commentary:

• "Adopting new standards on adoption," "Comment is Free," Guardian.co.uk, Sept. 10, 2010.
• "Preventing Adoption Disasters," The Boston Globe, April 17, 2010.
• The New York Times "Room for Debate": "Haiti's Children and the Adoption Question," with commentary by E.J. Graff and other prominent experts, Feb. 1, 2010.
• "The Seamier Side of International Adoption," 
  The New York Times Opinion Blog, May 10, 2009.
• "The problem with saving the world's 'orphans'," The Boston Globe,
  Dec. 11, 2008.

Maps:

• “Where do babies come from?”: country-by-country map of reported adoption irregularities
• Map: Geography of an Adoption Crisis

Background:

• Capsule history of international adoption
• UNICEF's orphan statistics explained

Reader responses
to our work:

• Experts respond to
  "Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis"
  
• Experts respond
  to "The Baby Business"  
• Reader responses
  to "The Baby Business"
• Reader responses to
  "The Lie We Love"
• The orphan myth:
  Responses to criticisms

Research sources:

• Government sources
• NGO sources
• Academic sources
• Resources for parents

In related news

Country by country: adoption corruption reports from around the world:

• ALBANIA
• ARMENIA
• BELARUS 
• CAMBODIA
  • Overview
  • News Reports 
  • Resources
• CAMEROON<
• CHAD 
• CHINA
  • Overview
  • News Reports 
• COLOMBIA
• CONGO
• EL SALVADOR
• ETHIOPIA
• GUATEMALA
  • Overview 
  • News Reports 
  • Resources 
• HAITI
• HONDURAS
• INDIA 
• INDONESIA
• KENYA
• KYRGYZSTAN
• LIBERIA
  • Overview 
  • News Reports 
  • Resources
• MARSHALL ISLANDS
• MEXICO
• MOLDOVA
• MOZAMBIQUE
• NEPAL
  • Overview
  • News Reports 
  • Resources
• NIGERIA
• PARAGUAY
• PERU
• PHILIPPINES
• POLAND
• ROMANIA 
• RUSSIA
• SAMOA
  • Overview
  • News Reports
• SIERRA LEONE
• SWAZILAND
• UGANDA
• UKRAINE
• VIETNAM
  
  • Overview
  • News Reports
  • Resources

Student Research Assistants' Contributions

Photos in collage above left:
From left: Background
and children © James Emery
Mosque minaret
© Elin Bechmann,
Wikipedia Commons
Photo above:
Cattle in northern Cameroon
© Philippe Semanaz,
Wikipedia Commons