Adoption: What You Should Know

by Janine Myung Ja, Rare Adoption Books, Rev. Dr. Allen Vance

What You Should Know has been divided into four short, easy-to-read sections, revealing the making of the global system throughout time, starting in Europe, America, South Korea (Asia), and today finally, in Africa.Did you know that “Adoption and Child Welfare” services now gross $20+ billion annually in the United States? Some adoption agencies use the advantages of charitable status to gross several tens of millions of dollars, while others even significantly more. But very few adoptees are permitted access to their birth certificates or adoption documents due to the stigma and human rights violations against them even after adulthood. Profiteers wish for adult adoptees to believe that the transaction was endorsed by God or even a work of God – – typically, this is the lesson we (“adoptees”) are taught in early childhood through tools like children’s books.For this reason, the historian and researcher curated adoption books for adults. According to Adoption Truth & Transparency Worldwide Information Network (ATTWIN), a forum she co-founded with her twin consisting of domestic, late-discovery, transracial, and overseas adoptees, families separated by adoption, and parents of loss, 99% of adult adoptees surveyed believe that their “placement” was a work of man – – and fallible and sinful man at that. Adult adoptees, adopted between the 1940s and 2000s, no longer believe God arranged their What You Should Know is more than just a textbook. It reveals what you should know before spending up to $75,000 in expensive and often hidden adoption fees. Once they hook you in with the face of a child, and after you fill out the application form that states you’re already the parent and invested emotionally and financially to the facilitator, it is almost impossible to free yourself from obligation. Most importantly, the contents within this book will protect you from falling victim to adopting a commodified or trafficked child.This textbook reveals adoption as you’ve probably never known; it’s a history book that offers a birdseye view of the industry.

Genres: Adoption

229 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2020

About the author

Janine Myung Ja was adopted from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972, which resulted in her investigation into intercountry adoption into adulthood. She curated numerous books on transracial and overseas adoption, including Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists, The Unknown Culture Club: Korean Adoptees, Then and Now, and Adoption: What You Should Know.

These books explore the experiences and perspectives of adopted people from various countries. The narratives also point out the challenges adopted people face, including issues related to identity, culture, and belonging.

JANINE and her twin submitted their adoption file to be examined by Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2022, along with more than three hundred Korean-born adoptees. Fifty years after her overseas adoption, Janine recently learned that her adoption was "illegal" and a "serious human rights violation."

Since 2004, Janine has written critically about the Evangelical Orphan Movement (EOM). To raise awareness of the crisis of child trafficking, which fills the adoption market, she serves as the Executive Director of Against Child Trafficking in the USA. She is adamantly opposed to the overseas child market spearheaded by missionaries who have profited from the now 20+ billion dollar Adoption and Child Welfare industry and exploited vulnerable women, children, and families globally.

Various adoptee groups have recognized her work, and she has received numerous book awards during her writing career. Janine writes about her private experiences and philosophy using her maiden adoptive name Janine Vance. To discover her past and present, visit Janine Vance. To learn about Janine's study on the history of adoption, visit Adoption History

Reviews

[Gonda Van Steen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took advantage of the holidays to read Adoption: What You Should Know. It was an eye-opening experience. Actually, it continues to be an eye-opening experience because I find myself going back to details of the historical sections time and again. I very much like that the book places so much emphasis on historical developments, which are also aptly presented as global phenomena. They bring home even more strongly that adoption transports own, by now, a very long, under-researched, and nefarious history. On the latter subject the author is clear in her objectives: creating awareness, inspiring action, guiding reform that must include the voices of the adoptees themselves. Warmly recommended! A marker of the turning tide in adoption literature, now that adult adoptees are finding their own voices and creating their own forums. As a movement, that, too, is to be commended.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a global look at adoption. It is informative and should be part of the curriculum in women studies, minority studies, and social studies. People looking to adopt or adoption agencies workers should read this before deciding if they want to continue a career in adoption profiteering. Adoptees would find the information empowering and informative. This will #flipthescript on adoption.

[Rupert Wolfe-Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good history but too much polemic.

[Moon Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adoption history 101 is a rare bird's-eye view on adoption. The research is mind-blowing because it talks about the root of adoption trafficking and how children are being stolen from poor parents in order to fill the demand from richer countries, unfortunately as a very common practice. People who can benefit are academics studying the field, particularly useful for social workers, lawyers, government officials, FBI agents, and/or people who are thinking about adoption. Nobody wants to adopt a stolen baby.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Baby Scoop" or "Baby Snatch" Era

Unbelievably important and insightful about Korean & Australian Aboriginal children who were kidnapped and sold as "orphans to adopt" by their governments. It's incredibly sad to hear these stories, but they are so important to share to discourage unethical international adoptions (much was spoken against Holt International, and it was very persuasive).

[Oliver Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond Informative

What an in depth expose not only on the history of adoption but the crimes associated with it stopping adopters from reconnecting with their families ever again. Truly exhaustive, but historically fascinating. I had no idea.

[Elle Otero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tailored for a specific audience

I am adopted and thought this would be for anyone who has been adopted... But it's a little more specific to international adoptees. Even so, there was some really good information that I found really interesting!