{"id":763,"date":"2013-10-30T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/10\/more-on-adoption-illinois-files-historic-lawsuit-against-for-profit-adoption-agency.html"},"modified":"2013-10-30T09:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T09:01:00","slug":"more-on-adoption-illinois-files-historic-lawsuit-against-for-profit-adoption-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/10\/more-on-adoption-illinois-files-historic-lawsuit-against-for-profit-adoption-agency.html","title":{"rendered":"More on Adoption: “Illinois files ‘historic’ lawsuit against for-profit adoption agency”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That\u2019s the headline<\/a> in yesterday\u2019s Chicago Tribune, discussing a lawsuit by the Illinois attorney general against a California for-profit adoption agency, Adoption Network Law Center, which has been marketing to prospective adoptive parents and expectant mothers considering adoption, in Illinois, via ads that pop up in Google searches, specifically targeting Illinois (e.g., \u201cclick here if you\u2019re interested in adoption in Illinois\u201d).\u00a0 Prospective adopters are enticed with the promise of a faster process; the mothers are promised financial benefits.<\/p>\n

According to the article,<\/p>\n

The Illinois Adoption Reform Act, which took effect in 2005, was designed to drive out unscrupulous operators and take the profit motive and aggressive marketing out of adoption. One birth mother was offered kitchen appliances to place her child for adoption, said a Glen Ellyn couple trying to adopt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

. . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

The number of healthy infants available for adoption has dwindled during the past two decades, ushering in an era of fraud and \u201cgrowing commodification of adoption on the Web,\u201d according to a report last year by the Donaldson Adoption Institute, a national not-for-profit devoted to improving adoption policy and practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And a simple google adoption+Illinois search, immediately brought them up as the third ad (after The Cradle, a local non-profit agency, and\u00a0www.americanadoptions.com<\/a>, which seems to be a similar agency.\u00a0 Their name is innocuous:\u00a0 \u00a0www.adoptionnetwork.com,<\/a> and exploring the site, their main claim is that they market extensively (though I didn\u2019t see any references to Illinois specifically).\u00a0 On their own site\u00a0one can view finely crafted prospective parent profiles and youtube videos.\u00a0 Expectant parents are also promised that their medical\u00a0costs and living expenses (including housing, with a pool and fitness center) will be covered.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n

(How much does an adoption cost, anyway?\u00a0\u00a0According to\u00a0The Cradle, a local non-profit:\u00a0 $33,900 for a domestic adoption (or $16,900 if you\u2019re black)<\/a>.\u00a0 The for-profit agencies\u2019 websites didn\u2019t disclose their costs, of course.)<\/p>\n

But the funny thing is:\u00a0\u00a0the\u00a0State of Illinois is\u00a0so careful to ensure that the adoption process is not-for-profit, but doesn\u2019t really have any trouble with buying a child via surrogacy:\u00a0here\u2019s a summary of\u00a0Illinois surrogacy law<\/a> that I found online, which reports that Illinois is the second-most-liberal state in its laws.\u00a0 As long as one parent is a contributor of genetic material (i.e., sperm or egg donor), then the contract itself determines that the\u00a0baby is, by law, the child of the \u201cintended parents.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 (No indicator of what happens if the child is genetically the product of both an unrelated\u00a0sperm and egg donor.)<\/p>\n

(No profound point here \u2014 but it just doesn\u2019t sit right with me.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s the headline in yesterday\u2019s Chicago Tribune, discussing a lawsuit by the Illinois attorney general against a California for-profit adoption agency, Adoption Network Law Center, which has been marketing to prospective adoptive parents and expectant mothers considering adoption, in Illinois, via ads that pop up in Google searches, specifically targeting Illinois (e.g., \u201cclick here if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMore on Adoption: "Illinois files 'historic' lawsuit against for-profit adoption agency"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That's the headline in yesterday's Chicago Tribune, discussing a lawsuit by the Illinois attorney general against 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