You might have heard (or perhaps you even saw it air on CBS yesterday) about the Samoan adoption scandal–a scandal believed to be one of the largest–if not the largest–of its kind in U.S. history:
CBS News will present, “The Lost Children,” a “48 Hours” special, on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT – the culmination of a two-year investigation by “48 Hours” into one of the largest foreign adoption scams in U.S. history.
Anchored by “48 Hours” correspondent Maureen Maher, who herself was adopted, “The Lost Children” profiles three families – Patti Sawyer, Mike and Kari Nyberg, and Elizabeth and Gary Muenzler – who adopted children from the South Pacific island of Samoa through the Utah-based Focus On Children adoption agency, only to face a heartbreaking decision years later. (The full text of this article can be found here.)
It goes without saying that I detest writing blogs such as this, but the truth remains that there is corruption to be found in adoption and this more than exemplifies that fact. This is one heartbreaking instance where lies were told to both the birth and adoptive parents. The birth family was led to believe they were signing their child(ren) up for an international foster program, and the child would return to Samoa at age 18 (all the while keeping in close contact with the family via letters, photographs, etc.). The adoptive family, however, was told the children were orphaned and in need of a family to love and raise them. (If you’re interested in seeing a three minute preview clip of the episode, click here.)
If you read the article, you’ll see adoptive parents on both sides of the fence: ones willing to return the child to their birth parents if the adoption is/was proven fraudulent, and ones willing to fight at all costs to keep the child they adopted into their family and love unconditionally. While I cannot and will not negate the unbelievable amount of heartache and grief faced by the adoptive parents/families, I can’t even begin to fathom the loss experienced by the birth parents/families who had no idea whatsoever of the rights they had relinquished “voluntarily”.
Even more, while the pain of the birth and adoptive parents is more than overwhelming, the pain experienced by the children is positively gut-wrenching. When I re-watched the episode online this morning, I cried just as much as I did when I saw the show as it aired, if not more since I’ve had some time to really process the information and reflect on what I had viewed. So many of these children were essentially taken out of their mother’s arms and then immediately handed to their adoptive parents–there was no time spent in the “nanny house”; they were not the orphans they had been touted to be. Lies were built upon lies, and those who suffered the greatest were the ones who were too little to have a voice.
For those who missed it but would like to see the full episode, it can be found on the CBS site. Please be forewarned: it is a very emotional piece.
[...] Samoan Adoption Scandal (December 13, 2009): Courtney’s post about the Samoan Adoption Scandal. [...]
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