Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas adoptive families were promised legal adoptions of babies from the Marshall Islands by Paul Petersen, Maricopa County’s currently incarcerated County Assessor. Luckily, for the time being, it appears that Marshall Islands adoptions facilitated by Paul Petersen will not be overturned. Families are reaching out to Building Arizona Families, Arizona’s largest adoption agency, with their concerns for the integrity of the adoption process. There is grave concern that this travesty will create another one – that loving families will decide not to take the risk of opening their hearts and homes to vulnerable babies and children who desperately need families.
Pregnant women from the Marshall Islands were treated like property. Often these women did not even have a bed to sleep on, and many were paid off on the day of birth to give their babies away. Birth mothers that come to Building Arizona Families are frightened. We have to reassure them that our adoption agency is a safe place. How does this horrific situation impact women struggling with crisis pregnancies and their openness to get the help they need?
Finally, there is the baby. If their mother had not been paid handsomely to give them away at birth, would they have been given up for adoption? It’s a heartbreaking question.
According to Kelly Rourke-Scarry, M.Ed., co-founder, President and CEO of Building Arizona Families, there are key criteria adoptive families should investigate before adopting.
The most important criteria for international adoption is Hague accreditation. In the United States, international adoptions should be processed through a Hague accredited adoption agency to prevent abduction, sale, and trafficking of children. This is a rigorous accreditation process to protect the integrity of the adoption process.
Adoption agencies should also be state licensed. They should be transparent about all adoption costs. Relationships between birth mothers and adoptive families should be mutually agreed upon. An adoption case worker should be present to ensure that the best interests of the baby are protected at all costs.
