Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program (CAP) and the Center for Adoption Policy win key backers for International Adoption Policy Statement
Professor Elizabeth Bartholet
June 15, 2009
Support for International Adoption principles is growing, says HLS Professor Elizabeth Bartholet, citing endorsements for Policy Statement and the recent Malawi ruling in the Madonna case.
Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program (CAP) and the Center for Adoption Policy have won key endorsements promoting International Adoption to help meet the needs of homeless children worldwide.
Working with some of the nation’s leading child and human rights experts, CAP recently led a campaign to disseminate their International Adoption Policy Statement, and has now won backing from more than 130 legal scholars in the fields of human rights, child rights, civil rights, and family law, and from six children’s rights and adoption policy organizations.
CAP helped develop the Policy Statement to address the crisis in international adoption, as UNICEF and other organizations have increased the pressure to shut down adoption in favor of keeping children in their countries of origin at all costs. The Policy Statement takes the position that International Adoption should be part of a comprehensive strategy to address the needs of unparented children, and that it generally serves children’s needs far better than available in-country options like orphanages and foster care.
HLS Professor Elizabeth Bartholet ’65 said that “these endorsements demonstrate that organizations like UNICEF and Save the Children should not be seen as having a lock on the child human rights position. Many of the nation’s leading experts on child and human rights have joined in this campaign to endorse the principle that children’s most basic rights are to grow up in the true family that is often available only in International Adoption.”
Bartholet announced the Policy Statement endorsements in the same week the Supreme Court of Appeal in the Republic of Malawi released a decision granting Madonna’s application to adopt Chifundo “Mercy” James. “The Malawi court’s ruling is consistent with the core principles in our Policy Statement,” said Bartholet. “I applaud the court for making the child’s best interests primary, and approving the adoption so that Mercy can be released from the orphanage to grow up in a family.”
The Malawi court found adoption required under basic human rights principles contained in Malawi law and applicable international treaties including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Its key conclusions were: (1) the best interests of the child must be determinative in decisions related to adoption; (2) children’s most fundamental interests lie in being raised in a true family; and (3) technical “residence” requirements for adoption must be read in light of the new international order characterized by “globalization and the global village.”
Bartholet said that the ruling in the Madonna case is consistent with other recent court rulings in South Africa and India. “It is all evidence of a growing understanding that basic human rights principles point to making use of International Adoption as a source of homes for children in need,” said Bartholet.
Elizabeth Bartholet
Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law
Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program
Biographical Statement
Elizabeth Bartholet is the Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP) at Harvard Law School, where she teaches civil rights and family law, specializing in child welfare, adoption and reproductive technology. Before joining the Harvard Faculty, she was engaged in civil rights and public interest work, first with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and later as founder and director of the Legal Action Center, a non-profit organization in New York City focused on criminal justice and substance abuse issues.
Key Backers Endorse International Adoption Policy Statement - June 15, 2009
More than 130 legal scholars in the fields of human rights, child rights, civil rights, and family law, and from six children's rights and adoption policy organizations have endorsed the Int'l Adoption Policy Statement. The Malawi court's recent ruling approving Madonna's second adoption is consistent with the core principles in this Policy Statement.
Campaign to Support Child Rights and International Adoption - May 2009
Learn more about our International Adoption Campaign. If you are a faculty member, represent a law school program or a non-profit organization, you can endorse our International Adoption Policy Statement.
CAP Faculty Director's NYTimes Editorial "Celebrity Adoptions and the Real World" - May 10, 2009
In a New York Times editorial, CAP Faculty Director Elizabeth Bartholet was one of six contributors who shared their opinions on international adoption and what the standard should be for allowing international adoptions.
Research Assistant Position at CAP - Apply by April 24, 2009
Prof. Bartholet is looking for part-time help from a Research Assistant in mid-May to mid-June 2009 period in connection with article on International Adoption. Work can be done from a distance by email and telephone, since limited time needed would be consistent with another job. Send her (ebarthol@law.harvard.edu) emails indicating interest with c.v.'s by end of day Friday April 24th.
Save the Children from Save the Children - Press Release on Madonna's 2nd Adoption
CAP and associates release a statement in response to the Malawi court decision on Madonna's second adoption.
Clinical Forum - April 6, 2009
Stop by the Child Advocacy Clinic table at the Clinical Forum organized by the Office of Clinical Programs. The Forum is a great opportunity to learn about how CAP's Clinic works. 6:00-8:00 PM, Austin Hall, First Floor, Harvard Law School
Lunch Conversation on Forced Marriage - March 16, 2009
Join the Child Advocacy Program for a lunch conversation on Forced Marriage in the United Kingdom with Visiting CAP Scholar Mary Welstead. Lunch will be provided. Noon - 1:00 PM, Pound 407, Harvard Law School.
ABA Program on Public School Reform - Feb. 13, 2009
What is the Role of Lawyers and the ABA in promoting public school reform for at-risk youth? Join the ABA and others for this FREE day-long event. Hynes Convention Center, Room 309, 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
International Adoption Conference - March 6, 2009
Join the Center for Adoption Policy, HLS's Child Advocacy Program, and the Justice Action Center at New York Law School for "International Adoption, the United States and the Reality of the Hague System."
CAP Faculty Director Quoted in Calgary Herald Article on International Adoption - Nov. 8, 2008
CAP Faculty Director Elizabeth Bartholet responds to recent attacks on international adoption in a recent article in the Calgary Herald
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