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International Adoption

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Advocates for International Adoptions

Coalition on Adoption Caucus Co-Chair, Senator Klobuchar recently brought up international adoption in a Judiciary Committee hearing with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Below is a brief transcript of the exchange.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security

November 16, 2021

KLOBUCHAR:  Thank you. Last question here; along with Senator Blunt, I co-chair the congressional Coalition on Adoption Caucus. Many of the members on this committee are members; it’s very bipartisan. Over in the house, it is Adam Smith and Representative Aderholt that chair the commission. And that’s why we’ve introduced the Adoptee Citizenship Act to make citizenship automatic for all international adoptees who were legally adopted by U.S. citizens as kids, regardless of when their adoption was finalized. Since 2004, international adoptions have fallen nearly 93 percent. And I have always viewed this, and part of it, of course, is a pandemic; part of it is things that Russia did, things that China did. But there’s a whole lot of kids in other countries as well that need a loving family, and there’s a whole lot of Americans that would like to adopt kids. We are proud that the domestic numbers have actually gone up during the last few administrations; with foster kids getting adopted, that’s all good. But international adoption has actually been a part of the way that our country is connected to the rest of the world. Not to mention the humanitarian issues. Will you work with me to identify barriers and find ways to ease the citizenship process for foreign-born adoptees and also in general, as we’re talking to the State Department, Senator Blunt and I about this issue to work to get back to the situation where we were welcoming adopted kids into our country?

MAYORKAS:  Senator, I would be privileged to do so. I was privileged to work with then-Senator Mary Landrieu on international adoptions as well as with Ranking Member Grassley on that valiant effort.

KLOBUCHAR:  All right. Thank you…

Blunt, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Marking National Adoption Month

AAAA is pleased to reshare this Press Release from the United States Senate regarding National Adoption Month.

For Immediate Release

November 17, 2021

Katie_Boyd@blunt.senate.gov (Blunt)

Jane_Meyer@klobuchar.senate.gov (Klobuchar)

Blunt, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Marking National Adoption Month

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, announced that they have introduced a resolution marking November as National Adoption Month and November 20 as National Adoption Day. This is the seventh consecutive year that Blunt and Klobuchar have led legislation to recognize National Adoption Month and National Adoption Day.

“Every child deserves a stable, loving home and the foundation for a successful future that it provides,” said Blunt. “As an adoptive parent myself, I’m proud to introduce this resolution recognizing November as National Adoption Month, and I hope it will encourage more Americans to consider expanding their families through the gift of adoption. In the Senate, I remain committed to working with parents, advocates, and colleagues to promote adoption and raise awareness for the 400,000 children in our foster care system who are in need of families.”

“National Adoption Month is an opportunity to support adoptive families who open their hearts and homes to children,” said Klobuchar. “As Senate co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, Senator Blunt and I continue to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help make the adoption process better for children and families across our country. I’ll keep working to increase awareness about the importance of adoption and honor the dedication and commitment of adoptive families.”

For years, Blunt and Klobuchar have been leaders in the fight to give every child a permanent home.

Provisions of Blunt and Klobuchar’s legislation to protect adopted children from unregulated custody transfers, also known as rehoming, passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in June as part of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Reauthorization of 2021.

In May, Blunt and Klobuchar reintroduced the Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee Act to provide the Secretary of State with the authority to establish an Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee to focus on coordinating the development, refinement, and implementation of policy and programs on intercountry adoption.

That same month, Blunt and Klobuchar led a bipartisan letter calling on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to engage in efforts to resume intercountry adoptions with China, which have been indefinitely paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Intercountry Adoption Information Act, which Blunt and Klobuchar cosponsored, was signed into law in November 2020. The legislation helps ensure that Americans who are trying to adopt children from other countries are provided with updated, quality information as they navigate the intercountry adoption process.

During that same month, Blunt and Klobuchar encouraged the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services to raise awareness for National Adoption Month and for the importance of domestic and intercountry adoption.

In October 2020, they sent a letter urging the Department of State to prioritize policies to promote intercountry adoption and to look specifically at the fee schedule for prospective accrediting entities to ensure they do not impose undue financial burdens on families seeking to adopt internationally.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Blunt and Klobuchar sent a letter in April 2020 asking the Department of State to use all available resources to ensure that intercountry adoptions proceed in a safe and timely manner during the pandemic and that American families stranded abroad while completing these adoptions return home safely.

Blunt and Klobuchar in May 2019 reintroduced the Supporting Adoptive Families Act to help provide pre- and post-adoption support services, including mental health treatment, to help adoptive families stay strong.

Blunt and Klobuchar also partnered on the Accuracy for Adoptees Act, which became law in early 2014. This legislation cuts red tape for adoptive families and ensures that corrections made to adoptees’ state vital records would be recognized by the federal government.

The full text of the resolution is available here.

Please Click Here To View This Press Release Online

 

 

Policymakers Asked To Exclude Expecting Parents From COVID-19 Travel Ban

Men Having Babies, in collaboration with a number of organizations including AAAA, Resolve, and ASRM has issued a letter to policymakers asking for help to adjust current regulations to allow prospective parents from all over the world to travel to the U.S. to be with their newborn child. Click here to read the full body of the letter.

Humanitarian Parole for U.S. Citizens with Completed Adoptions

Today, the Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) and National Council For Adoption (NCFA) issued a joint press release calling upon the Department of State to grant humanitarian parole to the children of adoptive families who are unable to receive an adoption visa in a timely manner so that the families may safely return to the United States together as soon as possible.  Read the entire Release here.

COVID-19 and The US State Department Closure of Passport Agencies

The shut down of regional passport issuing offices, and the directives to only issue passports in life or death situations, is creating very concerning delays for parents coming to the US and hoping to return home with their newborns as soon as possible. AAAA sent the attached letter to Secretary of State Pompeo and to the DOS, Bureau of Consular Affairs, expressing our concern. In part, the letter notes lack of health care for newborns and parents who linger in the States, travel visas expiring, and lack of adequate long-term shelter in which to care for a newborn as some of the top issues of concern due to the shut-down. To read the complete letter, click here.

A Child’s Right to Family

Hundreds of millions of children across the world are destined to grow up on the streets and in institutions.  One of the best solutions to this crisis is international adoption.  However, adoptions to the United States have dropped by 75 percent over the last 14 years and international adoptions worldwide have dropped by over half.  This downward trend is not slowing. Adoptions to the United States dropped by 13 percent from 2017 to 2018. As a result, every year tens of thousands of children are denied a family.

Unfortunately, the Department of State is implementing policies that will further reduce the number of international adoptions.  Another factor contributing to the accelerated decline is over regulation.  In 2004, when intercounty adoption peaked, it was reported that the Department of State employed 10 to 15 staff in the adoption division.  In November of 2018, despite a 75 percent decline since 2004, it was reported that the adoption division employed 21 staff.

The Harvard Law School Child Advocacy Program (CAP), directed by Elizabeth Bartholet, is taking a leading role in confronting this humanitarian crisis.  CAP is advancing legislation that “calls on the Department of State to report the deliberate denial of family life, including the refusal to place children in available adoptive homes, as a human rights violation in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” You can find out more about this initiative and CAP at https://cap.law.harvard.edu/cap-law-reform-projects/.

You can also sign a petition showing your members of congress and governement that you support every child’s right to a family at https://caplawharvard.salsalabs.org/childsrighttofamily/index.html.

— Eric Freeby is the current Adoption Deputy Director of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys

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