United States Ambassador Maura Harty recently gave an interview to Vietnam Television in Viet Nam. The US Embassy in Hanoi has posted a transcript of the interview on their website here. Relations between the US and Viet Nam were discussed, as was the current state and future of intercountry adoptions.

With prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) worried about the future of Viet Nam’s adoption program, we’re looking for any information we can find. The current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is the agreement between the US and Viet Nam that opened up the doors to intercountry adoptions is coming up for review. The MOU is valid until June of 2008, but an agreement to extend it would need to be signed by March of 2008 for it to remain intact.

All thoughts of what may happen are purely speculation and noone has any answers at this time. Although Ms. Harty spoke about adoption, no real answers were given as far as the future of adoptions in Viet Nam. She stated that she was in Viet Nam to begin talks due to the impending expiration of the MOA, but some of her comments were vague. She was quoted as saying:

We must be absolutely positive that any child who is going to be adopted or who is adopted by an American citizen is in fact eligible to be adopted, is in fact an orphan. We must be very very certain that that program is as free from any kind of corruption or misunderstanding about a child’s ability to be adopted.

Transparency was the key term in her interview. She mentioned the importance of protecting the children first and foremost, but also the birth parents and adoptive parents. Ms. Harty said:

I want to be very clear about this. What is most important for us is that here in Vietnam as well as in other countries around the world, what is most important for us is that if a child needs a family and a home, we would like to be able to provide that. We’re not here because parents want children, we are here because children need families.

When asked about what the US and Viet Nam can do to work together to combat practices such as baby selling and coercion, she was very clear about the reality of the current situation and of her concern. I’m not sure whether to be encouraged by her comments, or worried. It’s just a bit confusing…

I met with representatives of the National Assembly to talk about what we hope will occur as soon as possible. That is new legislation about adoptions, both domestic and international, so that we all understand what the law is, so that there I fact are penalties for those who break the law. So that we together can inform people who work in adoption services here, as well as people who work as what we call adoption service providers who come here to make sure that everybody knows that the rules of this process are, and that if they do not abide by those rules and laws they will no longer be able to participate in these programs.

So it all sounds great. She’s there to talk with Vietnamese officials about adoption and ensuring that the program is a transparent, legal and ethical one. I am extremely glad that the embassy saw the value in the interview and posted it for public viewing. We’ll have to wait and see what follow up is printed about her talks while in Viet Nam. Here is how the interview wrapped up:

We want to work very hard with representatives of the government of Vietnam to make sure that child selling never occurs. We have some concerns and that’s why we’re here, to talk about those concerns, to together build the best possible program.

More Reading:
JCICS Viet Nam Adoption Summit
The State of Vietnamese Adoptions
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