[sak9645]

Personally, when the U.S. declared Cambodia closed to American adoptive families, I had some concerns that the U.S. government's investigations of visa applications were flawed and that some adoption visa applications were being denied inappropriately, meaning that families could not bring home the children whom they thought they had adopted, and probably did adopt, in a legal and ethical manner. In fact, some denials were subsequently overturned on appeal, and some "humanitarian paroles" were granted to kids in situations where families and agencies may have been misled by

While I may have disagreed with the way that some visa investigations were handled, and felt very sorry for families who were being denied the right to bring home children that they had already adopted, I would never have dreamed of advising anyone to try illegal methods either to bring home already adopted children or to continue adopting after the shutdown.

I recommended ethical, experienced immigration/adoption attorneys to some people caught up in the mess, and talked to others about getting their Senators and members of Congress involved in trying to intervene with the U.S. State Department and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the USCIS). I also talked to families about other countries from which ethical adoption was still possible. And, professionally, I became involved in efforts to support Hague Convention #33 on intercountry adoption.

If you do not approve of the way your government or the Cambodian government handles adoptions, by all means, become an advocate for responsible change. Join adoption advocacy organizations, sign petitions created by reputable and well-informed groups, and so on.

For yourself, personally, resolve to either wait out the delays or to change your adoption focus to another country that works with France and for which you qualify. Consult with a qualified attorney if you think that there might be a little-used, but legal, alternative to going through AFA, but be prepared to hear that there isn't.

The only other alternative will be to break the law, either directly or by working with an agency or facilitator that engages in illegal acts. Remember, if you do so, three important facts.

The first is that, while you may have the noblest of intentions, adoption laws have a purpose -- the protection of children, birthparents, and adoptive families from exploitation. Sovereign nations have the legal and moral right to enact any laws they choose to protect their citizens, and especially their most vulnerable citizens, such as orphans.

A particular law may be inconvenient for you, but you do not have an implicit or explicit right to adopt a child. Your government and the government of the country where a particular child lives have the right to decide who may adopt, what children may be adopted, and what procedures must be followed to limit the possibility of corruption, child trafficking, baby-buying/baby-stealing, and so on.

The second is that international adoption is, increasingly, being regulated by sending countries, receiving countries, and international treaties. And violations of adoption laws are being taken very seriously -- not like jaywalking or littering. People are recognizing that these violations can do serious harm to vulnerable children, as well as to birthparents and adoptive families.

In the U.S., there are federal crimes, such as visa fraud, that carry serious criminal penalties including prison time. Back when Cambodia first closed, two American women, who happened to be sisters, were prosecuted on a variety of federal charges, including visa fraud and money laundering, for their roles in facilitating questionable Asian adoptions. They received stiff penalties for their improper actions, which included things like having one child travel on another child's paperwork and misrepresenting children as orphans, when they were not.

I do not know anything about the French legal system, but I suspect that it has similar protections for kids, birthparents, and adoptive parents. I know that there was a case a while back, in which a French organization came under intense scrutiny because of the way it brought some African children to France for adoption. There were allegations that the children were not legally free for adoption.

So if you do violate French law, there is a strong likelihood that you will be caught, that you will face stiff penalties, and that you may never be able to complete an adoption because people who are convicted of serious crimes are usually barred from adopting.

The third thing is that what you do can affect not only your own situation, but also thousands of other people. If you act in an improper manner, it could cause a foreign government to decide not to place children with French families, and it can also cause your own government to suspend adoptions until laws are tightened up. This can hurt children, who will not find homes, and also prospective parents, who want children.

Sharon