West Africa Bureau Chief, New york Times
PROFILE
Lydia Polgreen
Guest
FROM Lydia Polgreen
To the Point
The Business of Child Adoptions Spurred by church groups, charities and Hollywood stars, American families had been adopting foreign children at an increasing rate. But there are signs of corruption in what's become an international business. Members of a French aid group, Zoe's Arc , are under arrest in Africa on charges of stealing 103 children from Chad while claiming they were orphans from Darfur. The United Nations says they were not , but kids—ranging from one to 10--who were living with family members in Chad, where adoption is virtually forbidden under Islamic law. The incident has sparked outrage all over Africa, in part because colonial history and cultural misunderstanding. Meantime, an adoptive American mother struggles with personal pain and cultural differences. Why don't more American parents adopt American kids?
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