Project Director
Womack, Bethany
Department Examiner
Kuby, William, 1982-
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
The practice of international adoption, also known as intercountry adoption (ICA), can be defined as a transference of a child from international borders (Ma, 2017). International, also known as intercountry, adoption is a process that is widely characterized to provide the creation of families and humanitarian aid to orphaned children. It is most often facilitated by privatized intermediaries, predominantly facilitating the transference of children from non-Western nations to Western ones. Adopting abroad has largely been framed as a practice of humanitarianism, yet instances of corruption, neglect, and abuse have shown a different nature of the system. Dominant source countries, such as China, Guatemala, and Russia, have abolished their intercountry adoption due to the prevalence of trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. With increased awareness of exploitation and corruption inciting more international concern, it brings into question the ethics and morals on which the system of adoption is built. Since its inception, the international adoption system has been altered by the power disparities in Western nations and source countries. The political, economic, and cultural imbalances of source and receiving countries has postulated adoptees as commodities in a commercialized industry. The commodification of children in vulnerable regions of the Global south has incentivized source countries to function as a supply-chain to meet the demand of prospective families in the West. The exploitation of children in source countries is due to the lack of framework that actively enforces defined policy that prioritizes the best interests of the child. International adoption has been transformed into a market-driven system, in which vulnerable children are commercialized for Western nations. Prospective parents in these regions are instilled with rescue mentalities that lead them to believe intercountry adoption is a form of humanitarian aid. The cultural motives of humanitarianism have largely contributed to the historical trends of intercountry adoption to the United States, yet it fails to account for the exploitation and corruption present. This has directly influenced the ways in which the welfare of the child has been dismissed in the system, without any concern to the birth parents or country of origin. International adoption has expanded the function of providing orphaned children with homes abroad, which has in turn contributes to an exploitative system that caters to wealthier nations and prospective parents in the West. The practice has encouraged the pervasive commodification of international adoptees, allowing for profitability to be prioritized over the welfare of the child. Instead of providing children in precarious environments with homes, intercountry adoption has shifted to a practice of finding children for Western homes (Graff, 2008). The lack of compulsory regulation and preventative protective policy has incentivized and legitimized countries, agencies, and prospective families to exploit orphans and source countries for economic and social currency. The United States has been particularly complicit in developing the exploitive system, as the country of unipolarity constitutes more influence, power, and authority than any other nation participating in international adoption. The power and wealth disparity in the international sphere allows the United States to capitalize on the lack of regulation of international adoption to maximize power and profit. From 1991 to 2010, Americans adopted 304,156 children overseas from a range of 165 countries (Efrat, Leblang, Liao, Pandya, 2015). While adopting abroad has contributed to family-building for many prospective parents in the United States, it is vital that adoption be centered within the best interests of the child. Especially when considering that most orphans abroad lack agency and autonomy, it is imperative that the system which governs them be representative of ethical practices for the child. The United States is capable of reconfiguring the current system of adoption that prioritizes prospective families and agencies while simultaneously ensuring the elimination of possible exploitation. This coincides with the baseline necessity of protecting the welfare of the child before meeting the demands of Western agencies, intermediaries, and prospective parents. The decentering of the best interests of the child has consequentially allowed for the exploitation, abuse, and neglect that is negatively connotated to the international adoption system, today. Enforced standards and regulations should not lead to the abolition of intercountry adoption, but the international standardization should prioritize the ethical framework that addresses the commercialization and lack of regulation. The United States has the responsibility in adhering to a regulatory framework that properly facilitates the thousands of adoptees that come into American homes.
Degree
B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.
Date
5-2025
Subject
Adopted children--Social conditions; Child trafficking; Exploitation; Intercountry adoption--Corrupt practices
Discipline
International Relations
Document Type
Theses
Extent
i, 55 leaves
DCMI Type
Text
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Recommended Citation
Antcliffe, Andrew S., "The commodification of international adoptees through a conflict lens" (2025). Honors Theses.
https://scholar.utc.edu/honors-theses/620
Department
Honors College