Florida moms, fearing racism, sending babies to Canada for adoption UPDATED

“At a time when international adoption is on the wane in many countries, it is becoming a surprising — and controversial — growth industry in Florida, where some birth mothers are seemingly looking to Canada as a kind of promised land.

Growing numbers of Florida mothers wishing to place their African-American or mixed race children up for adoption are choosing Canada. Many have told adoption officials in Florida they want Canadian families to raise their infants so their children can escape the kind of racism they live with. Others mention Canada’s parental-leave benefits, saying that will mean their babies have a better chance of bonding with their new parents.

“Many birth mothers are choosing to have their children placed in Canada because they feel that Canada is a much more open society and they feel they will have less exposure to racism here,” said Cathy Murphy, executive director of Ottawa-based international adoption agency Children’s Bridge, which has had a Florida program for nearly two years.

“They mention they don’t want their black children raised in Florida if there is another option,” said Karyn Bakelaar, who is in charge of the Florida program for Children’s Bridge.

Canadians have been adopting infants from Florida for more than a decade. But a trend that began in British Columbia has now spread to a number of provinces, including Ontario, through Children’s Bridge.

Murphy said it is sad to hear the reasons some mothers are choosing Canadian families to raise their children, but it is not surprising.

Melanie Kassandji, an adoption co-ordinator with Hollywood, Florida-based Adoption by Shepherd Care, which works with The Children’s Bridge, said birth mothers choose Canadian families for a variety of reasons, mainly because they think they will provide their infant with a good life. And Canada’s parental leave benefits are often a deciding factor, as is the fact that Canada is relatively close. She also noted that the majority of Florida families adopting children from their agency are Caucasian and are more likely to adopt Caucasian children.

Racism, she said, does come up when birth mothers choose families to adopt their children.

“Our birth mothers express things like: ‘I have experienced racism and I don’t want that for my child,’” she said.

“We have girls that say ‘I don’t want my baby growing up in Florida.’”

Florida’s racial realities were highlighted with the death of 17-year-old Florida high school student Trayvon Martin in 2012. The black teenager, who was unarmed, was shot by a neighbourhood watch co-ordinator in the gated community where he was temporarily staying. George Zimmerman argued he was defending himself under Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, and was later acquitted.

Florida has become a growing source of international adoptions, especially of black and bi-racial infants, as mothers choose international families.

The U.S. State Department, reported that 21 Canadian families adopted babies from Florida in 2013. But one estimate put the number of U.S. children adopted internationally every year much higher. Joan Heifetz Hollinger, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law, told California-based Pacific Standard magazine that as many as 500 U.S. children are adopted internationally every year, most of them black. During the past decade, it says, Canadian families have adopted 1,000 American-born children.

At a time when many countries are closing their international adoption programs, Florida’s program is growing, more than doubling in the past few years. And, unlike many remaining international programs, families who are chosen by birth mothers adopt newborns.

It also makes the United States one of the few countries in the world with both incoming and outgoing international adoptions, which is controversial, especially since the vast majority of babies adopted by families in Canada and other Western countries are African-American or biracial.

Children’s Bridge, once mainly associated with adoptions from China and South Korea, helped four Ontario families adopt babies from Florida last year. Ten more potential adoptions from Florida are in the works. In British Columbia, families have been adopting infants from Florida for more than a decade.

The birth mothers are given the option of choosing a family in Canada and the adoptions are usually open or semi-open, meaning there is contact between the adoptive family and the birth family. Canadian adoption officials say families that live in communities with multicultural populations are usually the best fit.

The rise of Florida as a location for international adoptions surprised Frances McRae, an adoptive parent of two girls from China, when she joined The Children’s Bridge’s board of directors a few years ago.

“When I found out we had a program in Florida, I could not believe that the need was there. It is quite something to think of,” she said.

“It is heartbreaking to think that in Florida this is what people are feeling.” But McRae added the concerns about racism are not just isolated to a few mothers. “We have a program because there is a sentiment that is there. This is what birth mothers are choosing.”

Bakelaar said the view of Canada expressed by some birth mothers in Florida is likely idealized. “There is still racism in Canada.” But she acknowledged many of them have faced barriers their entire lives and don’t see that changing for their children.”

Florida moms, fearing racism, sending babies to Canada for adoption[Ottawa Citizen 7/21/14 by Elizabeth Payne]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:“The U.S. State Department is now reviewing how a Florida adoption agency handles intercountry adoptions, including to families here in Manitoba.

Their review comes as a result of a CBC investigation into the agency which revealed it charges reduced fees to Canadians if they adopt black children versus white.

 

“It does raise a lot of ethical questions,” said Jayne Schmidt, a director with the U.S. Council on Accreditation, which accredited this agency. “We’d like to know more about it,” she added.

The story focused on Adoption by Shepherd Care, a Florida-based agency that’s mired in controversy, because of the fees it charges its Canadian clients. According to its information package, the costs attached to adopt a white baby are up to $44,000 US. A biracial child? A bit cheaper.

But for black babies? Even less. On average, no more than $35,000 US.

‘That’s called racism’

“I mean when you see ‘biracial’ versus full African American differentials? The only difference there is that child is ‘whiter,’ quote unquote,” said Beth Hall, director of Pact, a U-S Adoption Alliance. “And therein is exactly the racial hierarchy I’m talking about. That’s called racism. That is racism.”

Despite that, a private agency here in Winnipeg is partnered with Adoption by Shepherd Care. And the province has approved adoptions through them, because they’re legally licensed and Hague-accredited.

But while that accreditation is supposed to mean the agency adheres to standards drawn out  in the UN Convention on the Protection of Children, the man who helped author those standards has doubts about whether they’re being properly regulated.

“I would like to know,” said Nigel Cantwell. “I do know there are concerns about the way or the criteria that are used for accrediting some agencies in the U.S.”

Which is why, despite the fact that Adoption By Shepherd Care is accredited, Cantwell thinks other agencies, including those here in Manitoba, should stop doing business with them.

Accreditation agency asks for review

Meanwhile the Council on Accreditation, which issues the Hague accreditations to agencies that qualify, has now asked their governing body, the Department of State, to review the case; specifically, to make sure they have “appropriate guidance relating to the fee standards,” Jayne Schmidt said.

“We have contacted [them] to share with them the concerns (the CBC) raised … about the practice of charging different fees for adoption of African American children,” Schmidt said, adding she cannot disclose more detail than that.

A spokesperson for the province also confirmed that because of the CBC investigation, they are conducting their own review of the agency.

In the meantime, the agency itself is not accepting new applications from prospective Canadian adoptive families until the new year, because they already have too many families on the waiting list.”

Manitoba reviewing U.S. adoption agency for fees based on child’s race[CBC 10/30/14 by Donna Carreiro]