But I don’t know if I share your optimism that corrupt agencies will not be tolerated. The Achilles heel seems to be the number of potential parents who will use these agencies anyway — because they are the ones promising quick referrals in the over-heated, under-regulated Vietnam adoption market. Proof of corruption is rarely unequivocal: you rarely see the smoking gun. It has to be drawn from inference, and many people who, like myself, desperately want Vietnamese children will simply not draw the inference if they don’t have to. They are willfully ignorant, and it doesn’t take a terribly strong will. They hide quickly behind facially plausible excuses given by their agencies (who have an enormous financial incentive, even the most fabulous of them, to lie or themselves stay ignorant): my agency is the only one working in that province, so that’s why they have all these baby girls; my agency works in several provinces, so that’s why they have all these baby girls; my facilitator knows the system well; my agency just started, so they have no backlog; I just got lucky. Information that casts doubt on these explanations is hard to find. Has anyone seen the breakdown–and it exists–of which agencies licensed are actually getting referrals — and how thoroughly and completely lopsided it is in favor of certain agencies? Have we really collected the information on who requires cash payments — and MANY do — and where they are going, or do we just know it’s happening? Other information, though, is not so hard to find: one look at the structure of Vietnamese adoptions — agencies pay an orphanage via “humanitarian aid”, and the same orphanage rustles up a healthy infant — and you know there is an enormous opportunity for money to change hands.

My only hope was that the US embassy would be screening people very, very carefully, and parents who proceed with risky agencies face the risk that their adoption is not approved. But that is a very blunt tool, and can trap legitimate adoptions as well as suspect ones, as we all saw in Cambodia.

I, myself, am very slowly starting to think that I may not be able to find a program that is ethically sound and that can still complete adoptions within the next 18 months or so. It has caused me enormous agony, as I have had my heart set on this, but had no idea what a flawed system Vietnam and the US had set up. I haven’t given up hope, but the options right now are very slim.

But maybe I have come full circle, and you are right. It is ONLY because of what I have read on the internet about others’ experiences and wisdom that I have known to proceed so carefully. If everyone just kept saying, “do your homework,” but never actually named names — even just to say, “I would not trust x, y, and z” — then there would be no information to be had except for one or two agencies involved in public litigation. We all DO need to keep sharing information with one another, and I sincerely thank all of you who have educated me so far.

I am unaware of additional cases in the Florida courts that revolve around Vietnam adoptions, and specifically, claims stemming from public posts on adoption support lists. I assume that you have spoken directly with all defendant in the case that you refer to in your writing, or that you have acquired documentation directly from the courts.

Either way, I would appreciate any information you could provide (CASE#) as these finding are relevant to the case that we continue to battle.

Best,
Carrie