A selection of books that ACT has been involved with. These books are shown in reverse chronological order (i.e. the oldest first) and they show the history of ACT.
Romania, For Export Only, the untold story of the ‘Romanian’ orphans, by Roelie Post. (Published in 2007). Roelie Post was the European Commission official in charge of Romania’s “children’s dossier”. She kept a diary and documented the ferocious intercountry adoption lobby in Romania. Roelie subsequently set up ACT in order to follow up this work.
Love Our Way, a Courageous Mother’s Story, by Julia Rollings.(Harpercollins, 2008). A search for the mother of her stolen children (helped by Arun Dohle of ACT) told by the adoptive mother of two children from India. For more details click here: LINK
Adoption Under Fire by the Dutch Ministry of Justice. Original title: Adoptie Onder Vuur. (Published in Dutch only, 2008). Five essays about the intercountry adoption market in the Netherlands, including a chapter by the founder of ACT: The Perverse Effects of the Hague Adoption Convention. ADD LINK
The Romanian File, by Valerie Jourdan. Original title: Le Dossier Roumain. (Published in France by Thriller Balland, 2011). A gruesome thriller written in the Jeffrey Archer style. Based in post-revolutionary Romania, the novel is about a man who tries to sabotage the child protection law. Includes kidnapping, blackmail and murder in the European Parliament. This is the intercountry adoption lobby’s perspective of the EU-led reform process that was being coordinated by Roelie Post (founder of ACT).
I am a Stolen Child by Anisja Mortl. (Published by Random House, 2011). A story about a German adoptees search for her Indian mother. Based on the Arun Dohle’s fieldwork in India. For more details click here [ADD LINK….]
The Red Market, on the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers, by Scott Carney. (Published by William Morrow, 2011). A journalistic investigation into the so-called “red market” in body parts and children. Includes a chapter about intercountry adoption in Chennai India based on ACT’s work.
The Child Catchers, Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption, By Kathryn Joyce. (Published by Public Affairs Books, New York, USA. 2013). Describes how conservative evangelicals control much of the adoption industry through adoption agencies and political lobbying groups. “Overseas, they preside over a spiraling boom-bust adoption market in countries where people are poor and regulations weak, and where hefty adoption fees increase the supply of adoptable children, recruiting “orphans” from intact but vulnerable families.” Includes a reference to the Ethiopian research by Arun Dohle of ACT.
Human Trafficking, The Stakeholders’ Perspective, edited by Veerendra Mishra (Sage, India, 2013). A collection of essays on trafficking, including Child Trafficking for Intercountry Adoption, the Fight for Justice, by Anjali Pawar of ACT India.
Children’s Rights, Eastern Enlargement and the EU Human Rights Regime, by Ingi Iusmen (published by Manchester University Press, 2014). An academic study of how the European Commission’s intervention in Romania (regarding child rights) was the basis of a European child rights policy. Includes a chapter about how the European Commission’s did a u-turn and became part of the intercountry adoption lobby.
Adoptionland, from Orphans to Activists, compiled by the Vance Twins (published by Against Child Trafficking USA, 2014). A compilation of points of view, memories, and historical perspectives, by adoptees and mothers’ who lost their children.
The Adoption Battlefield, by Dorrit Saietz. Original title: Adoptionens Slagmarker. (Published in Danish by Tiderne Skifter 2015). A journey through the “battlefield of adoption” in Ethiopia, the USA and in Denmark “where more and more adult adoptees find out that their adoption and the story they grew up with is based on lies.” Includes a description of Roelie Post’s work on the Romanian children dossier at the European Commission.
A New Flower by Astrid Lammers. Original title: Nieuwe Bloem. (in Dutch only, published by Elikser, 2016). A story of an adoptive mother’s search for the mother of her Ethiopian son. While watching the documentary (ADD LINK) on ACT’s case “Betty”, the author realised that the mother of her adopted son was not dead and he was not, in fact, an orphan.
