Police in Indonesia broke up a “baby farm” where mothers were being paid between $160 to $250 (1.6 Million and 2.5 Million Indonesian Rupiah) for their babies.
The baby traffickers would search for babies through maternity wards and look for unmarried or poor mothers and offer to purchase the baby. Once the group checked on the health status of the baby, they would then obtain birth certificates and other documents from corrupt officials.
Between November and December 2012, police state that up to 12 babies were bought and sold.
Police also believe that many of the babies are sold abroad for international adoption agencies. Police discovered one baby with a legitimate passport and a $500 ticket in its name to Singapore.
(Additional trafficker prices.)
Source: Michael Bachelard, “Thousands of babies sold on Indonesian black market,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 11, 2013.
According to a report by the Associated Press, in 2013 there were 100,000 children living in orphanages in Cambodia.
An anti-trafficking organization in the country estimates that up to 70 percent of the orphans have at least one parent living.
Source: Associated Press, “Cambodia shuts foreign-run orphanage accused of beating children, human trafficking,” Washington Post, March 25, 2013.
During the time period of 2004 to 2012, the number of international adoptions of children from Africa increased nearly 400 percent. In total, the number of children who were adopted from countries in Africa by parents in other countries during the 8 years was over 41,000.
Over two thirds of the children in 2009 and 2010 came from Ethiopia. There are over 70 adoption agencies in Ethiopia, with 15 agencies that only refer children to the United States. In 2010, parents in the United States adopted over 11,000 children from over 100 countries.
Reported prices paid to adoption agencies in Africa by parents is between $10,000 to $30,000.
Child experts report that many of the orphans adopted from Africa actually have at least one living parents and were taken by child traffickers or sold by their parents.
Source: “Adoption from Africa: Concern over ‘dramatic rise’,” BBC News, May 29, 2012.
In 2011, there were an estimated 25,000 international adoptions around the world, down from the 45,000 adoptions that took place in 2004. The decline was attributed to a global crackdown on illegal adoptions and baby trafficking.
In the United States, a little over 9,000 children and babies were adopted from foreign countries, down 60 percent from 2004. The cost to adoption a baby for parents in the United States is between $20,000 to $40,000.
Guatemala was previously a major source of babies for the international adoption market, providing up to 4,000 babies in 2006. Due to corruption, the United States is no longer allowing its citizens to adopt from Guatemala.
Source: Associated Press, “International adoptions drop amid fraud crackdowns,” Google News, May 10, 2012.
Police in China reported rescuing 8,660 children and 15,458 women from human trafficking activities in 2011.
3,200 human trafficking gangs were broken up by police in 2011.
In addition, Chinese police reported that over 2,000 children were abducted and sold for adoption during the year.
Source: AFP, “China frees 24,000 abducted women, kids in 2011,” Google News, March 11, 2012.
In fiscal year 2008, parents in the United States adopted 4,123 from Guatemala, making the country the number one source of international adoptions in the U.S.
Due to concerns over corruption, bribery, and child trafficking, Guatemala changed its polices regarding adoptions.
In fiscal year 2011, only 32 children were adopted from Guatemala by U.S. parents.
Source: Alan Greenblatt, ” Fewer Babies Available For Adoption By U.S. Parents,” NPR, November 17, 2011.
The United States Department of State quoted news reports in China that estimated as many as 20,000 children may be kidnapped every year and put up for adoptions. Most of the children were reported to be adopted within the country.
Source: John Leland, “For Adoptive Parents, Questions Without Answers,” New York Times, September 16, 2011.
Unwanted babies are reported to be sold for $4,520 to $6,450 (750,000 to 1 Million Nigerian Naira) to brokers in Nigeria. Many of the women who sell their babies hide their pregnancy from their husbands.
Source: Ishola Balogun, “Baby factories: How pregnancies, deliveries are framed,” Vanguard, September 2, 2011.
2007 was the last year that parent in the United States could legally adopt children from Guatemala. The practice ended that year due to illegal adoption and child trafficking concerns. Other developed countries previously halted adoptions from Guatemala in 2002.
In 2007, there were 4,726 Guatemalan children who were adoption by United States couples. The attorneys involved in the process in Guatemala made about $35,000 per case.
In 2011, the Guatemalan government announced that it will begin reviewing adoptions cases from that time period to find cases where the child trafficking.
Source: Meredith Hoffman, “Amid Allegations of Human Trafficking, Guatemala to Review Adoptions,” New American Media, August 24, 2011.
Between 1999 and 2006, at least 16 children from Longhui County in Southern China were illegally abducted by state officials. The children are believed to have been sold to adoption agencies.
Local residents were quoted by the New York Times as saying that local government officials would use babies as a source of revenue by charging $1,000 in fines for violations of the one-child policy or other governmental regulations. When parents were unable to pay the fine, which was more than 5 times the average yearly salary of a local family, the officials would take the child and sell it to an international adoption agency.
Foreign parents who adopted a Chinese child are required to donate $5,400 to the orphanage.
Source: Sharon LaFraniere, “Chinese Officials Seized and Sold Babies, Parents Say,” New York Times, August 4, 2011.
