Social justice, human rights, past adoption discourse and inter-country adoption

Abstract

Inter-country adoption often is talked about under a banner of human rights, and identified as a humanitarian responsibility to abandoned orphans. Raising broader social justice questions about inter-country adoption can bring forth accusations of being ‘anti-adoption’. Yet embracing open and vigorous debate regarding inter-country adoption could allow multiple stories to be voiced. In this opinion piece some commonalities across early child welfare policies in Australia are noted, a brief history of adoption is outlined, and some suggestions are made for advancing social justice in inter-country adoption.