Ambassador Maura Harty with Vietnam Television
: As I know that one of the purposes of your trip to Vietnam is to discuss the issue of adoption. Could you tell us something about the situation between U.S. and Vietnam?
Ambassador Maura Harty: Absolutely. For several years American citizens were not able to adopt children from Vietnam, but back in the year 2005 we reached an agreement and since then hundreds of Vietnamese children have been adopted by American citizen parents, and that really is another way that we cement the bonds, the strong and significant and growing bonds between our two countries.
The agreement that we reached in 2005 is up for renewal, so I am here to begin talks about that, because quite frankly we need to be sure that the process of adopting children in this country is transparent, and also provides the best possible protection for the children, for their biological parents, and for the American citizens who might adopt them. We must be absolutely positive that any child who is going to be adopted or who is adopted by an American citizen is in fact eligible to be adopted, is in fact an orphan. We must be very very certain that that program is as free from any kind of corruption or misunderstanding about a child’s ability to be adopted.
When we come to this country to talk about adoptions and when we go to any other country in the world to talk about adoptions, it is always informed by a special convention, the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions. Part of what that convention says is that domestic adoptions are always the first option. If a child can be adopted in their own country, then that is the preferred option. If in fact adoption within their own country is not available for whatever reason, then of course we would like to work with that country to build the most transparent process possible to see adoptions occur.
I want to be very clear about this. What is most important for us is that here in Vietnam as well as in other countries around the world, what is most important for us is that if a child needs a family and a home, we would like to be able to provide that. We’re not here because parents want children, we are here because children need families. That’s a very important difference. This is about taking care of children. Thank you for asking that question.
Question: And of course the U.S. and Vietnamese government are trying to protect children wanting to be adopted in a real family. They should have good adopted family. How can the U.S. and Vietnam cooperate in fighting so-called child buying or selling under the form of adoption?
Ambassador Maura Harty: It’s in fact a very legitimate concern. It’s a great question and it is a legitimate concern of ours as well as a number of ministries of the government of Vietnam. Today alone I have visited with several. The Foreign Ministry, the DIA that works under the Ministry of Justice. I will actually meet at the Ministry of Justice later today. I met with representatives of the National Assembly to talk about what we hope will occur as soon as possible. That is new legislation about adoptions, both domestic and international, so that we all understand what the law is, so that there I fact are penalties for those who break the law. So that we together can inform people who work in adoption services here, as well as people who work as what we call adoption service providers who come here to make sure that everybody knows that the rules of this process are, and that if they do not abide by those rules and laws they will no longer be able to participate in these programs.
We are very concerned. There should never, ever, ever be a case where an American citizen adopts a child who is not eligible to be adopted. There is no tolerance in my country for the buying or selling of children. Children are not commodities. Children are human beings.
We believe very strongly that you can tell a lot about a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members, and in every society that is of course our children. We want to work very hard with representatives of the government of Vietnam to make sure that child selling never occurs. We have some concerns and that’s why we’re here, to talk about those concerns, to together build the best possible program.
Question: Thank you very much.
Ambassador Maura Harty: Thank you so much.