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The Hague Adoption Convention (HAC) vs. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
The Hague Adoption Convention (HAC) created a child market for the paying customer, the adoptive parents.
This video is an extremely informative presentation on the Adoption Hague Convention (HAC) versus the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The main difference:
The UNCRC does not export children. They take care of the children locally. Under the UNCRC, children have a broad set of rights, such as the right to education, the right to play, and the right to be cared for by their own parents. However, the adoption lobby set up an intervention called the Hague Adoption Convention.
Subsidiarity Principle – UNCRC
Local Care is preferred over International Adoption (IA). If growing up in institutional care, it has to follow the UNCRC and be of high quality.
International Adoption is only permissible if the child cannot, in any suitable manner, be cared for in the child’s country of origin.
- UNCRC – Adoption and IA are NOT a child protection measure, but rather a civil/private law order – like marriage. When a child is adopted, it is out of the child’s protection system; it changes the identity of the child,
- Adoption is a drastic measure, changing identity and permanently severing all ties.
- The subsidiarity principle has to be applied on a macro level – so they can’t argue and say that child will be better off in a richer family.
Subsidiarity Hague Adoption Convention:
- The Hague adoption convention puts an emphasis on permanency / family-based care – Adoption is first. Foster care and residential care are no longer accepted; ICA is preferred, which fuels the sale and trade of children. It creates a legalized market. You cannot get your child back once he or she is adopted.
- If the child is not able to go back to their home (even on a temporary basis), it’s under the Hague Adoption Convention. The child will be placed into the adoption program, where permanency (of adoption) is promoted, versus the child will be able to keep their identity and potentially have the ability to be reunited with their parents and or family.
“Prior to Against Child Trafficking there was no NGO that dealt with children’s rights and the relationship to adoption and trafficking.” – Roelie Post
As the stakes were so high and the two conventions conflicted, the EU set up family law experts who were civil servants and not connected to the adoption business. The Ministry of Justice established an independent committee called the Joustra Committee to study past adoption practices.
In February 2021, the report advised to stop IA because it cannot be done properly.
*Side Note: Romania was the first sending country that implemented the Hague Convention. Under the rules of the Hague Convention, intercountry adoption became a “child protection measure.”. Over the next three years, these intercountry adoptions skyrocketed from 500 to 3000 annually. It created a legal market for children. Although Romania did ban intercountry adoption in 2005, nowadays, Romanian citizens abroad can adopt Romanian children, even from foster care. Because of this, Romania stopped IA and implemented the UNCRC. The adoption lobby was up and arms with the closure of Romania that they lobbied to reopen, and the commission and parliament started to work on a European Adoption Policy. They started working together on a deinstitutionalized campaign promoting the Hague Adoption Convention into the child protection system worldwide. The European Commission has taken over this position and promotes the adoption lobby. This has been clear in the 2012 conference. The UNCRC is Acquis, and the Hague adoption is not EU law.
Dutch Report on Intercountry Adoption – English Translation
Roelie Post‘s book, Romania for Export Only: the Untold Story of the Romanian ‘Orphans’, exposes the formation of an unjust legalized system called inter-country adoption, in which children are taken from their families and sent to foreigners.
By reading the book, I gained insights into how adoption lobbyists forcefully and subtly manipulate their agendas into countries—one country at a time. This particular book focuses on Romania. The author does not tell the reader what to believe, but rather, we form our own opinions as we follow her experiences in the effort to protect Romanian children between 1999 and 2006. Visit here to learn more about Roelie Post, the founder of ACT.
Against Child Trafficking has done research in Malawi, China, India, Ethiopia, and other countries, exposing one scandal after another; books and newspapers are all available on their website.
https://adoptionland.org/against-child-trafficking/
A Review of Romania: For Export Only: A must-read for the international adoption community.
“Roelie Post allows the reader a unique insider’s view regarding the politics of international adoption. It was an eye-opening account that few are willing to share with the outside world.
The untold story of the Romanian ‘ orphans’ gives an insider’s look into the adoption kitchen, where the most used ingredients are political pressure and emotional blackmail.
In her experience with Romania’s orphan care and international adoption program, Ms. Post begins her journey as many do (innocent). As her knowledge about the politics behind international adoption grows, revelations of the real truth behind the international adoption industry become quite clear.
Never again can I look at the “black and white” pictures of the “poor orphans” who rely on us to “save” them with the same naïve eyes. This book offers amazing parallels with other international programs– including China. Ms. Post talks about the points system, safe-haven drops, attachment studies on orphans, media attention, and the pressure from outside countries and NGOs to gain access to Romania’s children… all of which are familiar themes in many IA programs.
While it was heartwarming to know that many people work very hard to preserve children’s rights, it is equally scary to understand the underlying situation that most will never get to see.
This is a must-read book for anyone entering the world of international adoption.”
The Intersection Between Child Trafficking and International Adoption
Are You a Domestic, Late-Discovery, Transracial, International Adoptee, Parents and/or Family Members Separated By Adoption?
WE ARE ADOPTION
Adoption Truth and Transparency Worldwide Information Network (ATTWIN) was initiated on November, 5th 2011, hosted by Adoption Trafficking. We are a unique activist organization that uses various mediums to fulfill its mission to critique adoption policies and procedures, raise awareness, and share diverse adoption experiences. Simply put, our goal is to create a place that gives a well-rounded perspective on the adoption processes and policies. Members include domestic, late-discovery, transracial, internationally adopted people, and families separated by adoption, from every continent.
