What is it about?
The Vietnam War played a significant role in the institutionalisation of intercountry adoption (ICA) in Australia. The fall of Saigon provided the leverage needed for proponents of ICA to engage the governments of western countries in ensuring previously arranged adoptions were completed. The humanitarian discourse that surrounded the airlift of children from Saigon, Operation Babylift, precipitated private and government sponsored mass evacuation of orphans, who were adopted despite the lack of substantive evidence of their orphan status with no attempts at supported reunification. Though adoption from Vietnam to Australia was short-lived it opened the doors for other government sanctioned adoption programs within two years.
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Why is it important?
This episode is important in the history of intercountry adoption in Australia as it marks its official beginnings and forecast how controversies would continue to play out up to the present.
Perspectives
My intercountry adoption research is important as it shines a light on an often acknowledged side of intercountry adoption. The findings from years of research were not what I expected. Under the surface of adoption, there is a difficult history, another side not often spoken about and a highly political phenomenon.
Dr Patricia Fronek
Griffith University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Operation Babylift: advancing intercountry adoption into Australia, Journal of Australian Studies, December 2012, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/14443058.2012.727845.
You can read the full text:
Resources
The institutionalisation of intercountry adoption in Australia: A legacy of the Vietnam War
‘The Vietnam inheritance: Cultural, social and political legacies of the Vietnam War in Australia: An interdisciplinary Symposium marking the 35th anniversary of the end of the war’, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. 29, 30 April 2010
Intercountry adoption in Australia: A natural evolution or purposeful action
Fronek P. (2009). Intercountry adoption in Australia: A natural evolution or purposeful action. In C. Sparkes and D. Cuthbert, Other People’s Children: Adoption in Australia, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, Australia, p.37-54
Intercountry adoption: Privilege, rights and social justice
Fronek, P., Cuthbert, D., & Willing, I. (2015). Intercountry adoption: Privilege, rights and social justice. In R. L. Ballard, N. H. Goodno, R. F. Cochran & J. A. Milbrandt (Eds.), The intercountry adoption debate: Dialogues across disciplines (pp. 348-365): Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
The Intercountry Adoption Debate
Book review - Huffington Post
Foreword
Fronek, P. (2012). Foreword. In J. L. Gibbons & K. S. Rotabi (Eds.), Intercountry Adoption: Policies, Practices and Outcomes (pp. xxv - xxvi). UK: Ashgate.
Intercountry adoption in Australia
Fronek, P. (2015). Intercountry adoption ion Australia. Encyclopedia of Social Work. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1165
Australian Adoption Policy
Breakfast on Radio Adelaide, Australia
Australia's intercountry adoption laws
2ser The Daily Radio, Australia
Privatising adoption: easier for parents riskier for kids
The Conversation, Australia
The politics of 'orphans' and the dirty tactics of the adoption lobby
The Conversation, Australia
The politics of 'orphans' and the dirty tactics of the adoption lobby
The Conversation, Australia
Changes to intercountry adoption must put children's needs first
The Conversation, Australia
Are we shifting responsibility for adopted children offshore?
The Conversation, Australia
Comment: Australia puts children at risk by 'freeing up' the adoption market
SBS News, Australia
Australia puts children at risk by ‘freeing up’ the adoption market
The Conversation, Australia
Shopping for children: Australian adoption market puts them at risk
The Conversation, Australia
Your child is missing. Would you want their adoption to be easier?
The Conversation, Australia
Your child is missing. Would you want their adoption to be easier?
The Drum, ABC, Australia
Your child is missing. Would you want their adoption to be easier?
The Conversation, Australia
History Repeating...Disaster-Related Intercountry Adoption and the Psychosocial Care of Children
Fronek, P., & Cuthbert, D. (2012). History Repeating...Disaster-Related Intercountry Adoption and the Psychosocial Care of Children. Social Policy and Society, 11(3), 429-442. doi:10.1017/S1474746412000103.
Contributors
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