Having adopted two children from Russia who turned out to have problems that were never disclosed through the agency, a Long Island couple has requested Nassau County Justice Edward McCarty grant them permission to re-home the children by advertising over the internet. The request was immediately denied with the promise that he would also explore ways to make re-homing illegal, according to the New York Post. “Such re-homing or any other descriptive phrase to classify this trade is unmistakably human trafficking in children, even absent any financial element,” McCarty stated.
The couple, who continue to remain anonymous, adopted the children in 2008 from Russia and later became aware that they had been lied to about the children’s histories. The parents have feared for their own lives at the hands of the children, who suffer from mental and psychological disorders.
This is not the first time adoptive parents have looked to re-home their children. Reuters has investigated and reported on other instances including a Wisconsin couple who adopted from Liberia. Having worked hard for two years to bond and help the troubled teen, they posted an ad on the internet. Two days later, their adopted child had new parents: complete strangers to both the girl and the previous adoptive parents. Within a few weeks, the teen was driven six hours to her new home with no home study required and no attorneys present to legalize the exchange. Reuters investigations found that the Liberian teen was placed into an extremely abusive situation. The new adoptive mother’s biological children had been removed from her by authorities, both parents had been accused of sexually abusing children they had been babysitting, and on the first night in her new home, the teen was made to join the couple in their bed.
Named “private re-homing,” this practice takes place usually on Facebook and Yahoo forums. Clearly, the needs of the parents are placed above the needs of the children as they are unloaded to complete strangers – many of whom have disgusting, destructive motives. Judge Edward McCarty hopes to put an end to this. In April of 2014, the state of Wisconsin made the move to crack down on re-homing. When others stand with Judge McCarty in greater numbers, maybe the country will come together to stop this inhumane activity.
