Agencies often require prospective parents to sign informed-disclosure forms that say the parents are aware of some of the risks involved in the adoption process and that release the agencies from liability.
The proposed regulations would prohibit that, leading to more lawsuits against agencies, said Howard Cooper, a trial attorney from Boston who has handled several contentious cases on behalf of international adoption agencies.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday November 18, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 34 words Type of Material: Correction
International adoptions -- An article in Friday's Section A said that the public had until Nov. 14 to submit comments on proposed rules for international adoptions. The deadline has been extended to Dec. 15.
In some cases, previously undiagnosed developmental and learning disorders show up months or years after children are adopted, Cooper said.
Under the proposed regulations, parents would be able to sue the adoption agency for not informing them that this might occur.
"My fear is that, in this highly litigious society, people will choose not to be educated about the process and just assume unfairly that they will receive some guarantee that none of us has the right to expect," he said.
"We feel agencies will close their doors because they are too fearful of the possibility of liability," Spivack said. "And, ultimately, the children in these countries will pay the price."
Other suggested rules, including requirements that each agency carry $1 million in insurance per adoption, have a social worker with a master's degree on staff and operate out of proper office space, would also place new financial burdens on agencies.
The treaty "ignores the small agencies. I'm not happy with that," said Hemlata Momaya, executive director of Bal Jagat Children's World, an agency based in Chatsworth that handles about 70 adoptions a year from China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Russia and other countries.
Momaya expressed concern that her small agency might have to be supervised by a larger outfit. "I've been in the business for 20 years. Why do I have to have somebody else looking over my shoulder?" she asked.
"It's the same old argument that we have about big government," said Sherri Archer, who runs Angels' Haven Outreach from her home in Santa Clarita. Licensed in California since 1998, the agency handles about 50 adoptions a year from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. "It seems the more government is involved, the more convoluted things become."
But supporters of the rules say a little extra bureaucracy is a small price to pay for safeguarding the interests of adoptive parents and their prospective new charges.
"Will some agencies go out of business? Perhaps," said Pertman of the Adoption Institute. "Those that will continue to operate will be the ones that are willing to improve standards and provide more protection and certainty for the people involved. That's not a terrible outcome."
