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tjwallace04's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
"The Child Catchers" is a meticulously-researched, well-written investigation of the adoption landscape of the late noughts (is that what we call the decade from 2000 - 2009?!) and early 2010s as well as the history of adoption in the United States. Joyce especially focuses on international adoption, but domestic infant adoption is also discussed in several chapters and is the main focus of Chapter 3, "Suffering is Part of the Plan." As an adoptive parent who is trying to make myself as educated as possible about adoption and the many ethical quandaries that can arise from it, much of what I was reading was not new to me, and yet I was still *riveted* and deeply moved by this book.
Joyce writes very smoothly and invitingly; this is the kind of nonfiction book that reads like fiction in places. Yet it is absolutely packed with facts, interviews, and data, neatly intertwined with personal stories. "The Child Catchers" was published in 2013. I really wish I could read an addendum to this book that brings it up to the present day. What does international adoption look like right now? Are there still under-regulated "sending countries," or has the process continued to slow as the Hague convention takes over in many places? I know I could do research about this myself, but I wish I could have Joyce as my guide again. She is just that good at making sense of very a complicated and ethically-fraught landscape.
"The Child Catchers" looks closely at how the evangelical church came to embrace adoption (particularly international adoption), and in many ways, it is a very good companion book to "Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, which I read at the beginning of March. I basically book-ended my month with narratives that question or expose some of the problematic practices and beliefs of a denomination that has gained so much political power in recent years. It is...sobering, to say the least.
I would recommend "The Child Catchers" to any reader that has any connection to adoption, whether domestic or international. It is an educational, compelling, highly-readable, and generally well-balanced book that gave me a lot to think about.
For my own iffy memory, I am going to list the book's chapters and what they cover:
Chapter 1, "New Life" - the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and the upswell of international adoptions from that country, many unregulated or poorly-regulated because of the disaster
Chapter 2, "The Touchable Gospel" - adoption and the evangelical church and why they have become so connected; the history going back to the beginning of international adoption from Korea in the 1950s
Chapter 3, "Suffering is Part of the Plan" - domestic adoption; homes for unwed mothers; unethical pressure of women to give up babies; the Baby Scoop Era
Chapter 4, "Inside the Boom" - the growth of international adoption; adoption from Ethiopa; children being adopted who are not orphans; the market for international adoptions
Chapter 5, "A Little War" - adoption from Liberia; the potential abuse of adoptees, particularly international adoptees, who are adopted by families who are not prepared to deal with trauma and PTSD; the story of the Allison family and how they abused Liberian adoptees in their care
Chapter 6, "Pipeline Problems" - the changing landscape of international adoptions as more countries introduced the Hague convention and more carefully vetted "orphans" and adoptive families; adoption regulations and the pushback against them by adoption advocates
Chapter 7, "A Thousand Ways to Not Help Orphans" - adoption in Rwanda, which could be considered a model for other countries because of how carefully they manage the process and the emphasis they put on helping communities and families rather than adopting children out of the country
Chapter 8, "Going Home" - adoption from South Korea; adult adoptees of Korean descent returning to South Korea; advocacy in South Korea to give single mothers more rights so they can feel empowered to keep their babies.
Joyce writes very smoothly and invitingly; this is the kind of nonfiction book that reads like fiction in places. Yet it is absolutely packed with facts, interviews, and data, neatly intertwined with personal stories. "The Child Catchers" was published in 2013. I really wish I could read an addendum to this book that brings it up to the present day. What does international adoption look like right now? Are there still under-regulated "sending countries," or has the process continued to slow as the Hague convention takes over in many places? I know I could do research about this myself, but I wish I could have Joyce as my guide again. She is just that good at making sense of very a complicated and ethically-fraught landscape.
"The Child Catchers" looks closely at how the evangelical church came to embrace adoption (particularly international adoption), and in many ways, it is a very good companion book to "Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, which I read at the beginning of March. I basically book-ended my month with narratives that question or expose some of the problematic practices and beliefs of a denomination that has gained so much political power in recent years. It is...sobering, to say the least.
I would recommend "The Child Catchers" to any reader that has any connection to adoption, whether domestic or international. It is an educational, compelling, highly-readable, and generally well-balanced book that gave me a lot to think about.
For my own iffy memory, I am going to list the book's chapters and what they cover:
Chapter 1, "New Life" - the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and the upswell of international adoptions from that country, many unregulated or poorly-regulated because of the disaster
Chapter 2, "The Touchable Gospel" - adoption and the evangelical church and why they have become so connected; the history going back to the beginning of international adoption from Korea in the 1950s
Chapter 3, "Suffering is Part of the Plan" - domestic adoption; homes for unwed mothers; unethical pressure of women to give up babies; the Baby Scoop Era
Chapter 4, "Inside the Boom" - the growth of international adoption; adoption from Ethiopa; children being adopted who are not orphans; the market for international adoptions
Chapter 5, "A Little War" - adoption from Liberia; the potential abuse of adoptees, particularly international adoptees, who are adopted by families who are not prepared to deal with trauma and PTSD; the story of the Allison family and how they abused Liberian adoptees in their care
Chapter 6, "Pipeline Problems" - the changing landscape of international adoptions as more countries introduced the Hague convention and more carefully vetted "orphans" and adoptive families; adoption regulations and the pushback against them by adoption advocates
Chapter 7, "A Thousand Ways to Not Help Orphans" - adoption in Rwanda, which could be considered a model for other countries because of how carefully they manage the process and the emphasis they put on helping communities and families rather than adopting children out of the country
Chapter 8, "Going Home" - adoption from South Korea; adult adoptees of Korean descent returning to South Korea; advocacy in South Korea to give single mothers more rights so they can feel empowered to keep their babies.
afarre01's review against another edition
5.0
Interesting and sad book, I'd recommend this to anyone. It was very well researched.
evelikesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A good overview of the ethical issues surrounding adoption, focusing on international adoption but including domestic adoption as well. Christian fundamentalists are the most likely to adopt, seeing it as an expression of their faith. This can be positive or negative. Families wanting to adopt children from overseas can actually create demand which is then filled by agencies and others in the sending country, of children who could be cared for in-country if their parents/families/communities had more support. International adoption is (or should be) a last-resort option.
jillianjennett's review against another edition
5.0
this is easily the most difficult book I’ve read in years, taking me almost a full year to read. absolutely devastating and necessary read
nquinlan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.0
Overall, a necessary and widely reported expose on some of the harms of unchecked adoption which I’m glad to have read but I found myself wishing for a slightly different telling.
At times the book masterfully connected individual stories to larger trends and at times it missed the mark only telling an individual story when it seemingly wanted to show it as a trend.
At times I found myself wishing it did more to connect some of the actions to wider movements on the religious right like The Quiverfull movement or IBLP, both only recieve passing mention though their movements are also felt throughout.
The writer has a strong perspective and at times I found it got in the way when they’d have an excess of credulity for claims supporting their argument, would often take correlation to mean causation, or would make implications because one person was connected to the other.
In the end, the book was a great looks at some really seedy and difficult parts of unethical adoption and took a wide lens to help the reader explore it.
At times the book masterfully connected individual stories to larger trends and at times it missed the mark only telling an individual story when it seemingly wanted to show it as a trend.
At times I found myself wishing it did more to connect some of the actions to wider movements on the religious right like The Quiverfull movement or IBLP, both only recieve passing mention though their movements are also felt throughout.
The writer has a strong perspective and at times I found it got in the way when they’d have an excess of credulity for claims supporting their argument, would often take correlation to mean causation, or would make implications because one person was connected to the other.
In the end, the book was a great looks at some really seedy and difficult parts of unethical adoption and took a wide lens to help the reader explore it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Child abuse, and Trafficking
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Abortion, War, Violence, and Genocide