tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post6734821903088572116..comments2024-03-27T20:48:39.389-04:00Comments on [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum: Mamalita: An adoption book I can't love, a story that isn't for everyoneLorraine Duskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18285341379272250245noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-30717347636012945352013-10-17T15:59:19.008-04:002013-10-17T15:59:19.008-04:00@ Jane
You said "They truly believed what th...@ Jane<br /><br />You said "They truly believed what they were doing was best for the child although their primary reason for adopting was because they wanted a child"<br /><br />Adopting primarily out of charity would be rather creepy though, don't you think? I think wanting a child isn't all bad, so long as the adopter doesn't conspire to get a child who could with a little help be raised by the biological parents.<br />Also not all adopters pay large amounts of money to adopt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-12024847557251181022013-10-14T16:20:43.581-04:002013-10-14T16:20:43.581-04:00I have also met numerous adopters and adoptees tha...I have also met numerous adopters and adoptees that have given first hand experience and the overwhelming majority are narcissistic. If you understand the dynamics of narcissism you would see that they can very often appear kind and sympathetic. This does in no way diminish their narcissism and sense of entitlement to covet other people's children.<br /><br />What you clearly fail to understand Jane is that adoption is human trafficking. Could you explain to me how you can have ethical slavery? There is a reason for abolitionists - you can't pretty up human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children. How convenient for you to utterly dismiss the rights of the child. You see, if you actually believe children have rights then you would understand that adoption is never the right thing to do. If they become adults, want to alter their true identity and sever all familial relations with their true family - that's fine. Until then - adoption is social engineering and human trafficking. It is pretty simple. But, hey, you think their is a nice way to pretty up slavery - go for it. Thing is, the slaves will revolt. Not all of them, as there is always a percentage of Stockholm Syndrome sufferers in every trauma but you will be standing on the side of oppression and exploitation, little better than the b mommies. Shame on you.<br /><br />Until we can understand that adopters are corrupt there will be little progress. You may argue that society made them that way, etc. but the plain truth is adopters ARE narcissistic and corrupt. There is no other way to convince yourself that you have the right to destroy families, villages, countries and take children to pretend they are your own. <br /><br />Perhaps you can take comfort that North American women are less likely to lose their children to adoption and instead we've placed the burden on our sisters overseas. I don't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-61387990265572444062013-10-13T00:06:35.592-04:002013-10-13T00:06:35.592-04:00Anon,
I have known many adoptive parents and the o...Anon,<br />I have known many adoptive parents and the overwhelming number are kind and thoughtful. They spent a considerable amount of time exploring adoption as well as a fair amount of money. They truly believed they were doing what was best for the child although their primary reason for adopting was because they wanted a child. <br /><br />Narcissistic? No. Misinformed, Yes, frequently. Empathy for the first mother? Mixed, some yes, some no. <br /><br />The adoption system is this country is severely flawed. The answer, I believe, is to work with those who want to see adoption done right to make changes in the laws and practices.Jane Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09715622112694146946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-84070692824907518542013-10-12T14:23:37.668-04:002013-10-12T14:23:37.668-04:00Anon @ 9:32 am, I think I see your point although ...Anon @ 9:32 am, I think I see your point although most won't even try when they see such an inflammatory diatribe (something for you to think about if you are trying to effect change and not simply vent). <br /><br />You believe adoption shouldn't exist at all, although you acknowledge that some children "may need the care of another." That is a rather glib statement to make, without proposing how we would effect such "care." I would like to see you propose a solution for children who need homes, where they grow up with a sense of security, stability and permanency. The way society is currently set up, even legal guardianship rarely provides that stability or gives children who need homes the full set of rights they deserve. <br /><br />I have a lovely friend who, while extremely poised on the outside, is deeply tormented on the inside because nobody "wanted" her - not her birth family, nor any of the several foster families she got bounced around in. As a vulnerable 8 year old, she would pray for permanency, for a forever family, and she would ask God why her birth family didn't love her enough to keep her and why none of the foster families loved her enough to adopt her. To this day, she feels "defective" and not lovable. I can tell you that the "care" she received as a child didn't work out very well for her. Jay Iyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01592280612055255470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-51599807454557358172013-10-12T10:37:45.498-04:002013-10-12T10:37:45.498-04:00Oh good grief - do you even listen to yourself? S...Oh good grief - do you even listen to yourself? Stutter? no, just blown away that someone could be so black and white to be prejudiced against an entire group with no basis in reality. <br /><br />no you probably don't listen to yourself...<br /><br />you have nice day now...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-1782100898348816392013-10-12T09:32:11.871-04:002013-10-12T09:32:11.871-04:00Did I stutter? Adopters ARE corrupt, in their thin...Did I stutter? Adopters ARE corrupt, in their thinking, hearts and souls. Make no mistake, it takes a narcissistic ego to use whatever means necessary to justify taking another woman's baby. Are there circumstances when a child may need the care of another? Sure, does this mean we treat them as chattel and slaves which is what adoption does? It is the corrupt adopter that thinks YES! Remove them from their culture, heritage, extended family, wipe out their identifying information and slap on new names on the ownership/birth certificate. It is identity theft.<br /><br />By the corrupt logic of one of the posters above mothers shouldn't be discouraged from drinking alcohol during pregnancy. It is the same logic - not EVERY child will end up with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Granny drank while pregnant with uncle Billy and he seems ok so what's the problem? The narcissist is incapable of compassion or empathy and will use every excuse they can find to say it wasn't their fault. It is their fault and their's alone. Sorry that I don't mirror your delusion back to you 'the adopted ones'. Could your next argument be that not ALL slave owners were terrible people? SOME were quite nice to their property. It is the same argument.<br /><br />If you are an adopter you participated in human trafficking. There is no way around it. You are corrupt. Yes, some awake, repent and ask for forgiveness. Others will spew their garbage and self justify their corruption.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-28521879349997372592013-10-09T12:23:00.934-04:002013-10-09T12:23:00.934-04:00Anonymous said: "No sugar coating here. Corru...Anonymous said: "No sugar coating here. Corruption STARTS with the adopter. Their hearts, souls and minds are corrupt and until they can admit that, they are of little value to stopping it."<br /><br />Oh good grief are you serious? That the millions of adoptive parents are all terrible people? Should we assume the same about all first parents (you know because they all have the same title) - because that could look pretty damn ugly as well.<br /><br />Your statement offended me, and, angered me. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-37049203909830806432013-10-08T19:40:36.113-04:002013-10-08T19:40:36.113-04:00@ Anon Oct. 8, 4:31 PM,
Are we to assume, from th...@ Anon Oct. 8, 4:31 PM, <br />Are we to assume, from the tone and content of your comment, that you believe that there can never be any circumstances under which a child may be abandoned or in need a secure permanent family? <br /><br />If you are willing to accept that as a possibility (however remote), what do you suggest should be done to meet the needs of such children?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-86895126862498189702013-10-08T16:31:11.140-04:002013-10-08T16:31:11.140-04:00No sugar coating here. Corruption STARTS with the ...No sugar coating here. Corruption STARTS with the adopter. Their hearts, souls and minds are corrupt and until they can admit that, they are of little value to stopping it.<br /><br />It is corrupt to believe you are entitled to another woman's child. It is corrupt that you do nothing to question how you can preserve a family, village, country. It is corrupt that you exploit others for your own gain. There simply is no other way to look at it. Adopters exploit others to gain a child that they can pretend is their own. <br /><br />When adopters can admit they participated in social engineering and human trafficking they are just playing lip service to the idea of corruption. Corruption doesn't start with shady agencies or governments. Corruption starts and ends with adopters. It is the sick and twisted thinking that the world owes you a child that is the problem. Again, not agencies, not governments, not anyone else but the adopter creates corruption.<br /><br />It isn't rocket science - this is the law of supply and demand. Adopters and adopters alone are corrupt and anything that follows is directly their fault. Simple. Adopters confess and you may be listened to. Until then, you are the driving force and 100% responsible for it.<br /><br />You aren't fooling anyone with the I didn't know speil. You knew you were destroying another extended family to selfishly create your own. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-63103284753866847962013-10-08T16:07:08.919-04:002013-10-08T16:07:08.919-04:00Michellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-61913765238853874762013-10-08T11:38:21.630-04:002013-10-08T11:38:21.630-04:00"What American did not know about the Dirty W..."What American did not know about the Dirty War and the Disappeared Kids in 1983?"<br /><br />In 1983 the general public belief re. adoption from Guatemala was that these were orphaned or abandoned children whose safety was endangered by the civil war. See Karen Dubinsky: http://www.queensu.ca/research/societies/dubinsky <br />Also her book, Babies Without Borders: Adoption and Migration Across the Americas (Toronto: University of Toronto Press and New York: New York University Press, 2010)<br /><br />However, as Erin Siegal's investigative report reveals, the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala had evidence that trafficking was going on: http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/adoption/US-embassy-cables-reveal-adoption-fraud-in-Guatemala.html<br />"For the first time, cables between U.S Embassy officials and the U.S State Department provide conclusive evidence that as far back as the 1980s officials with the U.S Embassy in Guatemala communicated with the State Department that Guatemalan children were being bought, sold and kidnapped so that American families, believing the children were orphans, could adopt them."<br />The full report is available for download here:<br />http://findingfernanda.com/2012/10/document-downloads/<br /><br />"What Americans did not know about the babies being smuggled out of China and dying in suitcases?"<br />In 1983? It would be most interesting to the see evidence for that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-37366727733188678052013-10-07T14:28:25.744-04:002013-10-07T14:28:25.744-04:00" I knew a couple who adopted twin boys from ..." I knew a couple who adopted twin boys from a Guatemalan convent orphanage in 1983 and I am sure it never entered their heads that their kids might have been trafficked"<br /><br /><br />What American did not know about the Dirty war and the Disappeared Kidsin 1983?<br /><br />What American did not know about the babies being smuggled out of China and dying in suitcases? <br /><br /><br />In my opinion, what you have here is serious selective perception, driven by emotional need. My question is, should peopel in that condition be adopting, at all?<br /><br />We strip women of their children based upon all sorts of fantasies about them as people...but we do not examine adoptors very closely.<br /><br />The sheer amount of documented post adoption abuse, and the appaling delusions that spout from adoptors mouths are enough to convince me that the screening has to do with the size of the wallet, and not the mental stability of the adoptor.<br /><br />Pre- adoption screening needs to be much, much more meticulous than it is, in order to screen out people who are not dealing with things as they are. There needs to be preadoption psy screening with instruments to determine risk for abuse, violence, and other antisocial behaviors, as well as jus, you know, basic reality testing<br /><br /><br />kidnapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-78542388080424067532013-10-07T12:19:05.926-04:002013-10-07T12:19:05.926-04:00Kidnap said...
"The topic of corruption and ...Kidnap said...<br /> "The topic of corruption and fraud in international adoption has been in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Foreign Policy Magazine, Brandeis University, The Harvard Law Review, even TIME magazine for the last six years. Not to mention David Smolin's body of work on this topic."<br />How could people not know?"<br /><br />I fully agree that people who have adopted from abroad over the last few years should have known. If they didn't there was something wrong with them.<br /> But such was the sales pitch and the faith in adoption as a sacred cow, that most of those who adopted from abroad before that probably didn't even consider the possibility. I knew a couple who adopted twin boys from a Guatemalan convent orphanage in 1983 and I am sure it never entered their heads that their kids might have been trafficked (The chances of that were less in those days, but the possibility was still there) <br />The Smolins didn't realize until after the fact and neither did the Rollings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-58333125131971927702013-10-07T01:35:52.672-04:002013-10-07T01:35:52.672-04:00Jan Louise,
Unfortunately it is comments like you...Jan Louise,<br /><br />Unfortunately it is comments like yours that effectively close off all communication between those who adopt and those who lose their children to adoption. Adoption will sometimes be needed. If you disagree, then we must simply agree to disagree.<br /><br />Next, if you use people's quotes, please address the person making the statement and use the quote in its proper context. The first quote of mine that you excerpted had to do with a teenager having a baby because she was lonely and desired someone to love. When desire overtakes a child's best interests, regardless of whether that child is biological or adopted, it is the wrong reason to have that child. I stand by my statement.<br /><br />The next quote of mine, randomly thrown into your post, had to do with me talking about establishing a connection with my biological son in utero. It had nothing to do with my appreciation of the in utero bond between a "child I have taken," as you word it, and his biological mother. You need to shed the anger and be more cogent if you are hoping for progressive discussion and change. Jay Iyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01592280612055255470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-8142916712056420392013-10-06T21:19:39.981-04:002013-10-06T21:19:39.981-04:00Wow .......what a lot of justification of adoption...Wow .......what a lot of justification of adoption....of why you adopted..of why your neighbour/friend/acquaintance adopted.......how you lead perfect lives and are far more important than the families of the children you won.....( Typo? own )<br /><br />Quote "Our problem was that bureaucrats along the way requested more money, and refused to proceed without it. "............so you obviously paid it and blithely went on your way .......not even a backward glance? or even a twinge of guilt? Not a single thought about what that money was actually paying for? <br /><br />I dont believe it when people say " adopters don't think about these things " and then try to justify why they don't think about them? far far easier to stick your head in the sand and ignore the truths that are presented to you on a PLATTER......I am sure you put far more research into buying a fridge than a baby.........because there can be nothing underhand about buying a fridge can there? unless it " fell " off the back of a truck.......unlike a baby.......they have to be taken of the back of the truck......and you wouldn't buy a stolen baby would you? ...well not if you know it was stolen...but then you haven't looked very hard have you?....see where I am going here?<br /><br />The whole thing is supply and demand........why dont people own up to being the demand part of the business? If you were not actively looking for a child then some dodgy person would not feel obliged to make a quick quid from you and supply you with one.....any one....doesn't matter where it came from.....no one seems to really care where that child comes from.....they make noises about "visiting annually the country of origin "..........well whoopy do...<br /><br />and then this statement......."We have heard stories of teenagers who crave a being of their own to love, then go on to have a baby. While I understand how that could happen and I feel for the young parents in this situation, it is the wrong decision from a baby’s point of view"......from the baby's point of view? huh? why would it be wrong? 2 people have created this child.....they are its parents......they love it........what more do you want? Does the white picket fence and older parents make things perfect......I dont think so....<br /><br />another quote "when I was pregnant with my biological son and was starting to establish a connection with him *in utero*," You would do well to remember the child you have taken has already established a bond with its mother...for around 9 months...until its birth when that bond was traumatically broken. <br /><br />I mean really duh ......are you all particularly stupid....naive ...or live in a vacuum? Where has this conversation changed in the last 30 years.......I see paps abusing mothers and adoptees daily...I see paps telling other pas....go overseas....then you dont risk a pesky BM showing up.....I see agencies diddling fathers out of their children......I see children advertised on facebook with neat and tidy price tags.....because the ap couldn't handle them......<br />Adoption in its present form is wrong.......it is blatant child trafficking...wake up <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jan Louisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275804204213681445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-76222570638160796792013-10-06T21:02:06.828-04:002013-10-06T21:02:06.828-04:00Some adoption advocates worry that the negative de...Some adoption advocates worry that the negative developments will result in fewer adoptions — and thus consign more children to lives in foster care or foreign orphanages."<br /><br /><br />Some adoption advocates worry that the negative developments will result in fewer adoptions — and thus consign more children to lives with their natural families, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ORPHANS WHO NEED TO BE ADOPTED."<br /><br /><br />rewrote that to reflect realitykidnapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-5232433001170530232013-10-06T20:34:45.092-04:002013-10-06T20:34:45.092-04:00I find it a bit more than self serving when adopti...I find it a bit more than self serving when adoptiors say that "they didn't know." How could they NOT know? The topic of corruption and fraud in international adoption has been in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Foreign Policy Magazine, Brandeis University, The Harvard Law Review, even TIME magazine for the last six years. Not to mention David Smolin's body of work on this topic.<br /><br />How could people not know? <br /><br />Kidnapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-81134430287442810582013-10-06T20:15:21.933-04:002013-10-06T20:15:21.933-04:00"Let's give credit to all those APs who d..."Let's give credit to all those APs who do something, but what are they doing? I don't see that they are making an impact."<br /><br />Well, you wouldn't, would you?<br />A couple of decades ago few people would have predicted that adoptees and first parents would make any impact. But they have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-46122524445486290792013-10-06T19:29:20.867-04:002013-10-06T19:29:20.867-04:00FROM THE LINK Anon provided"
More recently, a...FROM THE LINK Anon provided"<br />More recently, articles by the Reuters news agency in September detailed a phenomenon known as "re-homing" in which adoptive parents who've grown frustrated with a child — often one adopted from abroad — arranged through Internet sites for another family to take the child.<br /><br />The websites were not regulated by any government authority and the families taking the adopted children were not subject to any screening, in some cases leading to incidents of mistreatment. Advocacy groups are now calling for such child-swapping to be outlawed or subject to oversight by state child-protection workers.<br /><br />"It makes you wonder: Is anyone going to want to do adoptions with us?" said Susan Jacobs, the U.S. State Department's special adviser on children's issues and the Obama administration's point person on international adoptions.<br /><br />Some adoption advocates worry that the negative developments will result in fewer adoptions — and thus consign more children to lives in foster care or foreign orphanages."<br /><br />Here we go all over again. Let's give credit to all those APs who do something, but what are they doing? I don't see that they are making an impact.Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-19974435713998618382013-10-06T19:18:51.361-04:002013-10-06T19:18:51.361-04:00Part of the reason for the lack of response to the...Part of the reason for the lack of response to the blog post abut CHIFF is that it is a little late to the table.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-68462909909419416762013-10-06T18:46:19.458-04:002013-10-06T18:46:19.458-04:00Cops would have a very hard time assigning blame t...Cops would have a very hard time assigning blame to gangs for gang murders and the like by the reasoning Ms. Pegis suggests. One should criticize the "institution" of gangs but then hold none of the gang members responsible because "What could any individual do?" Pegis's reasoning says criticize the institution, not the individuals, but what is an institution if not made of the people who created it? So, let's attack international adoption with the very few adoptive parents who have adopted internationally and are willing to own up to participating in a corrupt system--but the whole mass of adoptive parents with kids from everywhere can't be criticized, or held responsible, because that does no good and they can't be held responsible because "they didn't know this was going on." They were only doing what every one else was doing, and that is going along, paying the baksheesh and bribes, and coming out of the experience with a baby. That is the same mentality that exonerates the German people who stood silently by and by that participated in you-know-what. <br /><br />If there were truly a good number of people talking up the corruption in international adoption, bills like CHIFF wouldn't be in the hopper. Odd that not a single person has left a comment at the next blog post, which is about CHIFF. Where are those adoptive parents who are fighting corruption? It would appear from this very limited example that they are more concerned about not taking any blame than doing anything to stop more corruption elsewhere.Lorraine Duskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18285341379272250245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-58559539644986424912013-10-06T18:42:21.219-04:002013-10-06T18:42:21.219-04:00"Turning a blind eye to it, or saying "O..."Turning a blind eye to it, or saying "Oh everyone does it, " still doesn't make it right."<br /><br />I completely agree. That is why it is important that the efforts of those few APS and PAPS who do acknowledge the corruption inherent in the system should be encouraged and not alienated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-79898016554413657872013-10-06T14:32:46.597-04:002013-10-06T14:32:46.597-04:00Speaking of minimizing, there was an article circu...Speaking of minimizing, there was an article circulating about the need for reform and the lack of success in that effort. The reporter concluded: <br /><br />"Yet many of those making the appeals admit to frustration, having sounded alarm bells before, and they hold out little hope for prompt, sweeping responses that would strengthen international and domestic adoptions nationwide.<br /><br />A key reason is the nature of adoption in America — marked by inconsistent laws, incomplete data and the lack of any central authority. There are no authoritative statistics on the number of adoptions that fail, no reliable source of federal funding for post-adoption services. And there is a multitude of passionate organizations with often diverging views on how to maximize success stories and minimize tragedies."<br /><br />http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Failed-adoptions-stir-outrage-reforms-are-elusive--226658291.html?mobile=y&clmob=y&c=n<br /><br />It's easy to minimize and say that most adoptions are successful, as did the reporter, when there are no agreed-upon tools for measurement. and if the majority (the public at large) is satisfied with the status quo: "Oh, such sweet orphans, saved from wherever by those lovely APs." People don't feel moved to push for change if it's only a few bad apples. In the larger story, what goes wrong (corruption, rehoming, etc.) are painted as aberrations, to be blamed on unprepared/mentally unstable PAPs, or really troubled adoptees, or whatever: but not the system itself that sucks in both PAPs and children.<br /><br />It always helps, moreover, when those with some finger in the pie can admit their part in it. Primary stakeholders (here the PAPs and APs) would likely be most powerful in bringing about change and reform (they are the buying market), but they have to look at themselves, too. If they're willing to adopt from an impoverished economy that relies on baksheesh, then the likelihood for corruption is very, very high. Turning a blind eye to it or saying, "Oh, everyone does it," still doesn't make it right. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-1224256681259531902013-10-06T10:29:44.772-04:002013-10-06T10:29:44.772-04:00"So by your reasoning, and O'Dwyer's ..."So by your reasoning, and O'Dwyer's and others, adoptive parents who went overseas to get a baby (and thus created the market that led to huge abuses, and continues to) are above criticism because any criticism is merely insulting and doesn't advance the cause? And it's silly to criticize them?" <br /><br />Not sure how that could be concluded from my comment, which focused on your statement that seemed to exclude a-parents as potential allies in international adoption reform. My point was that the record suggests otherwise. Everyday exchanges with people who are not part of the community may not be a good litmus test for who is likely to care or be roused to action (see my first paragraph in original comment). Criticism, especially of institutions, is often helpful. Impugning of motives or assigning to blame to one group in particular usually bombs. <br />JessicaPegisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574300303008890516.post-19416894370054129632013-10-06T05:34:38.573-04:002013-10-06T05:34:38.573-04:00I agree with TAO that there are a lot of adoptive ...I agree with TAO that there are a lot of adoptive parents on-line who have recognized corruption after the fact, and also that many of these people have been attacked for speaking out about it in much the same way as first parents who speak out. Some have even had to go so far as to withdraw from the on-line community because of abuse or threats to themselves or their families. Some of these attacks have even come from people in the reform community itself, just because they didn't agree on every detail. This is unfortunate because it sets the community against itself, which is exactly what the adoption business machine wants. <br /><br />TAO is also correct that there was information out there before the internet (There was also information available about the damage caused to children and families by adoption too, that pregnant women contemplating relinquishment could have accessed), but the fact is that people tend to put their trust in the "professionals", the agencies, rather than go to the library and do their own research. <br />Basically, they trusted the "professionals" more than they trusted themselves. "Professionals" like Georgia Tann.<br />Come to think of it, Barbara Bisantz Raymond who wrote about Georgia Tann in The Baby Thief is another adoptive parent who has made a difference. Now there's a book worth having on one's bookshelf, alongside Kathryn Joyce's The Child Catchers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com