Voices for Vietnam Adoption Integrity

In 2002 when we were living in Cambodia with our daughter waiting on the embassy to process her paperwork, I had the occasion to visit another little girl in the hospital. She was just over a year old and had contracted pneumonia in the orphanage. My friend D~, who was waiting with her son, learned [...]

Read Full Post »

 Vietnam police bust baby trafficking gang
(excerpt)
Vietnamese police have arrested four people this week for trafficking babies, including one yet to be born, for adoption inside the country or in China, authorities here said Wednesday.
Authorities believed the gang bought Vietnamese baby girls for $500 each and boys for $1,000 and sold them for about twice [...]

Read Full Post »

The long awaited JCICS standards have been published and ASPs now have a short period of time in which to act as signatories or not.
 
What Is JCICS? In short, Join Council on International Children’s Services is a membership group for adoption service providers (adoption agencies), social services groups and other licensed non-profit advocacy groups. It [...]

Read Full Post »

JCICS today released their Standards of Practice for Intercountry Adoption in Vietnam, as well as a Summary of the Standards, written by JCICS President and CEO, Tom DiFilipo. According to the JCICS website: “licensed adoption service providers must confirm their status as a Joint Council Vietnam Standards of Practice signatory no later than close-of-business on [...]

Read Full Post »

JCICS originally promised to make its proposed Standards of Practice available for review on January 20th. That date was later pushed back to January 27th and finally to “early February.” As of 1:00pm Pacific Time on February 13th the Standards are still not available.
We understand that it takes time and careful deliberation to craft these [...]

Read Full Post »

Families Adopting in Vietnam Say They Are Caught in Diplomatic Jam
By ELIZABETH OLSON
Published: February 11, 2008
The New York Times
The State Department, which issued a warning on adoptions in Vietnam last month, maintains that the lack of controls on “baby finders” and unregulated payments — the average adoption cost is about $25,000 per family — are [...]

Read Full Post »

I liked that adopting from another country meant I wouldn’t have to worry about birth parents. Years ago when we first entered the world of international adoption, that was part of the appeal. Birth family complicated things, and I didn’t want to share my baby with anyone. We originally planned to adopt from China where [...]

Read Full Post »

Adoptive parents seek senator’s help
Visas complicate intercountry adoptions for some families.
By MORGAN COOK
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
All of the families had covered the bases with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and had adopted a child through the Vietnamese courts. But when their applications reached the consulate to be double checked, officials found reasons to suspect [...]

Read Full Post »

Camarillo family takes adoption battle to State Department
By Michael Collins
Friday, February 8, 2008
Steve and Julie Carroll and two other families who are in the same situation made their case directly to State Department officials Wednesday evening during a 1 1/2-hour meeting.
While they left without getting a commitment that the government would issue the visas needed [...]

Read Full Post »

Couple seek senators’ aid in Vietnam adoption fight
By Michael Collins
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Carrolls and two other families who are in the same situation brought their case to Washington on Tuesday, where they enlisted the support of California’s two U.S. senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.
“Everything we know says the State Department is frankly [...]

Read Full Post »