Intercountry adoption: preventing and addressing illicit practices in intercountry adoption

At best, intercountry adoptions offer some of the most vulnerable children in the world a chance of a future in a safe, secure, and permanent home. At worst, these vulnerable lives are caught up in illicit practices, separated from their birth family and exposed to fundamental breaches of their basic human rights. This paradoxical reality has been the subject of much research, debate, and scrutiny, separating those who support the practice of intercountry adoption from those who approach it with measured scepticism. The 1993 Hague Adoption Convention, along with international human rights instruments, creates effective safeguards. This chapter examines the vulnerabilities in the practice of intercountry adoption by looking at the causes and dynamics of illicit practices and then examining ways to prevent and address them.