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American Morning
International Adoption Growing Increasingly Popular
Aired May 10, 2001 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: People are talking about the incredible adoption special we did yesterday during this hour. We focused the whole time on all different types of adoption and focused much on our CNN family here.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Because we were surprised to find out how many people within our own family had added to their families.
KAGAN: In all different sorts of ways; we're not just talking about little babies, and of course, we asked for your e-mail and the response, simply to say, was overwhelming. And we felt like we didn't get to nearly enough to your e-mails.
So, we invited back one of the adoption attorneys and an adoptive parent who we had with us yesterday: Jim Outman.
Also, we called upon another adoption expert and adoptive parent, Mark McDermott; he specializes in international adoptions, and he is joining us from Washington, D.C.
Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. Boy, do we have some folks who would like to talk to you.
HARRIS: Yes, I don't know if you two gentlemen would be surprised to know this, but this topic really is one that a lot of people -- maybe more people than we are aware of, care about. We expected to get maybe tens of e-mails yesterday, and we got hundreds of them.
KAGAN: Let's not use up anymore time. Let's go to the first e- mail from Marcus Wallace. He asks:
"Is there a certain age to adopt, like 21 or 19? What physical things would you need to adopt?"
Jim, we will let you start with that one.
JAMES OUTMAN, ADOPTION ATTORNEY: In many states, Daryn, adoption statute provides for a minimum age and Georgia's is 25. But it's a matter of state law. Each state governs adoption law unique to that state, so you have to check your individual state law.
KAGAN: And Jim making a good point in answering the question about how old do you have to be to adopt; it does vary state by state. So you do want to check.
It turns out this next e-mail comes from us from McDonough, Georgia.
"What is the cost of an international adoption? Isn't it very expensive? Does it vary from country to country?"
And Mark, why don't we let you take that one?
MARK MCDERMOTT, INTL. ADOPTION ATTORNEY: Okay, I'll be glad to. It does vary from country to country, but a good guide might be that, if one doesn't enter a country, adoption will probably cost anywhere from 10-20,000 dollars, with many of them costing from 15 to 20,000.
But as I said, in response to the question, it does vary in accordance with the country, because the procedures are different.
KAGAN: But how much should folks budget if they are planning on looking at international adoption?
MCDERMOTT: About the amount I mentioned: $15-$20,000, I would say.
HARRIS: OK. Let's get to the next e-mail. This one comes to us from Stephanie Livermore from Gulfport, Mississippi:
"How hard is it for a single parent to adopt? What types of challenges do they face?"
Jim, do you want to take that one?
OUTMAN: Yes, Leon, the single parents are allowed to adopt under Georgia law, and I believe, a number of states allow that. As far as additional burdens, they must prove that they offer a parenting plan for the child. That obviously can include child care, but they just need to be able to demonstrate that they can adequately care for the child and, of course, they are adopting because they want to love a child, and bring it into their family. Albeit, a single-parent family.
HARRIS: The next one is from Cheryl:
"I was wondering, due to health concerns, if it was harder to apopt in Africa, or even possible?"
How about that one, Mark?
MCDERMOTT: Yes, I'll be glad to. It is possible to adopt from Africa. There are some agencies that specialize in that. One particular one that I am familiar with operates in Indianapolis, Indiana. And then --I don't have the details with me, of course, but it's possible. And a lot of people are doing it successfully.
HARRIS: Are the numbers of those kinds of adoptions rather increasing now, because one of the guests -- we talked about this briefly yesterday, in how one of the guys who is a member of our own family here who adopted an African-American child, was saying that adopting a black children right now is something that -- they don't have enough adoptive families out there for them? Not as many are showing up?
MCDERMOTT: Well, are you referring to inner country or in our own country?
HARRIS: Is there a difference between the two?
MCDERMOTT: Well, there are two different ways to adopt, inner country or domestically. And there are African-American children available, both from Africa and other countries, and also, in our own country, so people who are considering adoption should consider adopting from our own country also.
HARRIS: OK.
KAGAN: Next e-mail. There we go. This will one is from J.R.:
"Are children being adopted by U.S. citizens automatically granted citizenship? Can they maintain dual citizenship?"
HARRIS: That's a good question. Yeah.
KAGAN: Either one of you want to jump in on that one?
MCDERMOTT: I can handle that if you would like me to. There's a new law that just went into effect February 27th, which makes children automatically U.S. citizens under certain circumstances.
But basically, it's pretty broad. If one of the adoptive parents is a U.S. citizen and the child is admitted into our country lawfully, then they automatically become a citizen when they enter the country. It was a very significant event on February 27th, it's estimated that 75,000 children automatically became citizens. Because the law was retroactive.
HARRIS: I'm surprised we didn't think of bringing that one up yesterday when we talked with Eileen O'Connor and John Zarrella about that yesterday. Because they are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) international adoptions.
KAGAN: I know we did cover some of those swearing-in ceremonies, where the kids became citizens.
Mark, a good question for you, because as I am looking over a number of e-mails that our viewers have sent in, it looks like a lot of people who are watching have a lot of questions, and just beginning to consider this; they are just starting to think about that. If you are just in that, kind of, thinking about it, part of the process, where would you suggest people go?
MCDERMOTT: In most parts of the country, there are wonderful support group, parents that have banded together and formed support organizations to try to help other people, who are coming through the adoption maze. And they'll often have introductory programs. So, the key is education.
The people that are thinking about it, ought to get an education and expose themselves to as many different kinds of adoptions as they can, to make an informed choice as to which type of adoption is right for them and these exercises will also help them to decide if they want to adopt at all. So education, very important. And I encourage people to do that, and it is available.
KAGAN: Jim, quickly, what would you suggest?
OUTMAN: The same thing. In the Atlanta area and the other states that I am familiar with, there are local adoption agencies offer introductory seminars that give you the range of options that are available.
HARRIS: Listen, I want to thank you both of you for coming in and talking to us today and helping us going through the e-mails. Mark McDermott and Jim Outman. Thanks much, we appreciate it.
MCDERMOTT: Thank you.
HARRIS: Sorry we couldn't get to more of the e-mails. But we do appreciate you folks out there for sending the messages in.
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