The situation raised in this article is compelling but very few facts are at all true and this might not be the fault of the author of the article but more that the author depended entirely on US generated emails and reports to write the article. I was there, I was on the ground, I saw the work going on and came to know many of the '20 families'. It is not cited in this article that at least one agency paid all of the families expenses, into the tens of thousands of dollars to rebut the made up charges. Because of confidentiality I cannot specifically address some situations which are quoted as fact which indeed are blatant lies that the author has referenced. I have made some of the 20 families aware of this article with the hope that they might come to this website to record the truth. The US had a mission to stop adoptions from Viet Nam and they created a set of circumstances to stop the adoptions by singling out specific families and while allowing countless hundreds more with identical paperwork to be processed they stopped very valid and legitimate adoption cases. In one particular place this article has quoted Dr. Long as having demanded something that had nothing to do with Dr. Long at all. I have relied on this website for years and come here often but this article is myth making, it is not at all the truth, and it does not at all create an atmosphere of truth where adoption can take place for American's. A report done by another country suggest that most Embassy's in Viet Nam felt that the US had an "overblown" reaction. Why would Viet Nam want the US Embassy prowling about their villages and terrifying birth families? One has to try to look away from the perspective that the US was in anyway trying to find a 'truth'. They wanted to stop the adoptions so set out to make their own truth. I am the Executive Director of an aid organization that helps children in Viet Nam currently and it is a blatant lie to state that the orphanages are now empty. Many of the children who might have found loving homes in the US are now going to loving homes in other countries. It is a travesty that the US can lie, does lie, and gets by with it.

I'm horrified to see that Ms. Graff is continuing on her agenda to tarnish the public perception of international adoption. There are many "facts" presented in this article that are nothing more than hearsay. The article takes all of it's "facts" from a single source; where is the real investigation here?

Yes, there is corruption in international adoption, and yes, it needs to be cleaned up. There can also be corruption in US adoptions. In either case, the percentage of unethical or illegal cases is tiny in comparison to the number of above-board adoptions. Why infants or children in need of a home be deprived by the corrupt actions of a few? Oh, right, there aren't any babies in need of homes, just older children, I forgot. It's just that old "lie we love", right?

I find it very interesting that more research wasn't done before smearing ADOPPT and the people who ran the agency. The reason they are no longer open and withdrew their Hague accrediation is because the owners divorced and closed their business. That's a plain and simple fact, it had nothing to do with wrong doings or them trying to hide something
Was their corruption in some Vietnamese adoptions there, yes I know there was. I saw it first hand myself. It's interesting that the one adoptive parent they spoke too had her adoption investigated for her own piece of mind and it was found that her adoption was on the up and up, so how can she really comment on the supposed corruption. What did she really see because there were no NOIDS issued while she was in Vietnam adopting her daughter.

is one thing, some of these allegations are a deep insult to the country that loved and protected our children. I adopted my 4 in the 1970's and I find it heart breaking that this article is up on Huffington Post suggesting that some Vietnamese killed babies to make room for others. Which doesn't even make sense. Adoptive parents should come forward and relate their experiences as the article elsewhere suggests. If there is corruption in any adoption anywhere it needs to be exposed but this article failed.

Is that you really you, Cherie Clark, famed facilitator of IMH before the first shutdown and famed employee of PLAN during the second, posting as CherieIMH? Darling, where have you been? If it is the Real You, there are so many things I'd love to ask you, like:
-Why did you shut down IMH in Vietnam in 2002 and disappear from Vietnam after that? I've got your message to your clients stashed somewhere in my treasure chest, but I must congratulate you on its genius explication of why the whole world was wrong but you were right!!!!
-Did you really and allegedly burn all the IMH records after your shut-down? For shame on those who spread that nasty allegation!
-Why didn't Rick Sell of the INS like you? Some people are sooooooo grumpy!
-Why was there another allegation floating around that you/IMH also allegedly left India in a cloud of alleged suspicion after alleged misdeeds there, allegedly?
-Why did the agency PLAN not want to tell all the nice people who wanted to adopt from Vietnam when it reopened that you were working for them? Can you be lovely enough to tell me what a "Hanoi-based travel coordinator" did for all those nice PLAN clients?
-Is it true that you and Dr. Long were allegedly BFFs? He must be soooooooo upset with this nasty article!
-Could you maybe perhaps share some facts to support your critique of this article, like maybe perhaps explaining how PLAN was able to get so many very young infants in a very short period of time before Vietnam shut down again? I would be ever so grateful!
-Some meanies also said that you allegedly know something about some alleged "baby houses" where pregnant ladies stayed before they gave up their precious little ones to all those wonderful Americans who could save them. I'm sure you'd have nothing to do with those kind of place, right??!!
-Would you be delicious enough to tell everyone exactly why PLAN was denied Hague accreditation?
-Since you said "corruption needs to be exposed," do you really think that every single document from the State Department linked to here is bogus and not an expose of corruption? I am sooooooo confused!!!
-Speaking of confused, if you think this article is sooooooo disrespectful to Vietnamese, then wouldn't you also have to maybe say that some American agencies were just a teensy-weensy bit disrespectful to all these Vietnamese birth mommies when they lied to them and stole their babies???? I just don't know who to believe!!!!
-And finally, dearest Cherie, if it is indeed you, given your long history in Vietnam adoptions - one that lots and lots of meanies wrote about about on all the Vietnam and agency research Yahoo groups - why should anyone reading your posting believe YOU and not EJ Graff? I really really really want to know!!!!
Luv ya 4evah, Cat

After reading "Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis," I wanted to know why USCIS and the State Department didn't/couldn't tell prospective adoptive parents what was really going on. Do you know why?

The truth hurts and gives any Vietnam adoptive parent reason to worry.

The US didn't release this information voluntarily which makes this information more credible. They apparently expected these messages to be private. Seems like the US could have shut Vietnam down a whole lot sooner if that was their intention. Looks like they held out about as long as they could and only when they asked for some cooperation to assure the adoptions were legitimate did the Vietnamese decide to end the relationship. I believe that says a lot about how Vietnam government knew the process was troubled from top to bottom. Does that mean every child was stolen or bought? No. But it means there was nothing to indicate it could be trusted. Without a basic faith in the system how can they continue?

Where does Cherie Clark get her information that the US' governments 'mission' was to close adoptions? Looks like the opposite to me. They were approving them even when they knew the process was seriously flawed.

To some people: any criticism = being against adoption. Isn't it possible they wanted to see it fixed not stopped? How do you fix it without first finding fault?

Dear Foreign Policy Editors:

Kudos to Ms. Graff for tackling the very vexing issue of intercountry adoption. It’s one of the most heartrending issues I’ve handled as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam. When we decided not to renew our bilateral adoption agreement in September 2008, the U.S. and Vietnam took action against unscrupulous operators who put profits ahead of child welfare. I want to assure Foreign Policy readers that no one in the U.S. Government wants to prevent genuine orphans from being adopted by American parents, but protecting children must be at the forefront of U.S. policy.

I’d like to update Foreign Policy readers on the latest developments since September 2008:

• In April 2009, Vietnam remolded its former Department of Intercountry Adoption as the Department of Adoptions with renewed emphasis on domestic as well as international adoption.
• At UNICEF’s recommendation, Vietnam invited International Social Services researchers to undertake an extensive study on adoption in Vietnam (http://www.unicef.org/vietnam/Eng_Adoption_report.pdf) in May 2009.
• Since mid-2009, the Vietnamese courts have investigated and prosecuted several persons for irregularities related to intercountry adoption.
• The U.S. and Vietnam held bilateral adoption talks in December 2009. Both sides agreed our goal should be Vietnam’s full membership in the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
• Vietnam passed its new Law of Adoptions in June 2010. Importantly, in addition to specifying important reforms in international adoptions, this law also clarifies procedures for domestic adoptions in Vietnam.
• Last week, Vietnam announced its plan to train 35,000 certified social workers by 2020. These social workers will play a critical role in ensuring that the rights of children and biological families are protected.
• Vietnam continues to work closely with UNICEF and international adoption experts as it drafts the new laws enabling regulations.
• Vietnam plans to become a full member state of the Hague Convention in early 2011.

I am convinced both the U.S. and Vietnam want to put in place an adoption system where trained social workers replace commissioned “baby brokers,” and where the interests of the child take precedence over all else. We applaud the initiatives by the Government of Vietnam in its renewed commitment to strengthen its child welfare system and the integrity of its domestic and international adoption process. We are working with the Government of Vietnam so that adoptions by U.S. citizens can be resumed.

Sincerely,

Michael W. Michalak
United States Ambassador to Vietnam