124 illegal adoptions by US citizens to be investigated

The Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Comfort Asare, has hinted that her outfit will look into circumstances under which 124 Ghanaians were adopted by citizens of the United States of America (USA) in 2013/2014 at a time when a temporary ban was imposed on adoptions.

She said this in reaction to The Finder’s question about data from the US State Department which shows that 124 Ghanaians were adopted by US citizens in 2013/2014.

Thomson Reuters Foundation published the data gathered from its investigations.

The craze to live abroad is one major reason for the high incidence of adoptions.

Over 1,120 Ghanaian children were adopted between 2010 and 2012. The majority of the adopted children are sent to the United States of America (USA) and Europe.

Out of the number, 800 children were adopted by foreigners, with the rest being adopted locally.

Mrs Asare explained that even though she has not seen the US State Department report or the publication by Reuters, her department would look into it.

She explained that she suspects that the said adoptions could have been done by Ghanaians who have obtained US citizenship and adopted their distant relatives.

The 124 Ghanaians are among 6,441 children adopted by US citizens from around the world, hundreds of them from Africa.

A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation found that families in Uganda have been bribed, tricked or coerced into giving up their children to U.S. citizens and other foreigners for adoption.

In Africa, Ghana placed 5th on the list of top 10 countries for US adoptive parents.

Ethiopia topped the list with 716 adoptions, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo with 230 adoptions; Uganda had 201 adoptions at third position; Nigeria, 130 adoptions, at fourth position; Ghana, 124 adoptions at fifth position; and Morocco, 43 adoptions at sixth position.

The rest are Sierra Leone, 33 adoptions, seventh position; South Africa, 24 adoptions, eighth position; Liberia, 16 adoptions, ninth position; and Zambia eight adoptions at 10th position.

Worldwide, China topped the list of 10 countries for US adoptive parents in the fiscal year 2014, with 2,040 adoptions.

Others are Ethiopia at second position with 716 adoptions; Ukraine occupied third position with 521 adoptions; Haiti placed fourth with 464 adoptions; South Korea at fifth position with 370 adoptions; and Democratic Republic of Congo placing sixth with 230 adoptions.

The rest are Uganda, 201 adoptions at the seventh position; Bulgaria, 183 adoptions at the eighth position; Colombia placed ninth with 172 adoptions, and Philippines came 10th with 172 adoptions.