Paula Zahn Now "Adoption Crackdown" 1/5/07

I'm still fuming over a program I saw on CNN last Friday. Below is the text of a letter that I sent to prople at CNN about it. You can read the transcript here. Here's a link to another adoption story blog with a very well written and well referenced letter that describes CNN's inaccuracies to a T. She obviously spent a lot of time to put this together.

Mr. Klein, Mr. Payne, and Ms. Grant,

I am writing to share my frustration with the Paula Zahn Now show that aired January 5th. Until now I didn’t know how inaccurate information on CNN can be until you have a show that discusses something that I know a lot about.

I've been on a cruise to the Bahamas with my husband's family the last few days. We were getting our pictures taken outside a bar area, when I saw a big screen TV with the words "ADOPTION CRACKDOWN" on CNN with pictures of Asian children. I ran, not walked, but ran to the TV to see what the heck was going on.

On this show, the panel discussed changes in China's adoption rules that go into effect in May. These rules are being put in place as China searches as a way to slim down the pool of adopting parents. China currently has twice the number of families wanting to adopt than they have children available for adoption. While I disagree with how they are limiting their pool of adoptive families, I understand why they have done this.

What I’m really upset about is that the panel generalized that adoptive families want Asian children because they’re racist and think they’ll be smarter than Black and Hispanic children. The panel suggests that adoptive families should be adopting Iraqi war orphans and black children available domestically. The commentators have no idea what they’re talking about. Muslim majority countries do not allow international adoption due to Shari’a law, citizenship requirements, and requirements that adoptive families must also be Muslim. The exceptions are few. Albania only has two licensed agencies, and Ethiopian adoptions are growing rapidly, with 1,171 children being adopted in the past 2 years. In order for more families to adopt from Muslim countries, these countries must change their laws and policies to allow it. They are sovereign nations, and we can’t make them adopt out their orphans if they don’t want to. Only 13% of US adoptions are international adoptions. Those that do it are often looking for alternatives processes to how adoptions are done in the US. In the US, parents that want to adopt an infant have to advertise themselves in beauty pageant fashion, waiting for a birth mother to choose them. Some families spend years and thousands of dollars waiting to be chosen. When they are chosen, they often pay thousands of dollars in housing and prenatal care for the birthmother. They run the risk that she’ll change her mind after she gives birth. When that happens, the adoptive families have broken hearts and empty wallets, and must start all over again looking for a birthmother that will choose them.

In my opinion, This Paula Zahn Now show was sensationalist, trying to create news rather than report and discuss the facts. I no longer trust CNN programming. I suggest that your programs look for panelists that are experts in their fields, rather drumming up sensationalist stories that your panels know very little about.

Update Monday, January 8, 2007

Tonight the Paula Zahn Now show revisited their discussion on adoptions from China. You can read the transcript here. The show revisited this subject after waves e-mails like mine to CNN. Way to go, adoption community! Paula Zahn stated, "We have been flooded with your e-mails, thousands of them since our segment on Friday about China's plan to tighten restrictions on foreigners adopting children. It's a controversial subject. And we brought it out in the open because of the potentially intolerant rules on who can adopt, only prospective parents who are thin enough, rich enough, and attractive enough."

I think CNN realized how off base several statements on the show were. I'm pleased that they tried to make amends. They visited an orphanage in China with special needs babies, and interviewed David Youtz, president of Families with Children from China of Greater New York. Okay, I'll put away the CNN Voodoo doll for now.