Quite a week
It’s been quite a week in the Vietnam adoption community, what with the Embassy letter and all. If you, like me, need help understanding child trafficking, etc., you might want to take a look at this – http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3679&context=expresso. Of course I’m linking to a law review article, since each of his statements needs to be supported (see “Accountability”). I’m certainly not advocating any position he takes, but I found it useful in the sense of giving me an idea of what this sort of corruption is all about and how cyclical it is (what a depressing thought). It was also helpful to me from the perspective of understanding the economics involved. While other bloggers out there are quick to point fingers at a few agencies, accusing them of wrong-doing, I found it interesting to see how this sort of corruption can easily occur solely in the sending country without an agency’s involvement.
NOIDs are not necessarily a condemnation of an agency. If the Embassy / USCIS are investigating two (or more) provinces, that does not necessarily mean that the agencies that have facilitated adoptions in those provinces are corrupt. The economic incentive to engage in this horrific behavior seems to me at least to lie on the side of those receiving the vast majority of the “international fees,” the largest chunk of money we all pay in connection with an adoption, amounts that are not necessarily going to the US agencies. Might US agencies be directly involved or complicit by turning a blind eye? I’m sure that could be. But, so far, neither the Embassy nor the USCIS has named agencies responsible. Their focus appears to be on the orphanages / provinces themselves (per the Embassy letter). Nowhere in that letter did it state that US agencies themselves are involved in any of the misdeeds that were mentioned.
If impropriety is occurring in these provinces, the US agencies working there (including mine) need to immediately cease placements from there (if the government hasn’t already shut them down, as we’ve heard through the rumor mill). I’m sure they’re all considering whether to do so now. In the meantime, let’s stop the sanctimonious finger pointing and chants of “my adoption is more ethical than yours.” Let’s hope that these events are isolated and we can all get back to the days where our biggest worries were when we would get a referral or travel call.
Paperclips
Notwithstanding my last post, now that I have accepted my referral, I am counting the days until I go to Vietnam. Not clear how long it will take, but my fabulous case manager gave me the helpful advice to place the number of paperclips that represents the average number of days it typically takes from referral to travel in my province (plus a big buffer) and to move one paperclip per day to a separate pile. While I do have many many more paperclips on the waiting side, I do already have some in the other pile. Somehow I find it kind of comforting to be able to visualize it this way.
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Etta’s Hats
Where I’ve Been
