Adoption Flea Markets

Tyler Cowen comments here on an extensive Reuters investigative piece here. This isn't the first time Munger and I have discussed this sort of thing, but I must admit that discovering the extent of secondary adoptions came as a bit of a surprise.

And like the trained euvoluntary exchangeur I am, my thoughts immediately flew to the alternatives. There are some horrible outcomes that could occur in black market adoptions, things I won't list here mostly because I don't want to squeeze my own emotional trigger. But if you consider those, you become beholden to consider the BATNA. For foreign adoptees, we're talking Dickensian nightmare orphanages. I elect to refrain from the graphic details, but when I lived in East Europe, I became friends with a man who had grown up in one of the nicer Lithuanian facilities. The thing that sticks in my mind is how the younger boys had to teach each other to fight just so they could avoid being raped nightly by the older boys. I again stress that this was one of the nicer facilities.

So it's wonderful that the precautionary principle insists on vetting new adoptive parents, but even with this process, it's still a gamble whether or not the adoption will "take", so to speak. Even with careful matching by above-board agencies, we're still looking at probability distributions fraught with high SD events. Bad things can happen to good people.

So we're pretty much left with institutional questions. It's already arbitrarily hard for couples that want to adopt from overseas to hack though all the red tape on both sides of the border. And if this Reuters piece is on the money, the secondary market has yet to develop its own rigorous self-monitoring mechanisms. Is there a free lunch on the table where a few tweaks can ensure better, faster matches and proper, accountable follow-up? It's something to think about, particularly if you're the sort of person who likes matching algorithms.

The other thing to carefully consider is what we might expect from a realpolitik policy adjustment. I worry that the seemingly needed crackdown will fall on the legitimate agencies rather than on the fly-by-night online matchmakers.

It's a tough problem.

Labor is not Euvoluntary: Orphanarium Edition

From Delfi.lt, a story I can't find an English translation for. And the online translator isn't working for me. My Lithuanian readers won't have any trouble, but the other two of you might. Here's the skinny: temporary Lithuanian workers in Norway are having their kids taken into state custody on the grounds that they're living in unacceptably poor conditions.

Never mind that they're there of their own free will or that they've made the express, rational decision to save on material comforts in exchange for a higher standard of living back home in the future or that they're making remittance payments to relatives living in squalor back home. No, it's important that everyone is equal, and if that's not the case, the Norweigan Barnevern (CPS) will relocate your children as one of the delightful public services they offer.

How enlightened.

Bastiat squirmed.

Sad. But Illegal?

In a pathetic way, this woman is trying to take responsibility for her child (though, since she's pregnant again, it's hard to predict a good outcome).

"Stephanie Redus, 29, told authorities that she placed the ad [on Craigslist] because she struggles with depression and anxiety, CBS Houston reports. She is currently pregnant. The ad stated:

'Hi, I'm trying to adopt out my three-year-old son. I'm not in a good place in my life and don't feel like I can care for him properly, but I don't know where to start. If you or know anyone who is interested in caring for him please let me know. I'm a single mom and can't do this. Thanks, Desperate.'

...Redus is charged with advertising for placement of a child."

ATSRTWT

 So, the lady is NOT trying to sell her son, she is trying to "adopt out" the lad.  Doing it on Craig's List is a bad idea, since the state has asserted a monopoly on controlling adoption.  But is that right?  Should a parent be able to make arrangements to take of her own child? 

Note that if she were advertising for day care, or extended care, and SHE could pay, it would be fine.  The mom can advertise for an arrangement to take care of her child if she is rich.

And it would be clearly wrong if she were trying to sell the child, asking for money in exchange for "title" in the form of adoption.

The middle case, this one, is the interesting one.  Can she give the child away?  And, if so, can she use social media to try to find a good match?

Nod to Kevin Lewis