Geography of an Adoption Crisis

"The last investigation team in this province went to Hospital A, the site of most abandonments in the province....When they arrived at the appointed time, they found the chief of police in the director's office. The police chief explained that... they were not allowed in Thai Nguyen province, and asked them to leave."

Click here for more.

"A two-day investigation led to troubling new information: financial inducements offered to birth mothers, birth mothers unaware their children are to be adopted by foreign parents, and... financial and psychological tactics to prevent birth mothers from reneging on their promises to relinquish."

Click here for more.

"The wife of an orphanage director (herself an employee of the orphanage) was named as the leader of an infant trafficking ring in Ha Tay province."

Click here for more.

"As of April 8, 2008 the following provinces do not allow U.S. officials to conduct independent field inquiries: An Giang..."

Click here for more.

"The director physically blocked the team from entering, prohibited the team from speaking to Orphanage Employees."

Click here for more.

“… fraud is wide-spread amongst provincial-level officials -- and may reach higher still."

Click here for more.

“We received a diplomatic note… objecting to the investigation and forbidding us from conducting further investigations in the province.”

Click here for more.

"… shortly after the interview began the police arrived and ordered the [U.S. investigative] team to leave the province."

Click here for more.

“When the team arrived... the director them told the team that they were not welcome at the orphanage.”

Click here for more.

“... attempts to secure cooperation from Tu Du Hospital have led to bureaucratic run arounds.”

Click here for more.

Click here for information on the scandal in Kien Giang.

“... the border army arrested two people who were trying to bring a baby boy across the border.”

Click here for more.

“When [the midwife] meets a poor woman with an unexpected pregnancy, she gives that woman money in exchange for agreeing to put that child in [redacted orphanage.”

Click here for more.

"...concerns over a recent spike in adoptions from a specific orphanage located in that province."

Click here for more.

"A neighbor describes the house as ‘a place where children are bought and sold'."

Click here for more.

"The director of the hospital refused to assist the [investigating] team and prevented them from speaking to hospital officials."

Click here for more.