Infant Industry: Jane Aronson, the Orphan Doctor
The Jolie-Pitts' pediatrician debunks adoption myths.
by Ada Calhoun
September 24, 2007
You've adopted two children yourself. How did you find them?
My children were adopted from Ethiopia and Vietnam. I've had a love affair with Vietnam since the sixties, when I was a high school student. I worked against the war and I did a lot of reports and reading about Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese history, as a teenager. So I thought it was my destiny to adopt from that country. And then through my foundation, Worldwide Orphans Foundation, I got involved in HIV orphans in Ethiopia, and then the next step was I got interested in adoption there.
What is the difference in how much the process costs from country to country?
I think there are very specific differences in price that you could more or less get from talking to an agency. But I can give you a ballpark figure for international adoption: that would be between $10,000 and $30,000 now. You can probably do an international adoption in Ethiopia that's between $10,000 and $15,000. And an adoption from China is $15,000 to $20,000. Vietnam is closer to $20,000. Guatemala is likely between $20,000 and $30,000. But you can do an adoption from foster care, where you get a newborn and then you have to wait two years till the adoption can be made official, for nickels and dimes. The cost in domestic adoptions is controlled by state regulations, very controlled. The families are responsible legally for medical costs for the birth mother and the birth mother can have certain living expenses free for a number of months. But it's very controlled, because otherwise it becomes a buying spree.
You mentioned that China now has restrictions against single parents—
I wouldn't word it "against single parents." I would say that adoption in each country is regulated by the government, and they make distinctions about what kind of parent they want, and that falls into the category of age and gender and marital status, and also including obviously, which I just mentioned to you, weight and health Celebrities do not have an easier time adopting; they have a worse time adopting.issues. There are people who have cancer or underlying medical conditions who would have to meet the criteria for health requirements for medical clearing. And that's on both sides, both with the social workers as well as through the country's adoption regulators.
I'm just trying to get a sense of how the experience might be different for a single parent versus a gay couple versus—
Well, for single parents — nobody has to talk about their homosexuality when doing adoptions. But most of the states in the United States have open regulations for gays and lesbians to adopt. Outside the U.S., there are no countries internationally that [explicitly] allow gay people to adopt. There are single-parent adoptions, for males and females in some countries, but mostly it's a married couple.
There's a sense right now that international adoption is trendy, because of certain high-profile celebrity adoptions.
I don't think that international adoption is trendy. I don't think it's trendy at all. I think that when somebody famous does something, then people look at it, and they decide for their own purposes media-wise that it's trendy. But when you look at the numbers of famous people who have adopted: they're not in the majority, number one, and I don't think that they necessarily feed off of one another. I think that many celebrities are like many other people — they may have fertility issues, they may have humanitarian choices that they make. And they may have mental reasons for adopting, but it's not motivated celebrity-wise because of the trend. But I think people are influenced by celebrities. I always say that celebrities and other famous people have become wonderful role models for adoption.
Another impression that I think a lot of people have is that celebrities have a much easier time adopting.
They do not have an easier time adopting; they have a worse time adopting. And they would all agree with me.
Why is that?
They have to do all the things that are regulated in any country. They follow the rules. It might be easier for them because they have a personal assistant to file the papers. But they still have to be fingerprinted, and they still have to meet the requirements of the home study. And they still have to appear in the country to pick up their child. And on top of it, the worst part is that then they have to be stalked by newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations. And they are stalked by the people of the country where they go, as well. And they are expected to fork over a lot of money, to donate money, because they're looked at as Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags. So I think they have a harder time and they can't really enjoy their experience, because it's not allowed to be private. And I feel bad for them.
Visit Jane Aronson at OrphanDoctor.com. Visit Worldwide Orphans Foundation at WWO.org. Make a donation here.
©2007 Ada Calhoun and Nerve Media
About the Author |
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Ada Calhoun was Babble's founding editor-in-chief. She has been a theater critic at New York magazine, an AOL News blogger and a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review. She has written for Time, Salon.com and The New York Times Arts & Leisure. Her first book, Instinctive Parenting, will be published by Simon Spotlight in 2010. Visit adacalhoun.com. |
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