ABC Primetime negative episode on adoption
My cousins are in Kazakhstan right now, in the middle of 5-6 week adoption process. Their emails about their new boy are incredibly heartwarming. Last night I got the email below:
Dear Friends and Family,
We are sending this out to alert everyone about an upcoming Primetime on ABC broadcast on December 1. It is about a girl who was adopted by a single father and was abused by him for years. Pornographic pictures of her were placed on the internet. She was removed from the man several years ago, but the story received new attention this spring when her picture was again seen on the internet and they launched a search for her, not knowing she had been removed years previously.
The information we have is that the show is going to be very negative, equating international adoption with human trafficking. The National Council for Adoption has insisted that they be interviewed to show the positive side of international adoption. After all that has happened these past 8 months, this story could have a very negative impact. (The story did receive publicity in Russia when it surfaced again this spring). The Russian duma is meeting again and this is ammunition for those opposed to international adoption. Russian adoption programs place over a thousand children a year in loving homes and their programs are not the only ones that hang in the balance here.
We need to have ABC news bombarded with emails from the adoption community letting them know the detrimental effect a one-sided story can have and the thousands of families and children that they can harm with an unbalanced story. This child represents only one out of thousands upon thousands of children who have been given a chance at a good life through adoption.
Many pre and post adoptions steps have been taken to address the risk to children(including the prohibition of adoption by single men – unfortunately for those with good intent). Many of you have been aware of the process that we have gone through and know that adopted children have a much greater likelihood of well-screened and supported parents than countless biological and domestically fostered children. This provocative program, if onesided as planned, would not be beneficial- but it is likely to ensure that thousands more children will remain in orphanages every year until they are 16 or 17 years old, then to be cast out into the world after an early life with far too little attention, education or love. Life rarely gets better then. Adoption is their chance at a stable and happy life and we would appreciate your help in defending that chance and speaking out for balanced, responsible reporting.
Please take a moment to write to ABC Primetime by clicking on the following link
Please tell everyone you think might be concerned about this upcoming story and encourage them to take action as well.
Here is the letter that I wrote:
Dear sir/madam:
I am writing with regard to an upcoming Primetime episode due to be aired on Dec 1 about an abusive father who adopted a girl. As I understand it, this is a story that is several years old, and although horrific, most likely an isolated incident.
International adoption agencies have many controls in place to prevent such atrocities. I urge you to present this side of the story completely, starting with an interview with the National Council for Adoption. Better yet, pull the story completely, as publicizing such abuse may actually encourage other criminals to try similar acts.
Thousands of orphaned and homeless children deserve good homes with loving parents who want them in the USA and other countries. Please do not put a damper on this by focusing on one specific failure of the system.
Thank you.
Tom Shields
I have been unable to confirm this information through Google searching, but I did find a couple of other blogs that mention this.