Baby Trafficking

Baby laundering, also known as illegal or illicit adoptions, is the act of abducting a child from their birth parent(s) and selling them to other adoptive parents under deceptive circumstances. This may involve falsification or destruction of birth records, kidnapping of missing children, or swapping babies with one another. Baby laundering can operate within legal or illegal adoption networks, and may be facilitated by legal structures and governments. 

Baby laundering, also known as illegal or illicit adoptions, is the act of abducting a child from their birth parent(s) and selling them to other adoptive parents under deceptive circumstances. This may involve falsification or destruction of birth records, kidnapping of missing children, or swapping babies with one another. Baby laundering can operate within legal or illegal adoption networks, and may be facilitated by legal structures and governments. 

Law/Legal Implications

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is a treaty signed by over 100 countries to establish international protections on intercountry adoptions. The Hague Convention aims to protect children from any type of exploitation or trafficking in the adoption process. Its major claims are that intercountry adoption can only proceed when a suitable family cannot be found in the child’s country of origin, and it works to serve the child’s best interest (U.S Department of State 2025). While well-intentioned, this convention falls short in that there are no explicit prohibitions for child laundering or child trafficking within the intercountry adoption system. Additionally, regulations and oversight on adoption agencies are insufficient, causing the legitimization of illicit adoption and the exploitation of birth families (Smolin 2005). On the Hague Convention, the United Nations notes the importance of stricter scrutiny over improper financial gain and the importance of promoting children’s agency (UNHR 2022).

Proposed Policies

Globalized approaches:

A dedicated international agency shall be established to oversee all intercountry adoptions and closely monitor adoption agencies. This would create better coordination between countries and increase transparency of the process. This agency will work to ensure valid consent from birth parents and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent or exploitative practices (Garcia 2023).

Pros: 

• A consistent approach is necessary, as networks will not move transnationally in cases of differing international standards (Brandão and Garrido 2022).

Cons: 

• As the imposition of globalization has historically centered whiteness and prioritized the wealth of the global North while enforcing a capitalistic system internationally, a globalized approach to policy (through consistent adjudication between countries) may reinforce racial and capitalistic hierarchies globally (Williamson 2017, 76-77).

• This policy might increase surveillance of women of color and their bodies, which allots more biopolitical control to governmental structures that enforce capitalism and white supremacy (Foucault 1976, 240-242; Mbembe 2011, 17; Sharpe 2016, 19).

Centralized approaches:

Stricter adoption licensing processes will enforce legitimate practices and hold adoption agencies accountable. Requiring rigorous informed consent from all involved parties, with the threat of harsh penalties and the stripping of licenses, will incentivize better behavior from transnational adoption agencies. Holding these agencies and the people who exploit families and children accountable will be the first step to true change within the adoption process (Smolin 2005, 193).

Pros: 

• This approach aims to hold powerful structures directly accountable.

Cons:

• A carceral approach leaves vulnerable populations subject to a reinforcement of historical inequality. In holding agencies accountable through penalties and prohibition, their lower-level (and possibly exploited) participants will face the brunt of incarceration (Bernstein 2019, 42)