Welcome to our web site on intercountry adoption!

We created this web site to help you think through the complex issues associated with international adoption.

We believe that intercountry adoption must respect the human dignity and human rights of all affected: birth families, adoptees, and adoptive families. All adoptions must be done lawfully, ethically, and in accord with basic human rights treaties and principles.

You may find some parts of this web site troubling, as it provides information on some of the negative and difficult issues and events associated with intercountry adoption. Please do not misunderstand us: We are NOT collecting adoption stories based on some kind of anti-adoption ideology.

As parents of both adoptive and birth children and with no financial stake in the issue, we are seeking to provide the kind of information we wish had been easily available before we adopted. We are concerned that much of the information provided about intercountry adoption reflects the self-interest of adoption agencies or others with a need to see adoption positively no matter what. We are also concerned that when negative adoption stories are reported in the press, the underlying issues and causes often remain obscure, and thus unaddressed. Caught between the sentimentality of much talk about adoption, and the sensationalist stories of adoption disasters, it can be hard to find a balanced portrait. We wish to provide the kind of information that will help you put the whole picture together.

We are committed to reform of intercountry adoption, so that it may consistently and reliably assist all members of the adoption triad (birth families, adoptees, and adoptive families). Reform starts with an accurate appraisal of the flaws of the current system, so that is where this web site begins.

This site is under construction, so it certainly does not accomplish all we wish yet. Please feel free to send us your comments at the link at the bottom of the page.

David and Desiree Smolin

May 8, 2005