What about Madonna?

Because it has been a recurring spot the past week or two on nightly news programs and entertainment gossip shows, the story of Madonna’s adoption of a boy in Malawi is generating a good deal of discussion.  Today, for instance, you can check out CNN and see three major stories about the adoption, the push-back from various human rights groups, and the bleak story of AIDS orphans in Africa.  The story has caused me a good deal of angst.  A couple of months ago I wrote a post on my secret love for Angelina Jolie.  I explained that despite tales of her eccentricities, she appears to me to be walking the walk when it comes to caring for orphan and widows.  She appears to me to be using her position of influence to advocate for those who lack a voice.  So the question arises for me, “What about Madonna?”

The short answer is “I don’t know.”  I don’t know what to think of her.  I don’t know her motives in adopting the child.  I don’t know why she sought to be exempt from the Malawian law that requires a foreigner to live with the child in Malawi for 18 months before adoption.  I don’t know why she picked this child or this country.  She doesn’t have the track record on human rights issues for me to have a good feel for those things.  Maybe some day she will, but for now, I don’t know.

The story for me goes beyond Madonna.  The fact that she is a lightning rod for criticism combined with the fact that she was exempted from the residency requirement and able to take the child out of the country have raised concerns from child advocates and Africa advocates, concerns that have made headlines themselves.  There have been numerous articles recently discussing the problem of child trafficking and removing children from their community.  As an adoptive parent with children from a country far from my own, these issues strike a nerve.  “Wait,” I want to yell, “these kids are without family, without a home, and often without hope.  Adoptive parents, whether domestic or international, can provide those things.”  To the question of whether to allow international adoptions I explain “The countries allowing international adoption don’t have good track records of domestic adoptions for a number of reasons.  Without international adoption these children will remain in more desperate conditions even where lovingly cared for by orphanage workers.”  I want to say those things, but I still know that for many questions remain. 

Here’s where I am on these thoughts.  International adoption is not in itself inherently wrong.  Like anything else it can be abused and, based on the fact we’re dealing with children, the most helpless members of society, should be carefully safeguarded through well-drafted legislation, international treaties, and continued follow up. [As a side note, I think this is my biggest issue with the Madonna situation:  she worked around the law.]  Pre-adoption screening and education and post-adoption follow up and support are a vital key to protecting the children.  All that said, so long as there is evil in the world, there will be those who prey on children.  We must be vigilant in fighting against such predators. 

While I am an obvious (and self-interested) proponent of international adoption, I recognize it is woefully inadequate to address the systemic problems of orphaned children around the world.  In Russia there are between 600,000-700,000 orphans living in state-run institutions.  It is estimated there could be 2 million living on the streets.  Not all of these children are even eligible to be adopted as their parents have relinquished them to the care of the state unable or unwilling to raise them but equally unwilling to relinquish their parental rights.  The UN estimates there are over 40 million orphans on the continent of Africa.  International adoption cannot solve that crisis.  The crisis of these children is systemic requiring a systemic and comprehensive answer.  That answer must come from more than parents desiring to bring children into their homes.  It has to come from individuals, churches, synagogues, mosques, communities and governments.  Simply put, it is a global problem in need of a global solution.  While for some of us that may start with adopting, it can’t end there.  We all need to advocate for these children.  We all need to find ways to improve the economic and health situations in their countries to provide hope. 

There really isn’t a way for me to “conclude” this post because my life is wrapped in concern for orphans.  I have brought two to live with me and my heart beats to give them a family and hope – to tell them they are no longer orphans.  Rather than conclude, I’ll leave you with a few sites of interest – individuals and groups working to better the lives of orphans in various parts of our globe.

ServLife International, Inc. (among other ministries, providing for children in India and Nepal)

Robert & Ann Fuqua (working with orphans in Russia)

Friends of Russian Orphans (obviously working in Russia)

Ryazan Baby Home (our son's first home)

Children's Rescue Outreach International (working in Liberia and a client of mine)

International Justice Mission (advocating and providing rescue and follow up care to the oppressed)

World Vision (among other ministries, helping children in crisis)

These are only a few people and organizations caring for orphaned children around the world.  There are many more.  Where can you help?

Comments

[the wife]

I'm maybe a little more sympathetic to Madonna and her adoption. She claims to not have done anything illegal and to have been working on the adoption for months. The Malawian court allowed the adoption (and shouldn't they determine what is legal and acceptable for their country, not the western media?) Maybe she received special attention because of her fame and wealth, but that attention has certainly been both negative and positive. If it were you and I, for instance, who had done the same thing, I doubt anyone would be contesting or questioning it to such a degree.

As to her motivations, who can tell? But I certainly see how anyone could visit such a place, look into the faces of hungry, lonely, dying children; and be moved to bring one (or more) home. So if you ever take me to such a place, we might as well already have the paperwork completed and the I-171 in hand.

[the wife again]

And as to the whole argument of "how dare you take a child out of its birth culture.":

When every mother and father on this planet have the resources to feed, clothe, and shelter their biological children and to provide them with the medical care they need and deserve; when mothers and fathers are no longer killed by famine, disease and war; and when children are no longer abandoned by or forcefully removed from parents who just don't give a shit......then we can have a discussion about the benefits of keeping children in their "culture." The rights of children (and adults for that matter) to food, medicine, shelter, safety, and family trump the luxury of remaining in their birthplace or family.

And honestly when an American or Westerner adopts a child from another country, they are not making that child an American, but are making their family an international family. We did not make Jacob and Stella Americans, we made all four of us Russian-Americans.

I don't have strong feelings on this, do I?

[darren]

In fairness, Madonna has now released a statement that she had begun the adoption process long before the news hit the media and was complying with Malawi law. While I understood Malawi law to require 18 months in country, perhaps it is just 18 months and the court may decide if that can be abroad -- that I don't know. In any event, I agree with those saying celebrity adoption has the potential to cause people to think international adoption is quick and easy. It isn't. More on that in a future post about our wait and the wait of friends.