The Orphan Trade: A look at the families affected by corrupt international adoptions.
By the time Guatemala closed to U.S. adoption, these notarios were charging commissions of up to $35,000 per child, according to the U.S. Department of State. That’s an astonishing fee in a country where 56 percent of the population lives on less than $500 per year and where the per capita GDP is $4,700 per year. Consider that the United States’ per capita GDP is $46,000 per year, or roughly 10 times that of Guatemala. Imagine paying a U.S. attorney $350,000 per adoption—and allowing her, without oversight, to oversee both the birth mother’s decision to give up the child and the purchaser’s adoption. Might there be some incentive for unethical, coercive, or criminal behavior?
UPDATE: Weirdly, the samoan kid story from the slideshow is a segment on “This American Life” playing right now on my local NPR station.
