Adoption Facing Major Reform Worldwide

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Adoption reform around the world is making headlines in the wake of Senator Jay Rockefeller’s spotlight on National Adoption Day, November 21st. A gay couple hopes to effectively repeal the Florida law banning gay adoption once and for all, DC seeks to extend subsidies for adoptive parents, and Korea is looking to change the way the world looks at their children - from the inside out.

On The Verge of Gay Adoption in Florida

The 32-year-old Florida law banning gay adoption has finally taken a significant hit in its 14 year battle. Martin Gill, a South Florida gay man was granted his request to adopt two half-brothers he has fostered the last 4 years by a trial court judge. The ruling is being appealed, but the trial judge determined the law to be unconstitutional. Previous cases including Cox vs. HRS (1995), Lofton vs. DCF (2004), and Smith vs. DCF (2008) have resulted in either little impact on the law, or were denied due to inconclusive data regarding the welfare of children raised in homosexual households.

DC Considers Subsidy Extension

A bill is in the works to extend subsidies to adopting parents until the adopted children are 21 - instead of 18 years as the current law provides. As it stands foster care parents receive subsidies until the foster children are 21. Some say this discourages adoption, and this opinion has spurred research into the financial implications of extending the subsidy. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi issued a financial impact statement this week detailing a pleasant surprise - the $4 million in savings over the first four years could easily offset the $500,000 investment to reprogram information technology systems.

Korea Cleaning Up Adoption Processes

Law firm Gong-Gam and Representative Choi Young-hee have joined together in an effort to reform the Special Law Relating to the Promotion and Procedure of adoption. At present, only 2.7% of Korean adoptees find their birth parents because their records have been manipulated. Some adoptions take place without the parents’ consent, with adoption agencies the prime suspect of record manipulation - or worse. An entire generation of adoptees have returned to Korea to join in the battle for better practices. The National Assembly is considering changes through a series of hearings. Lawmaker Choi commented that Korea “still has a stigma attached to it as one of the major exporters of children.”

Tags: Adoption Law, adoption subsidy, Florida, gay adoption, international adoptions, Korea, Washington DC
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