International Adoption Documentary – “Stuck”

An interview with Craig Juntunen, founder of Both Ends Burning and producer of a new documentary on international adoption, Stuck, to talk about the ethics of international adoption and the delays.

Listen
Hit the Highlights
  • How has the Hague Treaty on Intercountry Adoption affected international adoptions? For the good? For the bad?
  • Is supply of available children to adopt the real barrier to international adoption?
  • The documentary says that a country needs to develop their domestic adoption and foster care systems. However, if the money is all in international adoption, how likely is it that a country will develop these systems — especially if the country is poor?
  • How do we address the fundamental tension in international adoption that whenever large amounts of money are exchanged between a wealthy country and a really poor country, there is a huge potential for corruption.
  • Has the cessation of international adoptions stemmed the tide of children and babies ending up in orphanages in Cambodia and Guatemala?
  • Why adopt abroad when there is so much need at home?
  • How can international adoption handle the cultural differences? In the context of international adoption, these cultural differences tend to be in how poor families view government care, or what we may call orphanage care. Also, it can include the idea of sending children to live with others in exchange for later support of the family. In some countries, there is just a greater acceptance that children should be sent to a care facility, but the intent is not to give this child up permanently. In essence these orphanages serve as boarding schools.
  • What are some of the reasons for the drastic drop in international adoptions?
  • What can we do to support international adoptions and provide families for the children who have no other option?
  • What is UNICEF’s position on international adoption? Are they friend or foe?
  • Does Both Ends Burning want to tweak the Hague Treaty or overhaul it?
  • What are some of the problems with the Hague Treaty?