Pro-life vid of day: Children “Stuck” in international orphanages
by Hans Johnson
A new documentary film called Stuck follows three American families and four orphans from Vietnam, Haiti, and Ethiopia as they wade through the red tape of international adoption. These adoptions have been increasingly difficult to accomplish in recent years, especially with nations like Russia now banning them.
The film, narrated by actress Mariska Hargitay, also features Senator Mary Landrieu (D – LA), the Senatorial co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. She is the mother of two domestically adopted children, and her husband was adopted from Ireland. Landrieu believes “every child deserves to grow up in a family, and we in the United States need to do more to make this happen”:
Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.
[HT: Kelli]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
As a grandmother by adoption to two from Russia how well I remember the length of time, red tape, costs, delays, cancellations, closing of adoptions to Americans etc that it took to get them to their forever home. I also thank God for the mother who in a country that pays for abortion on demand throughout all nine mos. of pregnancy had the courage to choose life. My heart breaks for the rest.
For those of us too old to adopt consider sponsoring a child in their country. I had the privilege of supporting two orphans in Kenya through high school. Remember in many of these countries, education is not free. By supporting these two boys through a Christian organization …one from age four who just wrote me as he graduated from high school to say thank you…made it all worthwhile.
If you have ever traveled internationally and see how blessed we are in America compared to other countries, will make you want to do more.
My future niece is in Ethiopia right now. My sister and her husband have worked so hard to try to meet her and bring her home. It has cost a lot of money and they have had to wade through so much bureaucratic red tape but they are hopeful she will be with them by the Fall.
Makes me want to adopt one of these little ones, it’s a shame it’s so expensive :(
It is so hard, and so frustrating of a process! It is ridiculous how long it takes to adopt children…
I know, Vita and A7x..I was thinking the same things you both were. :(
“all of these kids have families, all of these kids have homes in the US”
“we are his only hope”
“my son”
Wow!
When will other countries learn that what the people of the US want should be delivered up, immediately, without question.
Thank you for highlighting the pain and suffering of these poor children. I pray for God’s guidance for all those involved.
Yeah, the language of the video was a bit over the top. These are children, not kittens. They are not getting “rescued.”
Defund Planned Parenthood and all that money could go towards the adoption agencies. Problem solved.
Thank You Reality,
You got a very big “like” from me on your post..
I am reminded of the Indian leader, I believe it was Nehru, who was asked what he thought of American young people “donating” their time and talent to “help” Indian villagers. Nehru replied that he thought it was a great idea, that American young people could learn much from Indian villagers.
Just who do we think we are?
Have we forgotten that people around the world have raised and cared for their own children for thousands of years with no help from us? Where do we get the idea these children are for our picking and choosing? Its not like we don’t have our own children in desperate need of love and families. How would we feel about foreigners assuming they have the right to adopt them and remove them from our country and any surviving family they may have?
I have no problem with international adoptions that must meet very strict criteria. I can also understand the Russians telling us to go take a hike.
I am very troubled by Madonna adopting two African children who were in fact not without a family, but had a surviving parent and/or family members and were obviously well cared for in their orphanages. These children belong with their families, culture, and people. Not being Madonna’s pets. Angelina Jolie picks a child from a Vietnamese orphanage, taking him from the only family he knows, which are the other children and his caregivers. Maybe its me but I have never seen that child smile. Who says these children are better off and what gave anyone the right to take them? Money and status? The ability to grease the right palms?
Yes the conditions are heartrending. So are the circumstances of millions of children who live with their families. That does not give us the right to take them from their families, people, and culture.
Maybe we should focus instead on the needs of our own children in foster care, abusive homes, homeless shelters, and those that face daily gangland violence before we assume to tell the rest of the world how to care for theirs.
Yes, A and Reality, when people kill children at a rate of up to 60% in some communities, it sure is hard to adopt. Dead babies just can’t find homes, can they?
” When will other countries learn that what the people of the US want should be delivered up, immediately, without question.”
This kinda stuff veers closely to the “white savior complex” thing, I do agree. People in the US are not entitled to children from different cultures just because they want them. We don’t own the world. I don’t have a problem with international adoption as long as it’s well regulated, but when people do things like complain about countries closing their borders to international adoption I want to scream. Those kids don’t belong to the US, we can’t just take them because we want them. And again, people don’t seem to realize we need to have the children in the US that are in foster care taken care of too, even if you can’t keep them forever they deserve love and care as well.
Plus there have been really disturbing reports of people kidnapping children from poor families to sell to adoption agencies. The adoptive parents don’t know, it’s not their fault, but it happens. It’s similar to women in poor countries being forced to be surrogates by agencies for US couples.
Hi Jack,
Does it ever occur to us that people in other cultures may be as equally shocked and appalled about the circumstances some of our children live in? I don’t know that they assume it gives them the right to demand to adopt US children.
We agree Mary.
I agree with you too Jack. I’ve seen a number of programs in recent years about ‘poor orphans’ being adopted and then despairing parents being identified.
$28,000? Imagine what that can do for a poor village in many of these places.
So ninek, you support forcing women into being gestational vessels as well as US hegemony over other nations children?
” Does it ever occur to us that people in other cultures may be as equally shocked and appalled about the circumstances some of our children live in? I don’t know that they assume it gives them the right to demand to adopt US children.”
Yeah… What upsets me is you hear people complaining about how difficult it is to adopt an child from another country, while kids sit in foster care (and there is a huge problem with abuse in foster care). They say that they want a kid that they can keep forever, which is a legitimate want. But we don’t always get what we want, and why do you want your house to sit empty for years while you try to get a “forever” kid, while you could use that time to help out foster kids who need some love?
” I agree with you too Jack. I’ve seen a number of programs in recent years about ‘porr orphans’ being adopted and then despairing parents being identified.”
Oh yeah it’s freaking horrible. And then almost always the adoptive family refuses to give the child back. It’s rough.
Hi Jack,
No doubt many of these foster care children could become a “forever” child if someone would just adopt them and are only in foster care because no one has. Also, could some of these “emotionally abused” and “unmanagable” Russian children be the result of being taken from their country by complete strangers who had much too high expectations of their “forever” child?
I still remember the picture of Angelina Jolie looking at the lineup of Vietnamese children before making her selection. What were these children, puppies in a litter?
Sen. Landrieu is a pro abortion mother of 2 adopted children. Go figure.
Hi Karen,
I would assume she is grateful the mother(s) or her adopted children did not abort them.
It would seem people who would spend thousands on international adoption could more easily, and economically, contact their local social service agency for the names of American children in desperate need of homes.
“People in the US are not entitled to children from different cultures just because they want them.”
People who want to adopt are generally doing it for the right reasons. A kid in an institution would be better off in a home with loving parents, even if they are US parents.
right, of course! but there should be a better way to make sure that the child was truly relinquished by his/her birth parents
“People who want to adopt are generally doing it for the right reasons. A kid in an institution would be better off in a home with loving parents, even if they are US parents.”
I’m not talking about their reasons, I do agree that the majority of adoptive parents are probably doing it for the right reasons (you get the odd “parent” who sends an emotionally disturbed child back to Russia or something, but it’s a minority that do things like that). What I am talking about is why do people think they are entitled to another country’s children? If someone from Japan decided that a kid over here was better off with them, I don’t think the US government would be too happy about them thinking that they were entitled to get that child. There are good reasons why it’s difficult to adopt internationally, you are taking someone from the culture, language and people that they know. It’s a serious thing, and people aren’t entitled to children from another country because they think they can give the child a better life. They might be correct that life would be better with them, but it’s also that country’s right to put restrictions on it.