Once upon a time adoption was a matter of discretion, something not to be spoken about, in some views a stigma.
To adopt was a married couples acknowledgement of a failure to conceive, to place a child for adoption was a mother’s acknowledgement of the fact of illegitimacy or the simple inability to care for her child … Not any more, adoption is out of the closet. It’s a new world with new family groupings: Single parents, gay couples and rainbow alliances. It’s also a hard world, with orphanages in the countries of the former Soviet Empire, Latin America and China overflowing. It should be a simple matter to match up people who simply want to give love to a child with kids in need of a home but it’s not.
Bureaucracy frequently inept, often corrupt stands in the way along with vague laws that vary from country to country. Yet more and more people are venturing overseas to bring a child into their home.
(Hosted by Michael Goldfarb)
Guests:
Adam Pertman, author of “Adoption Nation”
Elizabeth Bartholet, author of “Nobody’s Children” and “Family Bonds”;
Janis Cooke Newman, author of “The Russian Word for Snow.”