China’s adoption system worries Canadian mom

A Nova Scotia mother who adopted a baby from China

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia mother who adopted a baby from China says she is haunted by questions about whether her little girl — and other Chinese adoptees in Canada — might have been kidnapped from her birth parents, or sold for cash.

"I'm very, very scared," says Cathy Wagner, who wants the federal government to stop all Canadian adoptions from China until fears about the true origins of orphans there can be properly investigated.

This week the Los Angeles Times published explosive evidence that Chinese babies, particularly those in rural villages, had been kidnapped from their parents and sold to orphanages by corrupt adoption officials cashing in on the vast sums of money made available by the foreign demand for Chinese children.

The newspaper also said local authorities had tricked or coerced Chinese families into giving up newborns for adoption, only to sell those children to orphanages.

The paper quoted parents in the provinces of Guizhou and Hunan who said their babies had been stolen, sold, and adopted overseas in recent years. > read whole article <

CBC Radio - Canada SEP 25, 2009 - As It Happens

CHILD TRAFFICKING AND ADOPTION

For the last few nights, we've been telling you about the problems with international adoptions in China. You've heard stories of Chinese parents who had their children taken from them by corrupt officials, out to profit from the money paid up by foreigners wanting to adopt. And you've heard about adoptive parents who are often unaware that the babies they take home may have been stolen. But this issue isn't unique to China. Roelie Post monitors the international adoption business for the non-profit group Against Child Trafficking. We reached her in Brussels.

You can listen to it here - starting at around 8.30 minutes: