The spin doctors of the media have been hard at work once again legitimatizing undocumented, false claims being made about Guatemalan adoptions by Casa Alianza and UNICEF. This time around, it is not in a sensationalized newspaper story but rather as part of a Lifetime Special Report television program called “Babies for Sale”. You can read about it here:
http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/relation/features/babyforsale.html
This story/program, written by former Gen-X Time reporter Jessica Reaves, does seem to have been initiated with good intentions and appears to focus around a couple who stood the high ground against an unscrupulous lawyer in an attempted adoption that had nothing to do with Guatemala. And in as much as this program stands to educate prospective parents to adequately research and question those they hire in the adoption process, we applaud the effort.
At issue, however, is how they are framing the world of intercountry adoption. Particularly troublesome for those of us who fight to educate people on the truths of Guatemalan adoption and dispel the lies carried in the media is this excerpt:
UNICEF estimates that nearly 1,500 babies are illegally peddled from Guatemala each year for sale to couples in North America and Europe, earning criminal baby brokers an estimated $50 million each year, according to Casa Alianza, a child welfare group in Latin America.
We at Guatadopt know that this is a false, unsubstantiated claim that is being regurgitated by Ms. Reaves without ever second guessing it. And while the program does not center on Guatemalan adoptions, Ms. Reaves did have Guatemala on her mind.
On May 27th and June 1st she posted to the Adoption Forum sites looking for families who had been victimized by child trafficking. She posted this directly to the Guatemala Adoption forum along with one on “Activism and Legislation” and one on “International Adoption - General Issues”. Guatemala was the only country specific forum she posted to.
What bothers me about this is the fact that if she was using a site like that (which I think was a good thing for her to do if she was truly investigating), then she certainly had the ability to learn about Casa Alianza's stance on adoptions as well as the controversy that surrounds every claim they make. So IMHO, it was a dereliction of her journalistic integrity, intentional or not, to just quote that 1,500 figure. If she had done her homework, she'd know not to accept it at face value. Since the basis of the story is not Guatemala, she would have been best served leaving this figure out of her work. But by utilizing it in the story, it seems to me to be an at least somewhat intentional attempt to sensationalize the story without regard for objectivity and accuracy.
You can write to Lifetime TV about this though website at this location: http://www.lifetimetv.com/about/write.html . I would encourage readers to do so but to realize that this story, in its entirety, may be a valuable one. Nonetheless, the station, its producers, and Ms. Reaves need to be made aware of the impact these lies have on us. So please be kind and diplomatic while also expressing your dissatisfaction.
Guatadopt.com has attempted to contact both Lifetime TV and Ms. Reaves in order to bring this to their attention and provide them with documentation of why they should not have quoted the 1,500 adoptions figure. Thus far we have received no reply so feel free to suggest that they do contact us in your letter to them.
Here is contact info I found for Lifetime TV CEO:
Carole Black, President/CEO
Lifetime Entertainment Services
309 W. 49th Street
New York, NY 10019
Also, in advertising: Elizabeth Reynolds
212-424-7202.
I hope we can get Lifetime to get change the false statement! The bad press about adoption just has to stop.
Here's my letter to Lifetime:
Dear Lifetime Television and Jessica Reaves,
I commend Lifetime Television for trying to tell an important story about the fraud that can be associated with adoption in your movie "Babies for Sale." However, I need to make you aware of the inaccuracies and concerning implications raised by your movie and the coverage of that movie on your Web site.
Specifically, I reacted to how you position intercountry adoptions. The UNICEF statistic and Casa Alianza information you report are both incorrect.
Please correspond with Kevin at guatadopt.com to get accurate and balanced information. He has written to you under separate cover. It is simply irresponsible journalism to perpetuate information you have not verified. And it's detrimental to the many children in Guatemala and other countries who need loving homes. Guatemala is already considering restricting its adoptions and irresponsible articles such as the one by Jessica Reaves on your Web site will only hurt the children.
I can address this first hand, because I am an adoptive single mother (incidentally, not “desperate” as you refer to us on your Web site) of a beautiful one-year-old boy from Guatemala. I also have a master's degree in journalism.
Lifetime is usually a network broadcasting high-quality programming. In this case, you can do better. Please take the time to act responsibly and correct your mistakes.
Sincerely,
Marjorie Moeling
Adoptive mother to Jackson
MA Journalism, Univ. of Missouri-Columbia
Here's my letter to Lifetime.
I am writing in regards to Jessica Reaves' story on adoption posted on your website. I am very disappointed that a quality network such as Lifetime would publish such a poorly researched article. While it is true that there are unethical practices that occur in both domestic and international adoption, it is irresponsible to publish figures such as, "UNICEF estimates that nearly 1,500 babies are illegally peddled from Guatemala each year for sale to couples in North America and Europe, earning criminal baby brokers an estimated $50 million each year, according to Casa Alianza, a child welfare group in Latin America." These statements are not backed up by any true facts. Both Unicef and Casa Alianza advocate ending all international adoptions from Guatemala. This agenda has led them to make outrageous claims about "baby-trafficing". Publishing these statements without properly investigating their validity is irresponsible and potentially harmful to thousands of waiting children in Guatemala. In the future I would suggest looking at both sides of the issue rather than trying to sensationalize the story. Guatadopt.com is a website that is very helpful in explaining the process of Guatemalan adoptions and Unicef's position of international adoption. It may also be helpful to talk to a representative of the US embassy in Guatemala and reputable adoption agencies. The process for adopting a child from another country is quite strenuous and detailed both here in the US and in Guatemala. I think an interesting story would be following an adoptive parent and a birthparent through the process of international adoption. I would also like you to issue a correction or qualification of the Unicef statement.
I am a cable subscriber and quality, truthful programming is important to me. I hope that Lifetime can continue to fill that role. I look forward to your comments.
Sincerely,
Lisa Marie Weiss
According to a Lifetime TV PR person, Sydney Plant, Lifetime took off the website due to all of the calls and letters from adoptive parents! Upon further research they decided that the website information was not fair. She apologized for any hurt to adoptive Guatemalan children and their families. Great to hear that we all can make a difference in how the media portrays adoption and can help to stop misrepresentations that harm intercounty adoption and our families!
Posted by: Lauren at July 19, 2004 05:05 PMI am athe adoptive parent of two guatemalan girls - nine and six- its nice to know there are sites like this even though im not actively involved in the process anymore - if anyone knows a reputable guatemalan orphanage id like to know about it -id love to contribute to them - thanks dorothy
Posted by: dorothy mcclafferty at August 18, 2004 02:14 PMWhere can I find out when this was posted?
Posted by: lisa marie at November 1, 2004 06:42 PM