Outline

Ashlie LaCivita
3/15/09
Period E


Research Paper Outline

Thesis Statement: Should International Adoption be allowed?

I. Opening—both sides
A. No
1. Culture Shock is a major issue in international adoption. Some people realize that they are unable to speak another country’s language and therefore do not decide to adopt a child from that country. Also, if they do decide to adopt internationally, when they arrive they are bombarded with the fact that they are dealing with a completely different culture.
2. Another problem with international adoption is being able to fit in and losing their culture. Children, whom are of a different race than their adoptive parents, have trouble fitting in, in their community. Sometimes they feel as though learning more about their culture makes them seem like an even bigger outcast. Also, the parents sometimes do not think that it is a big deal to teach their children about their culture.
3. Sometimes, people end up adopting children under false pretenses. Some adoption agencies lie about the health of the children that the parents are about to adopt. They do this so that the parents will go through with the adoption anyways.
B. Yes
1. Support is one of the most important things to have from their community. When returning home from a different country with a new child, parents just want everyone around them to be okay with what they just did. They do not need anyone to scorn them because they adopted a child from a different country. Today, a lot of people end up adopting children from different countries, so it is accepted and they are able to receive the support that they are looking for.
2. Culture is a big issue when it comes to adopting. Parents need to realize that their newly adopted child’s culture needs to be incorporated in their lives. Some parents not only teach their children about their culture, but they bring them to the country that they were adopted from to visit and meet people of their race and whom share the same culture.
3. International adoption has become widely accepted. More and more countries are allowing children to be adopted from other countries because it is giving a needy child a home. It is also common to see celebrities in magazines with their internationally adopted children. This makes people realize that it is a good thing to adopt children from other countries, not a bad choice.
C. Statistics
1. “Annual adoptions from Asia rose by more than 50 percent.” This shows that over a ten year period, adoption in other countries was significantly increased. Not only does this mean that more people are accepting international adoption, but that the countries are also agreeing to it.
2. “…a lack of regulation had led to the baby snatchings and black marketeering, Guatemala’s share leaped from 202 to 911.” Even though adoption rates are increasing, a lot of it has to do with the fact that some of it is illegal.
3. “During the final decade of the twentieth century, the number of children adopted annually from mainland China skyrocketed from thirty-three to 4,206.” Whether or not this jump in adoption deals with illegal processes, this is a significant increase in adoption, which shows how much people do not care about the race or culture from which the child comes from.
II. Opposition
A. Culture Shock
1. Not only is bringing a child from another country difficult, but the effect of going to a different country to get the child makes a huge impact on the future parents.
2. “She tells of the culture shock that the couple experienced at being transplanted in a foreign land, the stress of having a great deal to do in short amount of time, and the reactions of Guangzhou citizens to the adoption of Chinese children by American parents.” It is a lot of work adopting a child from another country, but adding the stress of the reaction of people from that country makes it even more difficult to handle because some people do not agree with it.
3. I believe that when the “future parents” do not know the foreign countries language or even anything about their culture, they end up seeming lost once they arrive and do not fully enjoy the experience of having a child from a different culture. This also leads to parents forgetting about their adopted child’s culture, so the child never learns anything about where they came from.
B. “Fitting In”/loss of Culture
1. “Free does not look like his adoptive family, and he is one of the few people of Asian descent in his predominantly Caucasian community.” This quote is about a young boy who was adopted from Asia whom has a difficult time in his neighborhood. Since he does not look like anyone around him, it is awkward for him to be able to feel like he actually fits in with everyone.
2. “Looking different is the one thing that is more obvious than that of any other trait, and in middle school, being different was not cool and I felt not cool because of it.” This is also a quote from Free. He does not like the fact that everyone can tell that he has been adopted because he looks completely different than everyone else. It is hard enough going through junior high and high school, without having the added extra of looking different.
3. “As is still the case in many adoptions by Caucasian parents of children from other races and cultures, whether born in the US or in other nations, the absorption process sometimes works too well.” Sometimes, Americans get too caught up in trying to adjust to having a new child in the house, that they forget where the child is from. They do not end up helping the child learn anything about their culture.
C. False Pretenses
1. “They don’t provide parents-to-be with sufficient information emphatically enough, about the problems and risks they might face.” Some adoption agencies do not warn the “future parents” about how hard the adoption process is going to be. Also, adoptions do not always pull through, and the adoptees get their hopes up high, to only have them come crashing down in the end.
2. “Many orphanage officials and doctors routinely report children as suffering from serious conditions that they don’t really have, because their countries don’t permit healthy children to be adopted by foreigners.” This may sound like a good idea so that children can be adopted, but it is unfair to lie to the “future parents”. Even though the officials are trying to help the children, some parents may pay in advance for medical needs and treatments for the child who really has nothing wrong with them. This just adds up to extra costs.
3. “Unregulated, unscrupulous facilitators coerce or bribe poor and single women around he world to part with their babies, then charge tens of thousands of dollars to American Agencies and lawyers for their services.” Some people are out there trying to rob women of their children who may feel like they do not have the means to provide for their children. Then they end up selling those children and make a profit off of them. This is ridiculous and should not happen, but the truth is that it does all the time.
III. Defense
A. Support
1. “One of the blessings of our trip to China was the group of other couples with whom we traveled.” Being able to go to another country to adopt a child is hard enough without the support of others. This is why, if it is possible, people who are adopting internationally should find other people who are also doing the same. This would help in comforting everyone and they would all be able to deal with the possible culture shock together.
2. “As Grace grows we will all learn more about her Chinese heritage together, and we are pleased to have the friendship and support of other adoptive families and our Chinese American friends as we do.” This family is very supportive of bringing their internationally adoptive child into the culture from which she came. Not only do they receive support from other families around them, but their Chinese American friends are also helpful. I believe that these friends must help the parents in raising their child based on his or hers culture.
3. Receiving support from people around them is the most helpful tool newly adoptive parents can have. Support may not seem like a big deal, but sometimes being able to share your stress and problems with someone else is enough to make them feel better. Having those other people agree is another added bonus.
B. Culture
1. “My parents have taken my sisters and me to the countries that we come from; to let us learn about the country where we were born.” This is an excellent idea because it gives the children a chance to really see where they were from and experience their original culture. It can also give them a sense of fitting in and make them realize how lucky they are to have such loving parents who would bring them there.
2. “A growing number of agencies and social workers…advise prospective parents to incorporate their child’s heritage into daily life.” This is helpful because new parents are extremely busy in their daily lives and do not remember to think about their child’s heritage. The fact that adoption agencies are now telling families ahead of time is very useful.
3. “…feel more grounded and secure when their adoptive parents infuse their upbringings with the cultures from which they came, routinely give them information about their backgrounds and, when physical differences are apparent, expose them to other people who look like them.” Children, who are adopted internationally, have a better success rate when they are brought up with parts of their culture. They are able to feel like their parents care about where they came from and they can learn about where they were from too.
C. Acceptance
1. “Whatever faults adoption practitioners may have, on the whole they are promoting higher standards and making significant contributions to the welfare of homeless children.” Even though there are a lot of risks when adopting internationally, the overall acceptance that people are trying to help needy children has grown significantly. These days, you see a lot more people going across the country to adopt children because it is accepted more.
2. “Adoption is helping to crack the walls of prejudice and intolerance on a broader scale.” Not only are people, who adopt internationally helping those children, they are also helping society. There is not really that much racism anymore and it is not uncommon to see a Caucasian family with an Asian baby.
3. “When he reached high school, however, Free came to realize that everyone was different in his or her own way and that these differences made each person unique.” Being an internationally adoptive child is very stressful, but the fact that Free was able to realize he was different and not care is wonderful. People who are adopted should not be ashamed of it because their birth parents usually have a good reason to give them up to a “better” family that can provide for them.

Today I started to do my bibliography. Now I am working on finding more sources.

Research Question

Ok so I've been thinking over vacation of a research question and I believe that I want to do: "Is adoption overseas right for the child?" I hope that I will be able to find enough information on it, but any comments feel free to let me know. :)

Ideas

For my research paper, I would like my topic to be on liver cancer. I am having trouble coming up with a question though. Any ideas? let me know :)