跨國領養兒童困難重重

跨國領養兒童在國際上已經有近40年的歷史，這種行為本來是個善舉，可以使那些沒有生育能力的父母得到一個小寶寶，也可以使那些無家可歸的孤兒們獲得一個溫暖的家。但由于領養程序復雜且缺乏有效監管，加上利益的驅使，它往往很容易成為滋生犯罪的土壤——不少人販趁機從中牟取暴利。2009年5月，英國政府有關機構披露了77名華人兒童被販賣的消息，引起國內輿論高度關注。為了那些可憐而無辜的孩子，也為了那些充滿希冀且富有愛心的準養父母們，國家間應當通力合作，加快規范跨國領養兒童行為，并對領養程序加大監管力度。

MADONNA seems like a person used to2)getting her own way. So the pop star must have been dismayed when a court in 3)Malawi refused to her request to adopt a three-year-old girl， James. The reason was that Madonna had not fulfilled residency requirements. The last time Madonna tried to adopt a Malawian child she met with more success and 4)a heap of criticism.

By 5)plucking David Banda from 6)grinding poverty in Malawi in 2006 she provoked mixed reactions. Some praised the singer for offering a child an escape from a life of misery. Others suggested that the pop queen might have used her wealth and 7)stardom to bypass usual procedures and 8)jump the queue. 9)Detractors also suggested that it was wrong to take David away from his country of birth and his remaining family. The criticisms grew louder when it emerged that David was not， in fact， an orphan.

That circumstance is not particularly uncommon. Children given up for adoption often do have a surviving parent but one who cannot provide adequate care. David’s father was still alive but gave him up to an orphanage where he hoped his offspring would have a better life.

According to 10)UNICEF， the number of families from rich countries wanting to adopt children from poor countries has grown substantially in the past 30 years. Demand is strong， and there is little shortage of children who need additional help. In 2005 UNICEF estimated that there were 132 million children who had lost at least one parent in sub-Saharan Africa， Asia， Latin America and the Caribbean. Around 13 million of these had lost both parents， although most of them lived with extended family.

But difficulties abound. Parents (or would-be parents) typically want to adopt a healthy， young， orphan， usually a small baby. Older children， or those who suffer11)chronic illnesses， are not in demand. Some countries do have many young orphans. For example in China， after decades of a “one-child” policy that 12)put a great premium on male children， huge numbers of girls are available for adoption. But China makes it difficult to 13)whisk its daughters away. Instead many prospective parents go to countries such as 14)Guatemala or Vietnam， where the adoption process has， in the past at least， been easier.

Governments are understandably uneasy about outsiders removing their citizens. And as demand for children to adopt has grown， so have examples of abuse， including cases of children who have been 15)abducted or parents who have been 16)coerced or bribed. The absence of effective international regulation also allows middlemen to profit from the demand for children to adopt.

17)The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions is intended to regulate international adoptions. It states that these can only go ahead if the parents’ 18)consent， where applicable， has been obtained without any kind of payment or compensation. Costs and expenses can be paid， and a reasonable fee may go to the adoption agency involved， but nothing more. The document is clear: 19)wads of cash may not 20)change hands in return for poor motherless 21)mites.

These rules look fine on paper but are difficult to enforce. Incidents abound of vulnerable children being whisked away with profit in mind rather than their 22)well-being. In 2007， Zoe’s Ark， a French charity， was accused of kidnapping more than 100 children from 23)Chad and 24)Sudan for adoption in France. In 2008， a 25)scam was uncovered in which children in India were kidnapped， given new identities and dispatched to new parents in the West.

The process of adoption is difficult to 26)police. When corruption becomes clear in the adoption process in one country， and agencies are shut down， those involved look around for another country that is not so 27)fussy. The result is that individual countries increasingly toughen their laws on adoption. Ensuring that only legitimate candidates for adoption find their way to the West will be 28)tricky when such powerful human instincts as those of the childless seeking a baby are involved. But getting more countries to sign up to The Hague Convention would probably help.

麥當娜似乎是個習慣于隨心所欲的人。所以，面對馬拉維法庭拒絕讓她領養三歲大的女孩詹姆斯，這位流行巨星一定非常驚愕。法庭拒絕麥當娜的理由是她不符合居留要求。上一次她試圖收養一名馬拉維孩童比這次要成功，但一大堆批評也隨之而來。

對于麥當娜2006年將大衛·班達從馬拉維貧苦不堪的生活中拉出來的舉動，外界反應不一。一些人稱贊這位歌手讓一個孩童脫離了苦海。另一些人則說這位流行天后可能利用她的財富和地位，繞過常規程序，插隊領養。對她落井下石的那些人還指出，將大衛帶離其祖國和僅剩的家人身邊是錯誤的。當大衛并非孤兒的真相被揭露后，批評聲更加猛烈。

這種情況并不太罕見。通常，被領養的棄童的確有健在的父母，但他們并沒有能力充分照料孩子。……