In 2001, adoptive parents received good news from the Internal Revenue Service when the adoption tax credit was made permanent.

In 2001, adoptive families gained visibility in the public and private sectors with new adoption-friendly laws and rulings, greater recognition in the workplace and several dramatic achievements. We have much to celebrate—and much still to do.

By Susan Freivalds

Tax credit made permanent
Prospective adoptive parents everywhere received good news from the Internal Revenue Service when the adoption expense tax credit was extended and made permanent in 2001. The maximum credit per adoption increased to $10,000, and the point at which the credit begins to phase out was increased to $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income. Families adopting children with special needs may take the $10,000 credit regardless of their actual expenses. All provisions of the new law were effective starting January 1, 2002, except for the new special needs credit, which comes into effect on January 1, 2003. Efforts are underway in the Congress to make the special needs provisions effective in 2002, as well.

Intercountry adoption news
Intercountry adoption again reached a new level, with over 19,000 children adopted from other countries to the U.S. in 2001. International adoption numbers have increased each year since a low of 6,500 in 1992. Beginning in 1994, the top three countries allowing children to come to the U.S. each year have been China, Russia, and South Korea. Last year over 100 countries were represented in intercountry adoptions, but 78% of the children came from the top three.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service suspended adoptions from Cambodia in January, 2002, due to allegations of irregularities in adoptions there. Romania announced a moratorium on international adoptions in June, 2001, and has indicated it could extend until October, 2002. China announced a new quota system, limiting referrals to placing agencies. Significantly, China also set a 5% limit on the number of adoptions by singles.

Hague process
Regulations to govern implementation of The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which was approved by the U.S. in 2000, are still under consideration by the U.S. Department of State. The Hague Convention will regulate adoption agencies and individuals working in international adoption and seeks to expedite the process. The Convention has been adopted by 45 countries and 14 more have indicated their governments are in process of adopting it, including the United States, Russian Federation, and China. The State Department expects the Hague Convention to go into effect for the U.S. in 2003 or 2004. For more information on the Convention, consult www.hcch.net; for information on the proposed U.S. regulations, see www.hagueregs.org

Child Citizenship Act comes into effect
February 27, 2001, was a red letter day for international adoptive families, as an estimated 150,000 of their children woke up that morning as new American citizens. It was the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2001, which granted automatic citizenship to children born abroad and adopted by U.S. families. Families are still waiting, however, for the INS to announce new, streamlined protocols for issuing certificates of citizenship.

In memoriam
Adoption lost a good friend with the death of Dave Thomas in January, 2002. Called the “patron saint of adoption,” Dave was perhaps better known as the founder of Wendy’s hamburger chain. His Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has supported many important initiatives to make people aware of waiting children, promote employee adoption benefits and tax credits, and to make the child welfare system more responsive to prospective adopters.

Terror’s effects on adoption
Some intercountry adoption agencies reported a decrease in the number of inquiries received immediately after September 11, but interest in intercountry adoption rebounded quickly. In the wake of the terror attacks, many prospective parents inquired about orphans in New York City and Afghanistan. However, there were no children in New York who needed foster care or adoption by non-relatives, and Afghan adoptions cannot be arranged until a new, stable government is in place.

Adoption employee benefits
Surveys differ on the percentage of firms that offer adoption benefits, but all agree that the benefit is being increasingly offered, and that the dollar amounts are rising. The National Adoption Center estimates that the average adoption expense reimbursement is now $3,500 to $4,000, up from $2,500 only four years ago. Some employers provide as much as $10,000. Surveys also find that more and more employers are offering paid adoption leave, many of six weeks duration or more.

Opposition to gay adoption declines
A 2001 Harris Poll reported that opposition to same-sex couples adopting a child had declined since 1996. While the majority of respondents continued to oppose “gay adoption,” almost a quarter (22%) approved of a female couple adopting a child, up from 16% in 1996. In spite of wider public acceptance, a Federal District Court upheld a Florida law banning gays from adopting. Rosie O’Donnell — entertainer, adoption advocate, and part-time Florida resident — vowed to fight for repeal of the ban. Twenty states and the District of Columbia expressly allow adoption by gays.

Adoption awareness
Over $8 million in federal grants was awarded in 2001 for programs to raise awareness of adoption as an option for untimely pregnancies. The new programs will train health care workers at federally funded health centers to provide pregnant women with information about adoption, as well as other alternatives, when providing counseling.

Internet adoptions
The St. Louis-born twin girls who were twice placed for adoption via families identified online and subsequently caught in the middle of a highly-publicized trans-Atlantic custody battle, were returned to the U.S. and placed under state guardianship. The courts are currently evaluating claims to the twins by their birth parents and other family members to determine final custody.

While this case seemed to represent all that could be wrong with the role of the Internet in adoption, many prospective adoptive families report making legal, beneficial connections with birth parents and agencies using the Internet.

Important new research
The most comprehensive study of adoptive family relationships even undertaken released preliminary findings in late 2001. The Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS) at the University of Minnesota found that the attachment parents feel for their children is no different in adoptive and non-adoptive families, and the child’s ethnicity does not influence parental feelings. Similarly, there were no differences in the closeness of sibling relationships, whether both were adopted, one was, or neither. There were also no significant differences in the psychological adjustment of the adolescents, adopted and non-adopted.

Controversial attachment therapy banned
In April, 2001, Colorado outlawed the controversial “rebirthing” therapy technique that led to the death of Candace Newmaker, a 10-year-old adoptee, during treatment. The child had been wrapped tightly in blankets, a technique intended to force her to release a flood of rage and to simulate reemergence from the womb, as treatment for attachment disorder. The therapists involved were convicted of reckless child abuse and sentenced to 16 years in prison, the minimum punishment.

By Susan Freivalds, past Executive Director of Adoptive Families of America, Founder and Editorial Director of Adoptive Families Magazine.