Do the adopted children of celebrity parents have a better life? |
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Are the adopted children of celebrities transported to a happier life? The debate goes on...
Save The Children has slammed Madonna and urged her to reconsider her plans to adopt Mercy James. Spokesperson Dominic Nutt said that taking children away from their native countries was not a solution. "The thing to do is to support the community, to support local agencies and charities who can look after the child so that the child is at least cared for in their community," he told the BBC. “You cannot literally take every poor child who may only have one parent living, or no parent living, across the world and transport them all into Kensington in London.” Nutt also noted that international adoptions are feeding a mafioso ‘adoption insustry’. This wider issue goes beyond the celebrity adoption phenomenon, of course, but with many countries toughening their stance on international adoptions, celebrities could face far tougher procedures in the future.
Globally, the number of children up for adoption is going down rapidly. Many countries are doing more and more to keep their adoptees within their borders as they prosper. Take China: in 2005, there were 15 000 children up for adoption. Today that number has gone down to 10 000. "China is a rapidly developing country and there are now local middle classes who are in a position to adopt orphans. In most cases, the government gives priority to Chinese families so that the children stay in the country,” explains Genevieve Andre. But in nations such as Malawi, one of the poorest in the world, AIDS and poverty creates a burden of millions of orphans – hence why well-intentioned stars come to help.
"Most countries are leaning towards a harder stance on international adoptions," says Genevieve Andre of Medecins du Monde. “They want to keep their children. There are always a large number of Westeners who want to adopt. Those who go through the approval process will increasingly find they have to adapt their adoption plans or give them up. For example, it’s easier to find older children (aged 5 and over) or siblings up for adoption than single babies and toddlers."
Maybe celebrity parents could start leading by example?
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