Nigerian 'baby farm' raided – 32 pregnant girls rescued


Teenage mothers were allegedly forced to give up newborns to human traffickers in southern city of Aba

David Smith in Johannesburg


The Guardian, Thursday 2 June 2011 11.12 EDT


Nigerian police have raided an alleged "baby farm" where teenage mothers were forced to give up their newborns for sale to human traffickers.

Thirty-two pregnant girls were rescued from a maternity home run by a trafficking ring in the southern city of Aba, police said.

The girls, mostly of school age, were allegedly locked up at the Cross Foundation clinic so they could produce babies to be sold for illegal adoption or for use in ritual witchcraft.

~snip~

Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime in Nigeria - after financial fraud and drug trafficking - according to Unesco's report on human trafficking in Nigeria. At least 10 children are sold every day across the country, according to the UN. Traffickers are seldom caught.


~more@ link~

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/jun/02/nigeria-baby-farm-raided-human-trafficking

In South Korea, quest to recast views of single motherhood


A group of adoptees, who say they were given up because their mothers couldn't raise them, are spearheading efforts to make single motherhood less of a social taboo and financial constraint.

By Steven Borowiec, Correspondent / March 20, 2014


~snip~

Rather than being abandoned by her mother as the adoption agency told her, she and her sister were given up by their grandmother when their mother was working away from home.

Heit is part of a vocal group of Korean adoptees arguing that the primary reason Korean children are given up for adoption is a society that stigmatizes unmarried mothers. They are working to shift that cultural outlook, and are also speaking out against Korean adoption agencies, which they say are focused on growing profits to the detriment of child protection. The recent death of a Korean adoptee in the United States has added zeal to their cause.

~snip~

Advocates for unwed mothers have pointed to a lack of government support as a problem. Unwed mothers are eligible for a small government stipend of 70,000 South Korean won (about $65) per month, while families with adopted children receive more than twice that amount (150,000 won).

Heit is now married and settled in the country of her birth, where she works as an editor and translator. She maintains contact with her adoptive parents in the US but says, “my case shows how traumatic adoption can be, even when the adoptive parents are loving and have the best intentions.

“I still always wonder, if only someone had helped my mother, would things have been different? Could she have raised me on her own?”


*emphasis mine

~more @ link~
http://m.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/0320/In-South-Korea-quest-to-recast-views-of-single-motherhood

Risk of Suicide Attempt in Adopted and Nonadopted Offspring

By Claudia Corrigan DArcy | September 20, 2013 | Adoption Research & Statistics

The 2001 Adoptee Research Study says:

~snip~

Sixteen adopted adolescents (7.6%) and 197 nonadopted adolescents (3.1%) reported suicide attempt(s) in the past year. Counseling in the past year was reported by 36 adopted adolescents (16.9%) and 521 nonadopted adolescents (8.2%; P < .001). Adolescents who attempted suicide, compared with those who did not, were more likely to be female (67.6% vs 49.1%) and adopted (7.5% vs 3.1%)

The 2008 Adoptee Research Study says:

Nevertheless, being adopted approximately doubled the odds of having contact with a mental health professional and of having a disruptive behavior disorder.

The 2012 Adoptee Research results state:

For later adoption versus non-adoption, the estimated difference in suicidal thoughts was 2.9% higher during young adulthood for later adopted youth, 3.4% higher during early young adulthood and 3.5% higher during adolescence.2

What the new Pediatrics study also states that it is known that Adoptees living in Sweden are at increased risk of suicide attempt compared with nonadopted individuals, although factors mediating this risk are largely unknown..

~more @ link~
http://www.adoptionbirthmothers.com/adoptee-suicide-risk-4-time-higher-research/