Ghana Opens to International Adoption -- What Does It Mean?

Last week I wrote a post for Mama Manifesto titled The Bitter Truth About Chocolate. I recently learned that the majority of the world's cocoa beans come from the West African countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Harvesting the beans that eventually become the chocolate in your Hershey's Kiss is a labor-intensive process, and the bulk of the work is done by children, some as young as five years old. Some kids from cocoa-farming families in the region forgo school to help their parents in the fields. Tens of thousands more are child trafficking victims who are essentially treated as slave laborers.

It's a child welfare crisis that ten years of international attention has not solved.

Several American adoption agencies have opened pilot programs in Ghana, and I can't help but wonder: what does Ghana's opening to international adoption tell us about the country's child welfare picture? What impact is international adoption going to have here? Is the program a "good" choice for prospective adoptive parents?

First, a few fast facts about Ghana:

Population -- 21 million

Estimated number of people of all ages living with HIV -- 290,000

Estimated number of orphans -- 1,100,000

Estimated number of children in orphanages -- 4,500

Estimated number of street children -- 50,000

Total number of children not attending school, according to a 2007 study -- approximately 1.4 million

Clearly, many of Ghana's orphans are being cared for by extended family, but according to the slideshow below, produced by the Ghana Health Service, orphans living in institutions are actually more likely to get an education than those living with relatives.

Ghana orphan slideshow

Another Ghanian government study admits that the country has a significant human trafficking problem, with 70 percent of the trafficking being internal and 78 percent of the victims being children between the ages of 4 and 16. Apparently child slavery isn't limited to Ghana's cocoa farms; according to the 2009 U.S. State Deparment Trafficking in Persons Report:

Ghana is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of victims are children. Both boys and girls are trafficked within Ghana for forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry, for street hawking, forced begging by religious instructors, as porters, and possibly for forced kente weaving. Over 30,000 children are believed to be working as porters, or Kayaye, in Accra alone. Annually, the... [International Organization for Migration] reports numerous deaths of boys trafficked for hazardous forced labor in the Lake Volta fishing industry. Girls are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. To a lesser extent, boys are also trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, primarily for sex tourism.

Clearly, there is a population of children in Ghana who would benefit from international adoption, but given the rampant child trafficking that is already occurring here, trafficking for adoption -- or at the very least, the public perception of trafficking for adoption -- seems a distinct possibility. In fact, the adoptive mother of a child from Ghana, writing on the website Informed Adoption Advocates, warns prospective adoptive parents that Ghanian officials are likely equate international adoption with trafficking and will need to be won over with the help of "your adoption agency."

So which agencies have opted to brave Ghana's challenging environment?  The Joint Council on International Children's Services lists seven member agencies working in Ghana, but my research shows that only four of these programs are currently open:

• Adoption  Advocates International (AAI) -- Hague accredited agency with a long track record in Africa and a reputation for advocating for older child adoption

• Children’s House International -- Hague accredited agency in business since 1975

• Hopscotch Adoptions -- Hague accredited agency (with a trail of client complaints on the internet)

• Partners for Adoption -- Hague accredited agency founded in 1983

It's worth noting that Ghana has not signed the Hague Convention; overall, from a prospective parent perspective, pursuing adoption here requires what adoption agencies like to call "a pioneering attitude."

None of the agencies working in Ghana is a major industry player on the level of a Holt or Children's Home Society; these mega-agencies have the resources to initiate large humanitarian projects in the countries in which they work; AAI reportedly has charitable plans in Ghana, but nothing operational yet. Adoptive parents are sometimes inspired to initiate D.I.Y. foreign aid projects, or contribute to NGOs working in the country of their child's birth, but with just 100 US "adoption" visas issued to Ghanian children in 2009, the macro benefits of the program are still small. Ghana's current government has promised to aggressively tackle the child trafficking issue. If the initiative succeeds even in a small way, it will make intercountry adoption a more attractive and viable option for many Ghanian children.

 

Comments

[Anita Gillispie]

I am the author of the article you sited from Informed Adoption Advocates, and also the coordinator for AAI's Ghana program. One of the families I work with brought your article to my attention. Just wanted to comment on a few things. =-)

I think that you ask really good questions. My personal opinion is that international adoption in Ghana is not going to be a good source to make a big difference in the social issues within the country. The numbers for adoption are small, and (I think) will stay small. This is not a program for healthy infants and toddlers. Those are the programs that "boom" and seem to have more serious corruption issues. Because the program is likely to stay small, the impact from aide given by American adoption agencies is also likely to stay small. The fact is that it's through private donors and adoption fees that agencies are able to do humanitarian aide.

I think that your comment on the Informed Adoption Advocates article is a bit misleading. The article did not at all say that officials would need to be "won over." It said that there are misconceptions about international adoptions and, without education, an official may not understand what adoption is and what adoption isn't. The article was written in 2007. That is not so much a problem now, as the country has made efforts to educate officials on international adoption. Still, there are those that want nothing to do with international adoption because of the fear that it will be seen by others as "child trafficking."

I wanted to update you on the projects AAI is involved in within Ghana. This year--through education, food, and medical sponsorships--we have been able to assist about twice as many childrent to STAY with their biological families as we have assisted families to adopt. Our families understand that it may take a long time to be introduced to a child who is available for adoption because, if possible, we would like to help that child remain in his/her biological family. Our experience has been that many times it IS possible! Yea!

What does the opening of international adoption tell us about Ghana's child welfare system? Not much, I don't think. The law has not been updated since 1998. For whatever reason, very few adoptions occured until 2007. Child Welfare officials are very concerned that international adoptions be kept at a minimum, in favor of domestic adoption or remaining in biological families.

What impact will international adoption have in Ghana? Sadly, I'm afraid not much. The impact will be mostly for those few children who are adopted. Hopefully, agencies will be commited to supporting projects that work to lessen the orphan population, rather than "build up" international adoption.

Is it a good choice for adoptive parents? For families who are okay with variable timelines, changing adoption procedures, and older/special needs children, Ghana can be a great choice. The children are wonderful and at this time it is still possible to complete an adoption without taking part in corruption.

Thanks for the thought provoking article!
Anita Gillispie

[Sharon]

Thanks for stopping by the blog, Anita, and providing such helpful information. You're absolutely right that to say that officials need to be "won over" was poor wording; clearly, education is what's needed and it's great to hear that this process is underway. Also great to hear about AAI's work to keep families together whenever possible -- that's clearly the best option.

[LAURIE LYNGEN]

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS THREAD IS STILL FOLLOWED BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ADD ANOTHER VIEW AS WELL. I AM AN AMERICAN WHO HAS JUST FINALIZED AN ADOPTION OF A 10 MONTH OLD BOY WHO WE HAD INTERACTED WITH FOR 3 MONTHS IN AN ORPHANAGE AND WERE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING SWINDLED BY THE OWNER/OPERATOR OF THE ORPHANAGE SO WE WENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE OURSELVES AND BEGAN THE PROCESS TO ADOPT OUR SON VIA THE CORRECT METHOD. I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLY COMMEND THE DEPT. OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN KUMASI GHANA ESPECIALLY THE DIRECTOR FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ABOVE THE TABLE DEALINGS WITH US. WE FILLED OUT AN APPLICATION AND HAD A HOME-STUDY DONE IN GHANA. PLUS HAD THE PROBATIONARY PERIOD WHERE THEY CHECKED UP ON THE WELFARE OF THE CHILD AS WELL AS MEDICALS DONE ON MY HUSBAND AND I AND THE CHILD. WE HAD A COUPLE OF PEOPLE IN THE SYSTEM THAT THOUGHT WE SHOULD (WET THEIR HAND) BRIBE THEM AS IS THE CUSTOM BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC REASONS BUT WE REFUSED AND DREW THEIR ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE GOV'T EMPLOYEES AND ARE PAID A SALARY AND THEY ABOVE ALL PEOPLE SHOULD UPHOLD THE LAWS OF THE LAND. IF ALL INTERCOUNRTY ADOPTIONS ARE HANDLED THIS WAY I BELIEVE THE HUMAN TRAFFIC USING ADOPTION WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE. THE RIGHT THING NEEDS TO BE DONE BY THOSE WHO HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO RESEARCH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING TO ADOPT AND ALSO THE COUPLE/AGENCIES ETC. TO RESEARCH WHERE THE CHILD IS COMING FROM TO MAKE SURE THEY ALSO ARE NOT LOOKING TO EXPLOIT PEOPLE THEY THINK HAVE MONEY AND COME UP WITH EXCUSES THAT THEY NEED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY TO "FIX THIS OR THAT IN THE CHILD" BEFORE THE ADOPTION IS COMPLETE.

[Sharon]

Thanks, Laurie, for taking time to share your experience. This is an older post, but anyone searching for info on Ghana may look it up, and you've offered helpful info. We need more parents like you to insist on an honest, ethical process to keep adoption programs strong. Kudos to you.