Cyprus-Forum.com

[cannedmoose]

Good for the individual child concerned obviously, but does this celebrity adoption of 'poor African/Asian kids' not just establish a precedent of rich folks jetting off to remove kids from their countries?

I'm really torn by this as I can see both sides of it, the desire to give these kids a better life, but also the exploitative element of it, and the danger that these kids will be adopted by people who plan to harm rather than love them.

If Jolie got the papers within a week, what's to say that with a few official bribes and a whole heap of cash, someone with more malice in their heart couldn't do the same. It worries me.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=51424

[demetriou_74]

Good for the individual child concerned obviously, but does this celebrity adoption of 'poor African/Asian kids' not just establish a precedent of rich folks jetting off to remove kids from their countries?

I'm really torn by this as I can see both sides of it, the desire to give these kids a better life, but also the exploitative element of it, and the danger that these kids will be adopted by people who plan to harm rather than love them.

If Jolie got the papers within a week, what's to say that with a few official bribes and a whole heap of cash, someone with more malice in their heart couldn't do the same. It worries me.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=51424

just does not seem right

[city]

well, I was thinking about this as well.
She is very committed to human aid and does a lot in this field. I mean not just donating money, she really goes there and does hard work with her own hands, so to say. And she had always been saying, since she adopted Maddox, that she would like to have a kid from each continent. I think I read this in connection with the Live 8 concert....
As I understand the article they applied earlier for the adoption and got the permission last week, not _within a week_.

I remember this discussion about adopting babies/kids in need after the asian Tsunami catastrophe as many people around the world offered to give a new home to the orphaned children.

Personally I think its better to improve the situation in the respective country, so the children may grow up healthy and receive a good education which then in return they could use to make their life and this of the people in their country a better one. I think its better to leave them grow up in their own culture with their own people and history around them.

Plus there is the point that you mention that one can never know which kind of people are applying for an adoption. But shouldn't there be a way of controlling this maybe?

But this is a general question I believe and it does not only concern the adoption of children. There are many other things to it.

[Hazza]

I have nothing but respect for Angelina Jolie because of what she is doing. I get the impression that she actually DOES care about underprivilaged children in need of a home. She has the finances, the space in her home, but most importantly, she has the space in her heart to give these children a far better life. She cares about what is happening and she certainly has alot of love to give. Saying that, I truely hope that she allows the children to know all about their culture, their homes, their families and their country.

[cannedmoose]

I have nothing but respect for Angelina Jolie because of what she is doing. I get the impression that she actually DOES care about underprivilaged children in need of a home. She has the finances, the space in her home, but most importantly, she has the space in her heart to give these children a far better life. She cares about what is happening and she certainly has alot of love to give. Saying that, I truely hope that she allows the children to know all about their culture, their homes, their families and their country.

I understand what you say about Jolie and I fully agree that she has nothing but goodness in her heart as regards these children. I guess my discomfort stems from the message that this sends out to other people, i.e. it's easy to go to poor countries and adopt kids. Whereas 99% of the people who would do so would I'm sure have the kids interests at heart, there are always the 1% who would do so in order to bypass the more rigourous checking system in most developed nations. Having been to places like Nigeria and Uganda, I can honestly say that if you have the money, you can get anything, officials are not paid enough to turn down under the counter bribes and will often openly demand them. This being the case, it's not beyond the boundaries for some nasty individuals to go abroad and bring kids back to hell.

I would therefore rather see Jolie use her mountains of money to sponsor these orphanages and better the lives of all the children in them. She would be changing far more lives in doing so and give all of those kids a chance, rather than just one receiving the privilege. Also, she would be benefitting the country as a whole if these kids grow up to be doctors, teachers, engineers etc., how much better would that be.

[brother]

I agree with moosey about that one and feel that money though is not enough, in some of these countries the peoples and goverments mentalities must change aswell.