International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family Advance Access originally published online on November 27, 2008
International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 2009 23(2):145-173; doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebn013
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From Angelina (To Madonna) to Zoe's ark: What are the ‘A–Z’ Lessons for Intercountry Adoptions in Africa?
* Researcher, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape. LLB (Addis Ababa) LLM (Pretoria), PhD Candidate (UWC), benyamdawit{at}yahoo.com.
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Abstract |
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Between 2005 and 2007, three relatively highly publicized intercountry adoption-related cases revitalized Africa's concern over the rights of children in intercountry adoption. These cases are the Angelina case in Ethiopia, the Madonna case in Malawi, and the Zoe's Ark case in Chad. The thesis of this article is that there are systemic vulnerabilities and gaps in the current intercountry adoption systems in Africa that make adoption irregularities and scandals, such as the ones in the three cases under consideration, to an extent predictable. Therefore, an investigation of some of the lessons that can be drawn from the three cases is embarked upon. The article concludes by highlighting that, although the three cases do not hint at the full picture of complications that may arise as a result of intercountry adoptions in Africa, they offer critical lessons – and we ignore these lessons at the cost of our children's well-being.