Monday, October 10, 2011

Is it unethical to publish adoption photos on the web? - 9/30/2011 - Community Care

Is it unethical to publish adoption photos on the web? - 9/30/2011 - Community Care
Claudia Megele

Friday 30 September 2011 13:03

Is it unethical to publish the photos of children waiting for adoption on the internet? Claudia Megele argues it is

Publishing the photos of children waiting for adoption is often used to help adoptive parents imagine a child as "their child". There is evidence they rejoice in seeing the picture of their adoptive child in the same manner that birth parents celebrate the ultrasound image of their child.

But I would argue that a visual parade of such photos on the internet, particularly for those children under the age of consent, is in fact inappropriate and unethical.

There is no ethically valid reason why prospective adoptive parents should have an immediate visual image of the child, except to guide their selection based on children's appearances, similar to "catalogue shopping" for a "picture perfect family".

When parents see children's photos for the first time they establish an emotional link with the image, which can condition subsequent judgements and often perpetuate the differential treatment of groups in our society such as the trend in favour of adopting white children.

An aggravating factor is that once these photos are posted on the internet, they are automatically disseminated through various search engines, accumulator websites, mirroring or replication systems, and so on. This makes it virtually impossible to fully remove them from the public domain, hence affecting their privacy.

Some children may not wish to reveal that they are/were adopted. It should be their choice whether or not to reveal that information, but how can they when their photographs and stories are openly and identifiably posted online?

There is an argument that if we post photos of missing children on the internet to help find them then why not do the same to help adoptive children find a family. The issue here is context. Birthdays, graduations, and even searches for missing children reflect and emphasise a sense of belonging and being cared for and "wanted". But research indicates that adoptive children's photos are associated with a sense of, "rupture", "not-belonging", "rejection and relinquishment".

There is no doubt we must do everything possible to find adoptive children a caring and deserving home. However, instead of using children's photos as a lure, would it not be better to provide a textual description of the children and their backgrounds? Only after an expression of interest by adoptive parents, and the possibility of matching the child with them, would photos be confidentially shared.

There are adoption agencies such as After Adoption who use adoptive children's photos with sensitivity and in an unidentifiable manner. I would like to see all adoption websites and operators adopt such standards.

Claudia Megele is a psychotherapist, trainer and associate lecturer in applied social work practice at the Open University

'Ends justify means'

By Nick Dunster, regional director of BAAF, Central England

Who can fail to be troubled by images of children needing a family? Even reading a paper copy of Be My Parent can be a harrowing experience as we wonder how, in a modern democracy, so many children need somewhere to belong? Yet that is the reality we are faced with.

We know that most children need families in order to flourish. And we also know that, at heart, many of us are visual beings: photographs and images speak to us in a way that words often don't. We can fight against this aspect of human nature on ethical grounds, but only at the expense of reducing the chances of children finding families.

Children do not have to be passive in this process. Approached sensitively, the process of developing a visual profile can bolster a child's sense of competence and effectiveness in their adoption journey.

Use of the internet for family finding is not to be undertaken lightly. But this is a classic case of the end - the child's sense of belonging in a loving family - justifying the means.

Monday, October 03, 2011

Return of 1960s Adoption Levels on Horizon for Single Parents |

Inquiry told a lack of support for single parents could see a return to 1960s adoption levels | The Australian

Inquiry told a lack of support for single parents could see a return to 1960s adoption levels

by: Lanai Vasek
From: The Australian
September 29, 2011 1:02PM

SINGLE mothers have warned of a return to 1960s adoption levels due to a lack of taxpayer-funded support for single parents.

In a submission to a Senate inquiry into former forced adoption policies, the Council of Single Mothers and their Children said it feared a return to the historic adoption level peak due to an “ongoing erosion of the level of payments to single mothers”.

The council said insufficient federal government support for single mothers was a “direct contributor” to past forced adoption practices of health, church and charity organisations.

The Victorian-based group said new rules denying welfare payments to teenage mums who failed to return to the workforce within six months of giving birth would ultimately result in women being pressured to give up their babies.

It said the commonwealth had a responsibility to ensure mothers had sufficient financial support to raise their children.

“CSMC is extremely concerned that the ongoing erosion of the level of payments to single mothers may lead women to a point where they are unable to financially support their children,” the organisation's executive officer Jane Stanley said.

“Our founding members who remember all too well the times of forced adoption and lack of choice in particular are seriously concerned about provisions announced in the 2011-12 federal budget.”

The CSMC said the government should immediately review income support payments for sole parents, including a full indexation of all Newstart, Austudy and other financial assistance.

The Greens-led inquiry into forced adoption practices has been inundated with submissions detailing the trauma experienced by those who were compelled to relinquish their children for adoption.

Chair of the inquiry, Greens Senator Rachel Siewert, said she had never been part of an investigation so “emotionally charged”.

“For some witnesses this is the first time they have given evidence of what they experienced in public,” Senator Siewert said.

“A lot of it is absolutely harrowing evidence.”

The inquiry is probing the commonwealth's role, if any, in the forced adoption practices of the 1960s and 1970s, in which tens of thousands of women who fell pregnant outside marriage had their babies taken from them by church and charity organisations.

The committee is due to release its report on November 21.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

MP Hemming Comments on Kitten Theft Case

BBC News - Kitten theft case: 'I am no role model' says MP Hemming

1 October 2011 Last updated at 16:27

Kitten theft case: 'I am no role model' says MP Hemming

Mr Hemming and Ms Cox have known each other for 13 years and have a four-year-old daughter together

A Birmingham MP whose wife burgled the home of his mistress and took her kitten claims his private life has no impact on his role as an MP.

John Hemming's wife Christine was convicted of burgling Emily Cox's home days after he had moved out.

During a three-day-trial, a court heard how Mr Hemming, his former personal assistant Ms Cox and his wife had been involved in a "love triangle".

The Liberal Democrat said his love life was irrelevant to his public role.

Christine Hemming was filmed on CCTV on 29 September, 2010 entering Ms Cox's home uninvited and leaving a few minutes later with a kitten.

'Serve their constituents'

Hemming told Birmingham Crown Court she had gone round to the house, which her husband had bought for his lover, in order to deliver his post.

Christine Hemming can be seen crawling on her hands and knees by the house

She said she had "no recollection of taking" the kitten and had even tried to return it. The cat, named Beauty, is still missing.

Speaking after the trial which ended on Friday, Birmingham Yardley MP Mr Hemming said: "I really don't think [people] should be voting for members of Parliament on their abilities to be role models of rectitude.

"You elect people to serve their constituents."

Mr Hemming, of Moseley, Birmingham, denied reports he had 26 mistresses while he was married.

He said: "I've always told people that's not actually true and yet that keeps on being reported."

Under oath, his wife told the court their relationship had deteriorated after Mr Hemming had made her aware of his 26 other liaisons, including the relationship with Ms Cox.

'Unbreakable contract'

Mr Hemming met Christine at a conference in Bridlington and they married in 1981.

He now has a four-year-old daughter with Ms Cox.

Christine Hemming said she tried to return the cat which is still missing

The MP told the BBC that marriage was like a covenant or "unbreakable contract" but if something went wrong with that "agreement" the couple involved had the right to deal with it privately.

He also said that he had deliberately chosen not to disclose information about his private life in recent years, despite entering himself into a News of The World Competition for Love Rat of the Year in 2005.

He said: "Freedom of speech is the right to tell the truth, not the same as the right to know - it doesn't give them the right to know minute details about people's lives," he said.

He also said discussing his home life was not a requirement of public office.

"You have to live with a certain amount of attention on what you do but that doesn't mean you have to tell everyone everything," he added.

Ms Cox said she had no feelings of guilt about her affair with Mr Hemming.

She said: "I'll never ever regret my daughter but I do understand it must have been stressful for Christine."

She said the MP's wife had not seemed to object to the affair at the time and had been "perfectly aware of the situation".

BBC Birmingham & Black Country

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