From Intercountry Adoption to Global Surrogacy

Karen Smith Rotabi is Associate Professor of Social Work at the United Arab Emirates University. Her work combines historical, sociological, and ethical dimensions in a policy analysis framework, especially considering the human rights of vulnerable populations. She has published extensively on intercountry adoption and relevant laws, particularly focused on the USA and its powerful interface with impoverished countries such as Guatemala where she has worked in a variety of initiatives to include rural health promotion programming for children. Her research agenda is focused on global social work practice, child protection, and family support, to include families impacted by war. She has consulted on child-protection initiatives in a number of countries including Belize, India, and Malawi and co-edited the 2012 book Intercountry Adoption: Policies, Practices, and Outcomes, which was awarded a Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2013. Rotabi was involved in the early stages of USA implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption as she assisted in the accreditation process from 2008-2012, evaluating dozens of US-based adoption agencies to ensure that they were effectively practicing within international standards. More recently, she has turned her attention to commercial global surrogacy as a replacement for intercountry adoption. Today, Rotabi’s service work in this area includes joining an expert group on child rights and global surrogacy, convening under the leadership of International Social Services in Geneva, Switzerland. Nicole F. Bromfield is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. Her research interests are on women and children’s health and social wellbeing, with most projects being driven by community needs with the desired outcome being social policy change. She has a PhD in public policy with a specialization in social and health policy and holds an MSW with a community organization concentration. Bromfield’s dissertation research was on the development of federal human-trafficking legislation in the USA, where she interviewed over 20 key policy players involved in its making. She has published on issues relating to human trafficking and has more recently taken an interest in global surrogacy arrangements, as well as social issues occurring in the Arabian Gulf nations.

List of Figures and Tables

Notes on the Authors

Preface

1. Rescue, Refugees, Orphans and Rescue

2. The Politics of Adoption From Romania to Russia and What we Know About Children Languishing in Residential Care Facilities

3. Poverty, Birth Families, Legal and Social Protections

4. Guatemala: Violence Against Women and Force, Fraud, and Coercion, Including Child Abduction Into Adoption and A New System Emerging

5. Child Protection Systems of Care to Ensure Child Rights in Family Support and Adoption: India and the United States

6. "Sins of the Saviors": Africa as the Final Frontier

7. From Intercountry Adoption to Commercial Global Surrogacy

8. Voices of U.S. Surrogates: A Content Analysis of Blogs by U.S. Gestational Surrogates

9. Perspectives of Indian Women Who Have Completed a Global Surrogacy Contract

with coauthor Lopamudra Goswami

10. The Future of Intercountry Adoption, Global Surrogacy, and New Frontiers

Author Index

Subject Index