February 10, 2014

Adoption News Round-Up

Here’s a look at some of the big news circulating in the adoption world this week:

A Minnesota mother who adopted a little boy from Russia in 2008, appeals to Russian television to try and get the country to remove the Russian adoption ban between Russia and US adoptions. The family is desperate to adopt the biological brother of their son, who still resides in a Russian orphanage.

The appeal for an adoption records bill has hit the news again, as the Bill of Adoptee Rights is back in New York legislature. If passed, it would be much easier for adoptees over the age of 18 to gain access to their birth certificates. “The proposed law would give adoptees in the state the right to get copies of their unsealed birth certificate and medical history form, if available. Unsealed birth certificates contain their original birth name, the name of their biological parents, the biological parents’ address at the time of birth, the date and location of birth, as well as religious and ethnic heritage.”

Philomena, the woman behind the critically-acclaimed film with Judi Dench about a mother forced to give her son up for adoption, has come out and said that she doesn’t blame the Vatican, even though there is a damning report essentially holding the institution responsible.

A new bill in South Dakota prevents adoption agencies from being “pregnancy help centers,” adding “a new provision that requires pregnancy help centers to report information about their counselors every year. That way the state can confirm the counselors are licensed. More controversially, HB 1180 tightens the definition of a “pregnancy help center.” It also specifically prevents an agency that places children for adoption from being a registered pregnancy help center.”

There’s a debate about adoption happening in South Korea right now regarding the country’s “superpower” adoption status, with more South Korean children being adopted internationally than within their own country. Although a law has been passed requiring birth parents to register their children’s birth, the result is that more and more children are now being abandoned. South Korea is now working harder than ever to help these children, and to emphasize the need for a loving bond with families with the country. The article poses the thought that while South Korea is trying to reform their situation, Japan could learn a lot from South Korea’s desire to protect abandoned children by helping them form loving bonds with others.

This Super Bowl ad from Kay’s Jeweler’s is getting a lot of heat about the way it portrays adoption. HuffPo notes, “how many adoption stereotypes can be crammed into one 30-second commercial?” What do you think?