International Adoption in the age of Assisted

Reproductive Technologies: the

Spanish case

Diana Marre (UAB-AFIN)

diana.marre@uab.es

‘New’ assisted reproductive technologies

- donor insemination (DI) - in vitro fertilization (IVF)- donor ova- donor embryo - gestational surrogacy - adoption, domestic and transnational

Glossary (Wade 2007)

• Donor Gametes: Gametes (sperm, eggs) that have been donated by men and women for use in assisted reproduction technologies

• Egg donation: The giving of eggs (ova) by one woman to another who has fertility problems

• IVF: In vitro fertilization. The fertilization of ova by sperm ‘in a test-tube’, i.e. in the laboratory

• Surrogacy: Shorthand for surrogate motherhood, in which a woman gestates an embryo on behalf another couple who have fertility problems. The embryo can be formed from the surrogate’s egg artificially fertilized with the sperm of the couple, or can be formed from the couple’s own gametes.

• Transnational adoption: Adoption in which the adoptin parents come from a different nation-state (usually in Europe and North America) from the adopted child (who usually comes from a developing country, Eastern Europe, Russia or Asia)

Since 2004 Spain has been the second country in the world, after the USA, and the first European country, in front of France, in terms of number of

adopted children received. • What is the difference between Spain and these

two countries? – The United States scored the highest birth rate amongst

the rich countries in 2007: 2,1 children per woman and the number of domestic adoptions doubled the sum of international adoptions.

– In 2007, France registered the highest birth rate in the European Union: 2,0 children per woman.

– In the same year 2007 the Spanish birth rate reached 1,46 children per woman as a direct consequence of the immigrant maternity (1,97 children per women as opposed to the 1,33 registered by no immigrant population).

– Furthermore, very few domestic adoptions take place every year.

Reproductive changes in Spain after Franco’s dictatorship

• 1975: at the end of Franco’s dictatorship Spain had the EU highest birth rate (2,8 children/woman)

• 1976: the woman’s age at first maternity was 26.

• 1978: contraception was legalized. Until then according to the Penal Code “to sell, to prescribe, to disseminate or to offer anything to avoid procreation was considered a crime”.

• 1981: the Divorce Act was approved.

• 1983: The voluntary sterilization surgery was legalized by a modification of Penal Code

• 1984: the first Spanish’s IVF baby born in Barcelona, Catalonia

• 1985: Spain was a destinity to European families looking for a child to adopt

• 1985: the abortion was legalized for three causes: - to avoid a risk for the life or the physic or psychological health of the woman, - if pregnancy was a result of a rape and - to prevent physic or psychological problems in the foetus.

• 1987: a new Act on child protection was approved. It was “excessively” protective of the right of biological parents, so in the practice it not allowed domestic adoptions

• 1988: the first law on Assisted Reproduction was approved

• 1991: the sell of the RU-486 pill, “the pill of the day after” was authorised

• 1995: Spain had the lowest EU birth rate (1,17 children/woman)

• 1995: Spain subscribed The Hague Convention

• 1995: a British television’s programme, The Rooms of Death, on the life in China’s orphanages was aired in prime time TV several times.

• 1996: a new law of Minor Legal Protection was approved

• 1997: the regions of Madrid and Catalonia did not accept more applications to domestic adoption due to the lack of Spanish children given up for adoption.

• 1997: the first statistics regarding international adoption was published

• recorded intercountry adoptions doubled between 1998 and 2000 and reached 5,541 by 2004

• 2004: Spain was the second country in the world, after USA, in number of international adoptees and immigrants received.

• 2004: Catalans were the 16% of Spanish’s inhabitants but they adopted the 31% of children adopted internationally in Spain

Number of intercountry adoptions to the US and selected European receiving states, 1999–2009,

Country 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

USA 16,363 17,718 19,237 20,099 21,616 22,884 22,728 20,679 19,613 17,438 12,753

Spain 2,006 2,971 3,428 3,625 3,951 5,541 5,423 4.472 3,648 3,156

France 3,597 346 3,094 3,551 3,995 4,079 4,136 3,977 3,162 3,271 3,017

Italy 2,177 3,062 1,797 2,225 2,772 3,402 2,874 3,188 3,420 3,977 3,964

Netherlands 993 1,193 1,122 1,130 1,154 1,307 1,185 816 778 767

Sweden 1,019 981 1,044 1,107 1,046 1,109 1,083 879 800 793 912

Norway 589 589 713 747 714 706 582 448 426 304

Denmark 697 716 631 609 523 528 586 447 429 395

Finland 149 198 218 246 239 289 308 218 176 157

Ireland 147 191 179 356 358 398 366 313 392 422

Total to Europe 1

13,716

12,533 14,349 15,775 16,920 19,502 18,412 16,549 15,157 14,876

Total to 23 states 2

32,913

32,763 36,379 38,524 41,530 45,288 43,857 39,742 37,526 34,978

1. Europe totals include Andorra,: Belgium, Cyprus, Germany , Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Switzerland and the UK

2. 4 additional states are included in the world totals : Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel

Peter Selman March 2010

Spanish Authorities regarding Intercountry Adoptions

Children adopted by year in Spain1997-2008

8869728916691828896102810759648688751025DA

4074131563648447254235541395136253428306220061487942IA

Total200820072006200520042003200220012000199919981997Years

8869728916691828896102810759648688751025DA

4074131563648447254235541395136253428306220061487942IA

Total200820072006200520042003200220012000199919981997Years

Children adopted by year in Spain1997-2008

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Years

Chi

ldre

n

Children under any kind of state protection=

Officially: 22.862Unofficially: more than 33.000

Years 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007Children under state protection 4143 5170 5944 4705 6082 5722 5973 5784 6510 7508 7792Institutional fosterage 5568 5605 6914 6037 7695 7020 8703 8958 9285 10621 10294Familiar fosterage (civil) 1886 1939 1851 2215 2554 2896 3113 3306 3269 2364 3404Familiar fosterage (judicial) 1092 1229 1039 1071 1075 1265 1024 1041 1114 1035 1372

Parents’ narratives regarding international adoption:

• Many adoptive parents and their associations still link the beginning and continuity of international adoption to the repeated broadcasting at the end of 1995 of the British television’s programme, The Rooms of Death, on the life in China’s orphanages

• many families mention solidarity and the need to help the poor and abandoned children as the main objective to adopt: “to give to a child a better future”

Inhabitants of Spain and Catalonia (2004)

6.343.110

34.504.261

Catalonia

rest of Spain

16 %

Children born in Spain and Catalonia (2004)

64.957

338.902

Catalonia

rest of Spain

16 %

Adoptions in Spain and Catalonia (2004)

1.047

2.381

Catalonia

rest of Spain

31 %

• 2005 April: Catalan Government approved an Act allowing to homosexual couples to adopt.

• 2005 July: Spanish Government approved and Act allowing homosexual marriage and, as a direct consequence allowing children adoption

• 2005. Spain had the second place in Europe right after France in assisted reproductive treatments in relationship to the total population followed by Germany and United Kingdom

• 2006: only the 35% of adoptive families had done some infertility treatment before in Catalonia.

• 2007: Spain had the EU highest woman’s first maternity age: 31

• 2007: The birth rate is the highest in the last 14 years in Spain: 1,37 children by woman (18% of children born have an immigrant mother)

1

To adopt a child:

another way to became parents

Adopting a child is a way to become parents

that in recent times has become popular

Adopt a kid

Redecorate your life

Children come from too far

Sweetie, don’t you think it’s high time we start trying for

a baby?

Sure, I’ll just log on www.adoption.org...

Half of children adoptedabroad come from Russia and China

International adoptions in Spain by continent and country of origin of children

Origin 1997

1998 1999

2000

2001

2002 2003

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total

Total 942 1487 2006

3062

3428

3625 3951

5541 5423 4472 3648 3156 40741

Europe 97 216 645 1439

1569

1395 1913

2111 1727 1567 1460 1304 15443

Russia 70 91 141 496 652 809 1157 1618 1262 1290 955 899 9440

Ukraine - - 116 218 356 358 462 349 394 181 338 218 2990

Kazakhstan - - - - - - 2 24 43 70 130 149 418

Africa - 16 23 32 31 51 163 268 278 374 545 656 2437

Ethiopia 0 0 0 0 0 12 107 220 227 304 481 629 1980

Americas 631 960 895 905 721 593 679 585 564 490 374 331 7728

Colombia 250 393 361 414 319 271 285 256 240 260 174 189 3412

Haiti 0 0 0 0 3 1 17 36 24 15 22 27 145

Asia 214 295 443 686 1107 1586 1196 2577 2854 2041 1269 865 15133

China 105 196 261 475 941 1427 1043

2389 2753 1759 1059 619 13027

India 109 97 163 190 129 109 100 117 43 79 103 32 1271

Nepal - - 18 16 28 35 38 68 43 173 76 184 679

Source: Ministery of Labour and Social Issues. Yearbook 2004

0

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1000

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2000

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1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Years

Ad

op

tee

s Europe

Africa

Americas

Asia

ImportedGeneration

Imagine how much ‘ours’ we feel her, that we don’t even see her black anymore. I'm not kidding. You don't see the color, it's just love, says a professor, mother to an adopted child of Ethiopian origin who, already having two biologic sons, decided to adopt because they wanted to be parents again and give a child a home.

“I’m black because I’m haitian”

• 2007: The Spanish Parliament aprpved an International Adoption Act

• 2010. The Parliamente aproved a new abortion law which legalized abortion on demand for women from 16 years old until 14 week of pregnancy and until 21 in certain circunstances