ADOPTION RESOURCES
These are Adoption Resources.
Please also see: Foster Care Resources
ARTICLES/INFORMATION/RESEARCH
(click here for Organizations/Agencies)
Jacob Sullivan's lawyers say Sara Packer 'manipulated' him into murdering her adoptive daughter, Grace
"With the death penalty looming for Jacob Sullivan in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Grace Packer, his lawyers intend to show that he was dominated by Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, whom they contend had a history of sexually abusing children.
In a Bucks County courtroom on Friday, Sullivan's lawyers said they will present evidence at his upcoming sentencing hearing that Packer "groomed" Sullivan to sexually assault Grace, and that she had abused other children, including having three-way sex with her then-husband and an underage foster child in Allentown at least twice."
The Morning Call (PA), March 8, 2019
Warrant: Mom of Sabrina Ray threw out cell phones after her death
"Search warrants from the evening Sabrina Ray was found starved to death in Perry reveal what happened that evening and the subsequent actions of her family.
Misty Ray, 40, and her husband, Marc Ray, 41, took in Sabrina as a foster child in 2011 and adopted her in 2013. They are charged in her death and face multiple felonies after the malnourished 16-year-old was found unresponsive May 12 at home in Perry, according to Perry police."
Des Moines Register, September 26, 2017
Adoptive father of North Carolina girl who disappeared in 2011 tells authorities he buried her six days before Christmas, admits to 'child torture'
"Sandy Parsons, already in prison for tax fraud, showed authorities where he "discarded" 13-year-old Erica Parsons after repeatedly inflicting what an expert says is "child torture," according to a warrant obtained by the Charlotte Observer."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, November 3, 2016.
South Korean man who came to USA as 3-year-old and adopted by American parents to be deported and separated from wife and daughters
" "It is heartbreaking news," said Dae Joong (DJ) Yoon, executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, who had been in contact with Adam Crapser.
Crapser remains confined in an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington, pending his deportation."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, October 27, 2016.
Body of missing North Carolina teen Erica Parsons found five years after she disappeared, and two years after adoptive parents were convicted of tax fraud
" The skeletal remains found Tuesday in South Carolina were positively identified as Erica Parsons by the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office, officials said Thursday.
It was adoptive father Sandy Parsons, who was also her uncle, who told investigators where to find Erica, the Charlotte Observer reported."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, September 30, 2016.
Sexually trafficked girl recounts litany of horrors under DCF's watch
"In a hushed courtroom in Miami's gleaming new downtown Children's Courthouse, a teenage foster child inventoried the traumas she had endured at the hands of those who were assigned to protect her: She had been starved and beaten, molested and forced to fight during her two years in foster homes and group care. As a runaway, she was trafficked into prostitution."
www.miamiherald.com, July 03, 2015.
EXCLUSIVE: Public Advocate Letitia James says kids are spending too much time in city foster care
" Kids are languishing too long in city foster care and getting shuttled between multiple homes, according to a new report by Public Advocate Letitia James.
James set up a hotline for foster parents, kids, and birth parents — and 71% of those surveyed said the child had spent more than two years in the foster care system. Some had been stuck there for more than 10 years."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, July 06, 2015.
A Child Left Unprotected
"State Rep. Justin Harris and his wife adopted a young girl through the state Department of Human Services. How did she, six months later, end up in the care of a man who sexually abused her?"
The practice of legally 're–homing' children causes harm once again...
Arkansas Times, March 05, 2015.
- Casting out demons: why Justin Harris got rid of kids he applied pressure to adopt
"Rep. Justin Harris blames DHS for the fallout related to his adoption of three young girls, but sources familiar with the situation contradict his story and paint a troubling picture of the adoption process and the girls' time in the Harris household."
Arkansas Times, March 12, 2015.
Judge: Surrogate baby rejected in India due to gender
"The Australian High Commission in New Delhi delayed giving the Australian parents a visa for the wanted child while they tried to persuade them to take both children, Bryant said.
A person claiming to be a friend later took the unwanted that baby. But embassy officials doubted the person was a friend and suspected money had changed hands, Bryant said."
Associated Press, October 09, 2014.
International surrogacy traps babies in stateless limbo
"Rajan said most citizenship problems arise when the parents are from a country that bans commercial surrogacy, like France, Italy, Germany and Spain, and the baby is created in a country where surrogacy is allowed like India, Ukraine, Russia and Thailand."
Reuters Health, September 19, 2014.
Children in Nepal orphanages 'at risk of abuse'
"Private orphanages have mushroomed across Nepal in the absence of a state–run welfare system, their growth fuelled by corruption and the prospect of attracting donations from foreigners, activists say."
AFP, September 04, 2014.
Interpol Seeks Clues to Thai 'Baby Factory'
"'We are looking into two motives. One is human trafficking and the other is exploitation of children,' said police Lt. Gen. Kokiat Wongvorachart, Thailand's lead investigator in the case. He said Shigeta made 41 trips to Thailand since 2010. On many occasions he traveled to nearby Cambodia, where he brought four of his babies."
Associated Press, August 22, 2014.
Couple accused of abusing adopted children arrested in Oregon
"Janet and Ramon Barreto, accused of severe abuse of children they adopted abroad, were arrested Wednesday, ending a five–year search. Janet Barreto was the only woman on the US Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted list."
Christian Science Monitor, August 14, 2014.
Thai case casts spotlight on the business of surrogacy
"In Thailand, wealthy couples from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia—where commercial surrogacy is banned—are major customers, said Nandana Indananda, a Bangkok–based lawyer who headed a project to draft a Thai surrogacy law which was submitted Thursday to the country's military junta for consideration.
Contributing to Thailand's popularity is the large number of impoverished women who will carry babies for a price, and the availability of doctors with good reproductive medical skills, Nandana said."
Associated Press, August 07, 2014.
Nine Surrogate Babies Found in Bangkok Condominium
"Authorities acting on a tip–off raided the condominium in the Lat Phrao area of the Thai capital on Tuesday to find nine babies being looked after by seven nannies, with a pregnant 20–year–old living there.
Police spoke to a Thai man who said he was the lawyer of a Japanese businessman who claims to be the babies' biological father, deputy national police chief Aek Angsananont said."
Reuters Press, August 07, 2014.
- Surrogate Offers Clues Into Man With 16 Babies
"In reality, there was no couple. There was instead a young man from Japan named Mitsutoki Shigeta, whom she met twice but who never spoke a word to her. This same man—reportedly the son of a Japanese billionaire—would go on to make surrogate babies with 10 other women in Thailand, police say, spending more than half a million dollars to father at least 16 children for reasons still unclear."
Associated Press, September 02, 2014.
Australian couple 'leave disabled baby with Thai surrogate'
"Pattaramon Chanbua from Chonburi province, southeast of Bangkok, agreed via an agent to be a surrogate for the couple for a fee of Aus$16,000 ($14,900), giving birth to twins—a boy and a girl—in December, according to press reports.
But when the Australians discovered the boy, named Gammy by his surrogate family, had Down Syndrome they abandoned him in Thailand and returned to Australia with only the healthy girl, Australia's ABC said."
AFP, August 02, 2014.
- Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate 'paedophile'
"It subsequently emerged that he was convicted in the 1990s on 22 child sex abuse charges involving girls as young as seven, state broadcaster ABC reported. An investigation was launched this week into the safety and welfare of the twin sister but authorities were unable to find the family."
AFP, August 07, 2014. - Couple denies abandoning surrogate–born baby
"The couple was angry that the surrogacy agency had not conducted tests earlier that could have detected the condition, because by the time they found out, it was too late in the pregnancy to abort the fetus. Had they known earlier, they probably would have terminated the pregnancy, David Farnell said.
"I don't think any parent wants a son with a disability," he said. "Parents want their children to be healthy and happy."
They expected the surrogacy agency to give them a refund and find a solution. That's when the still–pregnant Pattaramon offered to keep Gammy, Farnell said. "So we were thinking, oh, maybe—maybe—this might be OK," he said.
Asked about his history as a sex offender, Farnell said he no longer feels any urges to sexually assault young girls and insisted Pipah would be safe in his care.
Associated Press, August 10, 2014.
Wives of top Niger politicians held over child trafficking
"Authorities in Niger have arrested 17 people, including the wives of senior politicians, on suspicion of involvement in a baby–trafficking network that 'bought and sold babies like bread'.
The accused allegedly paid for newborns from neighbouring Nigeria, where human traffickers run notorious 'baby factories' in which women and girls are often forced to bear children for sale."
The Guardian, June 27, 2014.
PA Ex-Prosecutor Douglas Barbour, Wife, Plead in Adoption Abuse Case
"Douglas Barbour 34, and Kristen Barbour, 32, agreed to the plea in exchange for the dismissal of other criminal charges, including assault, during a court appearance in Pittsburgh."
Huffington Post, June 24, 2014.
Baby adopted by Iowa couple, then reclaimed by birth mother found dead; teenage dad charged
"Things should have turned out much differently for little Gabriel.
Just a month ago, he was the new son of an Iowa couple who adopted him at birth from a teenage mother they supported financially and emotionally throughout her pregnancy.
On Thursday he was found dead, his tiny body lying in a chair, a bottle of milk at his side.
Daily News, April 24, 2014
- Birth mom of dead baby tells her side of adoption controversy
Four-month-old Gabriel died Tuesday after his 17-year-old father left him alone. His Iowa birth mother, 16-year-old Markeya Atkins, only had custody for a few weeks after demanding him back from his adoptive mothers in March.
Daily News, April 26, 2014
Girl harbored dark secret, fearing she'd be sent away
Starting at age 14, Nita Dittenber was passed among four families over two years through a practice called "private re-homing." In September, Reuters exposed an underground market in which desperate parents use online bulletin boards to offer adoptees to strangers, often illegally and with no government oversight. The Internet forums, including the Yahoo group where Nita was advertised, can enable abusers to acquire children easily; in one case, a pedophile in Illinois took home a 10-year-old boy hours after an ad for the child was posted online. In the last home where Nita was sent, re-homing served a different purpose, Ohio prosecutors contend. They say it was used to silence Nita and another girl in an effort to conceal the repeated sexual abuse of children.
Reuters, March 21, 2014
Chinese police bust 4 major baby–trafficking rings, rescuing 382 abducted children
"China's Public Security Ministry launched the nationwide crackdown, targeted suspects connected to four websites, disguised as adoption sites.
382 infants rescued and 1,094 suspects arrested
Trafficking children is a major problem in the country where strict laws dictate parents are only allowed to have one child."
Daily Mail, February 28, 2014.
Washington couple guilty in death of adopted daughter Hana Williams
Daily News, September 10, 2013
Americans use the Internet to abandon children adopted from overseas
Reuters Investigates, September 09, 2013
Foster Parents Considering Adoption
From the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2012)
AAP Supports Adoption By Same-Sex Parents
American Academy of Pediatrics, May 19, 2011
Foster Parent Adoption: A Bulletin for Professionals
From the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2006)
Hutchins, Texas 'Girl in the Closet' Case
Archive of articles related to the neglect, physical, and sexual abuse of Hutchins, TX girl confined in closet for years, after initial relinquishment by biological mother and subsequent regaining of custody from foster parents. (Concludes July 16, 2002)
Bid to Adopt Baby Gets Challenge Today
Detroit Free-Press, May 15, 2001
- Judge Considers Abandoned Girl's Fate
Detroit Free-Press, May 16, 2001
Dead Girl's Kin Sue Adoption Agency
The Fresno Bee, March 15, 2002
Florida's Gay Adoption Ban Challenged
Associated Press, June 4, 2001
- Gay Couples Should Be Allowed To Adopt Children, Doctors Group Says
Sun-Sentinel, February 4, 2002 - Children's Groups Criticize Florida's Ban on Gay Adoptions
Sun-Sentinel, February 21, 2002 - Ex-Legislators Renounce Ban on Gay Adoptions They Passed in 1977
Sun-Sentinel, March 7, 2002
Gay, Religious Groups Demand That Moore Resign
The Tuscaloosa News, February 23, 2002
Now You're a Parent, Now You Aren't
Salon.com, November 28, 2001
Lingering Hope
South China Morning News, July 26, 2001
Adopted Overseas Children Will Become Instant U.S. Citizens
The Palm Beach Post, February 22, 2001
UNICEF Warns India of Phony Foreign Adoption Deals
Reuters, February 9, 2001
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Adoption
Roots & Wing Adoption Magazine, 1995
Permanency Planning: Sword or Shield?
Adoptalk, Spring 1984
ORGANIZATIONS/AGENCIES
(click here for Articles/Information/Research)
Adoption Family Center
c/o Families Like Ours, Inc.
https://www.familieslikeours.org/
AFC/FLO is an organization dedicated to providing gay adoptive, or prospective adoptive, parents the support and tools necessary to provide for a healthy environment for all our children. Includes links to state laws, information, chat room and message board, as well as links to adoptive/parenting Resources.
Federal Laws Governing Adoption Agencies
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws-policies/federal-laws
Federal laws governing adoption agencies, from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Child Welfare Information Gateway Children's Bureau/ACYF
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW
Eighth Floor
Washington, DC 20024
Toll-free: 1-800-394-336
Email: info@childwelfare.gov
childwelfare.gov/adoption
A service of the Children's Bureau/ACF/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Provides information, statistics, State adoption laws, publications, links to resources, and more.
Cruelty & Neglect in Russian Orphanages
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299
Phone: (212) 290-4700
www.hrw.org/news/1998/12/15/report-documents-brutal-treatment-russian-orphanages
Human Rights Watch's campaign to improve conditions in Russian orphanages.
CWLA Adoption Program
Child Welfare League of America
440 First Street, N.W., 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20001-2085
Phone: (202) 638-2952
www.cwla.org/programs/adoption/
Adoption Facts, resources, and publications. Sections on single-parent and special-needs adoptions, State Adoption Profiles, legislative information.
International Adoption
U.S. Department of State
Office of Children's Issues
Room 4811, Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520-4818
Phone: (202) 736-7000
http://adoption.state.gov/index.php
U.S. State Department information regarding international adoption, listing by country of laws, regulations, and special issues.
National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center
School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley
1950 Addison Street, Suite 104
Berkeley, CA 94704-1182
Phone: (510) 643-8390
http://aia.berkeley.edu/
Education and legislative information re "boarder babies," infants prenatally exposed to alcohol, drugs, or HIV, then abandoned in hospitals. State-by-state list of programs, statistics, publications.
National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoptions
16250 Northland Drive, Suite 120
Southfield, MI 48075
Phone: (248) 443-0306
www.nrcadoption.org
