Global Politics Put Nonprofit Efforts in Constant Flux

As the number of Americans who adopt children from abroad swells, the workload for charities that help arrange

adoptions has grown tremendously, especially since they must constantly revise their programs to adjust to changes in political situations around the world.

Over the past few years, the list of countries from which Americans have adopted children has changed significantly. In 1989, for instance, most international adoptions were of children who were born in South Korea and Colombia; today, it is China and Russia. For charities, that switch not only means keeping track of changes in rules and regulations and the evolution of cultural attitudes in the countries where they operate, but also has created demand to move quickly to set up operations as soon as new countries open their doors to adoptions by parents in the United States.

These shifts often happen abruptly, says Victor Groza, a professor of social work at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, who analyzes international adoption.

In 1991, for instance, the largest number of children to be adopted to the United States came from Romania, compared with any other country: More than 2,500 visas were granted by the State Department to orphans seeking to move to the United States. The following year, adoptions were suspended in response to concerns about corruption and child trafficking, and 121 orphan visas were granted, either to children whose adoptions were nearly final before the suspension or who were smuggled out of the country.

“And so there was movement to Russia, and then Vietnam, and Cambodia, and then the Ukraine, but then the Ukraine had a crisis, so that closed down,” Mr. Groza explains. “It’s almost like a movable feast — situations change in particular countries, organizations navigate those turbulent waters,” he says.

Part of the reason the waters are so turbulent is the number of criminals who sell children illegally. As many as 1.5 million children worldwide are sold each year, according to Unicef, and some have been removed from their families by force and end up in the United States for adoption.

Television Images

Interest in international adoption in the United States also fluctuates, with a peak of interest often coinciding with world events that present tragic images of children on television.

For instance, Children’s Hope International, in St. Louis, received many inquiries after the school shooting in Beslan, Russia, last September. And the South Asia tsunamis in December sparked big interest in adoption. Almost immediately, international adoption charities fielded phone calls and e-mail messages asking the same question: Can I adopt a child from Thailand, India, or Indonesia?

The answer the charities gave: Children orphaned by the tsunamis were not yet available for adoption, and might never be, as authorities determined the fates of their families.

Charities used the uptick in interest to educate the public about international adoption, says Lillian Thogersen, chief operating officer at World Association for Children and Parents, a charity in Seattle that helps American parents adopt children from overseas. “It’s an opportunity to get the message about children that are waiting right now, and that are legally free for adoption,” she says.