Intercountry Adoption: Global Trade or Global Gift?

In this article, based on a paper given in Oslo, Norway in May 1999, John Triseliotis contends that a significant part of intercountry adoption lacks legal, moral or professional legitimacy. Since the end of World War II it has evolved from being a predominantly humanitarian response to natural calamities and the destruction caused by wars, to becoming a quest for children for those wishing to create a family or expand one. In the process of doing so a part of intercountry adoption has become a trade in children, with scant regard paid to children's rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 1993 Hague Convention has made good progress towards international regulation but much more needs to be done to stop the major abuses. Finally, the proposition is put forward for all forms of adoption to be practised eventually on the basis of the gift relationship.