An independent voice for ethical adoption
Operation Identity: Cooperating to Protect the Identity of Vietnamese Orphans
Detailed Discussion Underlying Operation Identity
Trish Maskew, President of Ethica, recently returned from Vietnam. While in Hanoi, she met with the U.S. Embassy staff, who revealed something that is terribly shocking and upon which Ethica feels compelled to act. U.S. Embassy staff revealed that approximately 85% of the children being placed for adoption now are reportedly abandoned. 85%! The Embassy strongly believes that most of these “abandonments” are in fact staged abandonments. And indeed, the history of the past 10 to 15 years lends credence to that belief.
The importance of identifying information to adopted persons cannot be overstated. Every adopted person, no matter who they are or who they were born to, should know their origins if at all possible. When adoptees for generations have discussed their pain about the lack of info, and their longing for more, there can be no doubt that for the children this is one of the most important things about any adoption. Indeed in the last 15 years there has been a huge push to open adoptions to address the harm that secrecy causes. And yet, in Vietnam evidence suggests that someone is depriving them of this most essential of life’s information. Who is doing it? We don’t know; there are several possibilities discussed in more depth below. It is our sincere hope that no agency or agency contractor is doing so intentionally, and we believe that not all, or even most, agencies are. But these questions must be answered.
Some, who want to wish away the red flags here, are going to say things like, “Well, all the children in China are abandoned.” Yes, for very specific legal reasons that do not, and have never, applied to Vietnam. Some will say, “erasing their identities is better than their staying in orphanages.” For some adopted persons that might be true, but the problem is that this practice might develop for one truly troublesome reason-to avoid scrutiny about how children come into care. It can be used to cover up abuses like the purchase of children and abduction, and while this is the worst case scenario that we all hope is not happening, it is not one that officials are willing to ignore.
This is not the time for wishful thinking. Simply put, Vietnam adoptions are at risk and there is no practice that will so quickly close a country to adoption as this one. This very practice was the death knell for Cambodia. Virtually every child there had no identifying information. And the investigations that broke through the veil of secrecy showed that the information was available, and it wasn’t good.
People often say, when discussing adoption abuses, that the government should close down the unethical people, not the country. This is a stance almost all can agree on in principle. But when a practice develops that creates a black hole from which the government can’t get the information to do that, they may determine that there is no choice but to close the country to all adoptions because of the serious abuses that might be happening. If we want to prevent that from happening, the Vietnamese adoption community must work together now to promote transparency.
Ethica is launching a project to encourage transparency in Vietnam adoptions. Called “Operation Identity: Cooperating to Preserve the Identity of Vietnamese Orphans,” the goal is to make known the actual numbers of abandonments and to draw attention to the very real effects these practices can have on children, and the secondary effect they could have on the future of Vietnamese adoptions.
A small number of historical statistics that illustrate the problem
During the period from the early ’90s through 2002, and especially toward the end of that period, it appears there were fewer abandoned children. The majority of children placed had full contact information for birth families, and in fact most adoptive families met birth families at the giving and receiving ceremony.
In December 2000 one large facilitator placing children from Vietnam noted that most of the children they were placing in North Vietnam had a known parent. Ethica’s Trish Maskew operated a Vietnam program for an agency from 1999-2002. A quick search of old records (containing a partial sample) showed that about 69% of the children placed during that time were relinquished.
In recent weeks, Ethica has spoken to other agency employees who also recall that abandonments were few in number during this time. One agency reported that during 2000-2002, 68% of the children they placed were relinquished and 32% were abandoned. Another agency took a sample of their families going back all the way to 1993 that showed a statistic closer to 52/48 over the long-term 15 year period. Even a 50/50 split is a long way from the 85% abandonment rate happening right now. A third agency reported that their statistic ratio had not demonstrably changed, but declined to provide the actual numbers.
Discussion on the possible causes of high abandonment rates
There is simply no societal reason in Vietnam for the practices to have so abruptly changed from pre-closure to post-closure. There are, of course, a few possibilities about why it is happening now. It could be happening at the direction of orphanages, at the provincial level (one agency reported that some provinces are making rules that only abandoned children can be placed), or in some cases, at the direction of agencies or overseas facilitators. It could be happening to make processing easier, or to avoid investigations. It could be happening because people haven’t thought about the long-term ramifications. There likely will be a mix of opinions about why this phenomenon is occurring. Equally likely is that there probably are several different reasons. But one thing is certain-regardless of the reasons, there are two end results. First, children are losing their identities, an unacceptable ramification of this practice. And secondly, there is a very real risk that this behavior will affect the future of adoptions from Vietnam.
How transparency can change the trend, and one agency’s story
Agencies that have been working in Vietnam since before the moratorium should be able to recognize the difference in the rates of abandonment and relinquishment. If they haven’t up til now, they should research their own records and verify it. And every agency who is truly working in the best interests of children needs to demand that the erasure of identifying information on children stop immediately. No agency should support such severe children’s rights violations. Agencies have powerful influence on those with whom they work. They control the flow of families, and the flow of money, into a particular orphanage. It is thus Ethica’s hope that agencies working in Vietnam will use their influence to determine why this shift is occurring and to help stop it.
One agency director shared that a province told them they would only be processing abandonments. This agency director asked the provincial officials if they understood how important identifying information was to the children, and expressed concerns about the practice. The officials noted they hadn’t thought of that outcome, and promised to change the policy. This is a good example of the type of positive influence agencies can have on this practice-and how the practice may develop for reasons other than to hide unethical practices.
What can adoption agencies do?
Ethica will be asking every agency placing children from Vietnam to provide us with statistics on the number of abandonments and relinquishments from before the closure and after, and from province to province.
Several agencies have expressed support of this initiative and we believe that every agency should be willing to provide statistics. We will post them on the Vietnam Initiative page of our website, which will be online on next week. We will then encourage agencies and other concerned persons to work together to address this problem, and to share their efforts in doing so. Ethica will not, however, reveal which statistics belong to which agency-our goal here is to provide transparency and help to rectify the problem, not to vilify any particular agency or province. We are not conducting an investigation, and we will not be drawing conclusions on the reasons it is happening. The Embassy has the statistics it needs to do that and we’ll let them do their job. Our goal is to change this practice and prevent harm to children and risk to the future of Vietnamese adoptions.
If you are an agency, look at your records. If your placement percentages are not the same now as they were pre-closure, you should be asking your overseas contacts and the orphanages why. While parents should demand accountability from agencies, agencies should demand accountability from their in-country staff and from the orphanages.
How adoptive parents and other interested persons can get involved
This problem can be solved, but it can only be solved in two ways: 1) if we ask for action and the agencies take action to address this problem and turn it around or 2) if the U.S. government decides to close adoptions from Vietnam to avoid the risk of children’s rights abuses. This situation will not continue indefinitely. The way it ends is in our hands, including the hands of prospective adoptive parents and the agencies.
Prospective and current adoptive parents should demand that their agency find, and fully report, all identifying information on the children they place. Your children. As parents, one of the most important roles is to be your child’s staunchest ally and advocate. For prospective parents currently in the process-that has to start now. Don’t let someone take your child’s identity simply because it is easier. Ask for the information. In most cases in Vietnam, someone knows who your child is. Your agency owes you the duty of finding every scrap of information available on your child.
Please act. Today. Here are some ways to act:
- Call your agency and ask them to participate in providing statistics to Ethica.
- Request all identifying information about your child who was placed from the agency.
- Spread the word to other prospective adoptive parents, members of the Vietnamese adoption community and anyone with an interest in Vietnam adoption.
And please tell us at Ethica and your fellow parents and agencies how you acted. There is power in numbers and this situation desperately needs numbers.
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