Instructor: Trish Maskew
tmaskew@gmail.com
202-616-0005
Office Hours: Monday 6:00 (by appointment only)
Adoption Law, Policy and Practice
The course will examine the current legal regime governing both domestic and
intercountry adoption. It will also delve into historical and current policy debates in the field,
and explore how the current practice of domestic and intercountry adoption adheres to, and
deviates from, the purposes of the laws and regulations applicable to the field. The course will
also explore issues of human rights and children’s rights, exploring whether current law protects
the interests of the parties, and how adoption necessarily involves complex issues of class, race,
gender, and economic disparities. This course is practical and valuable for those who wish to
practice family law, as well as those who serve populations of women that would consider
placing children for adoption, and international populations that might be at risk of exploitation.
Grading
Grades in this class will consist of three components:
1. Class participation (40%)
2. Six short (1-2 page) assignments throughout the semester based on weekly
readings (30%)
3. Final policy paper (no more than 15 pages) on a topic of your choice (30%)
Books
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction (Appleton and Weisberg, 2009)
Adoption Law, Policy and Practice Class Readings (ALPP)(bound copies available from WCL)
Adoption Law, Policy and Practice
Tentative Syllabus and Reading List
1. Background and History of Adoption:
Outline of Major Issues addressed by adoption law; competing narratives of family
preservation and adoption which continue to the present day
Materials:
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction (Appleton and Weisberg, 2009): 3-5; 8-18
and notes 2, 4; 39-44 and notes 3 and 7.
ALPP Readings:
History of Adoption in the United States (excerpt from Families by Law
by Hollinger and Cahn)
State and Federal Adoption Laws (Joan Holligner)
Open Adoption, Open Records and Post Adoption Contracts
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 187-191
Samuels article (to be posted on WCL)
2. Domestic Private Adoption, Part I:
Who Can Adopt; Who Can Be Adopted
ALPP Readings: Selected consent statutes (MD and UT)
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 65-70, 74-80 and note 2; 83-87 and notes 1,
6(a),(b)&(c)
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 207-212, and notes 1 and 6.
3. Domestic Private Adoption, Part II
Consent continued:
Who Can Perform Adoptions; and the Use of Intermediaries, Advertising and Payment of
Expenses for Birth Parents
ALPP Readings:
O’Dea v. Olea, 2009 UT 46
Selected Expense Statutes
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys Code of Ethics
Summary of Laws on Facilitation and Advertising (PDF on MyWCL—read
summary pages, browse laws)
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 151-154
4. Broadening Frontiers in Adoption
Transracial, Special Need and Single Parent Private Adoption Practice
ALPP Readings:
“Are you my Mother”? Barbara Bennett Woodhouse
“Private Race Preferences in Family Formation” Elizabeth Bartholet
“Transracial and International Adoption” Twila Perry
Evan B Donaldson MEPA report, pages 9-46, (which can also be accessed
at:
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/MEPApaper20080527.pdf)
GLBT Adoption: Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 30-34; 138-144; 177-179
5.
Foster Care and Public Adoption in the U.S.
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 48-63, (including notes) and notes
4-8 and problems on pp 71-75.
Summary of Laws: http://www.nacac.org/policy/laws.html
A Look Back at the Adoption and Safe Families Act, pp 11-17 accessed at:
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001351_safe_families_act.pdf
6.
Guest Speaker: Operating a Domestic Adoption Practice
7.
Adoption Practice Today: Selected Marketing and Educational Materials from Adoption
Agencies and Consumer Rights Groups (see links posted to MyWCL)
8. International Adoption Law and Policy Overview
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: 228-232
ALPP Readings:
Immigration and Nationality Act excerpts
Convention on Rights of the Child,
Preamble, Articles 3, 8, 11, 20, 21, 35
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption:
Preamble, Articles 1-35;
Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000
Sections: 2, 3, 101, 102, 201-204, 302, 404, 503
9. International Adoption
Contracts, Business Models, and Assumed Risk
ALPP Readings:
READ: Dresser v. Cradle of Hope
Ferenc v. World Child
Russian Law No. 275
PERUSE AND BRING TO CLASS
Contract and Referral Examples
10. Intercountry Adoption Practice, Part I
Who Can Adopt, Who Can be Adopted; Who Can Perform Adoptions; and the Use of
Intermediaries, Advertising and Payment of Expenses for Birth Parents
ALPP Readings
USAID Report on Romanian Adoption, pages 2-7, 18-21 only
The Romanian Baby Bazaar
Case study: Vietnam
Case study: Cambodia
11. Intercountry Adoption Practice, Part II
Who Can Adopt, Who Can be Adopted; Who Can Perform Adoptions; and the Use of
Intermediaries, Advertising and Payment of Expenses for Birth Parents
ALPP Readings
Case studies, cont.
71 Fed Reg. 8064-8069, 8079 (bottom corner)-8080
22 C.F.R. §§ 96.12-15, 96.34, 96.36, 96.44-46
12. Competing Human Rights Narratives on International Adoption
ALPP Readings
Bartholet, Elizabeth: “International Adoption: Thoughts on Human Rights Issues,” 13
Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 115
Maskew, Trish and Oreskovic, Johanna, “Red Thread or Slender Reed: Deconstructing
Prof. Bartholet’s Mythology of International Adoption” 14 Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 71.
Getting it Right: Examples of Good Practice
13. Confronting Ethical Dilemmas in Adoption Practice (simulation assignment)
14. Guest Speakers: Operating an Intercountry Adoption Practice; Regulating Adoption
Final Discussion: Where do we go from Here?