Mr. Michael W. Michalak, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, responded to the article “Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis” in Foreign Policy magazine and updated readers on the status of future adoptions from Vietnam.
His response is as follows:
Dear Foreign Policy Editors:
Kudos to Ms. Graff for tackling the very vexing issue of intercountry adoption. It’s one of the most heartrending issues I’ve handled as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam. When we decided not to renew our bilateral adoption agreement in September 2008, the U.S. and Vietnam took action against unscrupulous operators who put profits ahead of child welfare. I want to assure Foreign Policy readers that no one in the U.S. Government wants to prevent genuine orphans from being adopted by American parents, but protecting children must be at the forefront of U.S. policy.
I’d like to update Foreign Policy readers on the latest developments since September 2008:
- In April 2009, Vietnam remolded its former Department of Intercountry Adoption as the Department of Adoptions with renewed emphasis on domestic as well as international adoption.
- At UNICEF’s recommendation, Vietnam invited International Social Services researchers to undertake an extensive study on adoption in Vietnam (http://www.unicef.org/vietnam/Eng_Adoption_report.pdf) in May 2009.
- Since mid-2009, the Vietnamese courts have investigated and prosecuted several persons for irregularities related to intercountry adoption.
- The U.S. and Vietnam held bilateral adoption talks in December 2009. Both sides agreed our goal should be Vietnam’s full membership in the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
- Vietnam passed its new Law of Adoptions in June 2010. Importantly, in addition to specifying important reforms in international adoptions, this law also clarifies procedures for domestic adoptions in Vietnam.
- Last week, Vietnam announced its plan to train 35,000 certified social workers by 2020. These social workers will play a critical role in ensuring that the rights of children and biological families are protected.
- Vietnam continues to work closely with UNICEF and international adoption experts as it drafts the new laws enabling regulations.
- Vietnam plans to become a full member state of the Hague Convention in early 2011.
I am convinced both the U.S. and Vietnam want to put in place an adoption system where trained social workers replace commissioned “baby brokers, and where the interests of the child take precedence over all else. We applaud the initiatives by the Government of Vietnam in its renewed commitment to strengthen its child welfare system and the integrity of its domestic and international adoption process. We are working with the Government of Vietnam so that adoptions by U.S. citizens can be resumed.
Sincerely,
Michael W. Michalak
United States Ambassador to Vietnam
Access “Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis” in its entirety and view the comments of Mr. Michael W. Michalak and other readers here.
5 Responses
This is good news, but it sounds so much simpler than it is. Just this week my former department chair came to visit after teaching for six months in Hanoi. He is retired, so this is his retirement fun. He lived for a year in China earlier in this decade. Anyway, he said that he saw a baby in a hammock and stopped to admire it, the way people do when they see small babies in public. Noting his interest, the parents came up and held the baby up to him and asked him if he wanted to adopt it. No baby broker or social worker was involved. He said “it’s very wild west over there”.
What a sad story Rudy. Imagine how desperate those parents are to feel they cannot raise their own child, and to be at such as loss as to not know how to proceed with placing their child for adoption. Hopefully, with the new laws, social workers can help such families out.
I am heartened to see the progress that has been made.
It is fair to say that difficult economic times certainly affect the thinking of people. The poorer people are— the more stories you will see about this type of activity. I am saddened that US citizens have played a role in any family seeing that adoption (for money or not) might ease their burdens. The story might make it appear that the parents in question have no love but just see a meal ticket. I am appalled that people in the world see their survival as a choice of their child or themselves.
I hope this new program in VN can help to dismantle this issue.
What Ambassador Michalak does not address in his comments are the current status of 16 children who were matched with adoptive parents in the US prior to the expiration of the MOU between the US and Vietnam. Despite a number of these families having positive (US conducted) DNA tests between birth mother and child, Ambassador Michalak’s staff continues to assume fraud on every case and are refusing to help these families and in many ways are the prime impediment to these children having a life in the US vs. one in an orphanage in one of the poorest provinces in Vietnam.
Orphans like these, who have lived in state custody for 3 years are generally not typical ones used in brokerage or traffic situations, but while Ambassador Michalak’s stance is admirable, it provides no comfort to parents who were previously matched and now are being stonewalled by the state department.
I am sure that the parents of these children would have loved to have heard from Ambassador Michalak once in three years, rather than the terse form letter emails that have been their only communication from the Department of State in 3 years.
I wish I could believe Ambassador Michalak when he says that children come first, but unfortunately the actions of him and his staff have proven to be quite the opposite.
I’m curious about this, Jose, and would love to hear more information. Is the current moratorium the one you are talking about? I’m just a bit confused since it has not been three years since the last MOU expired.