The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry [Perfect Paperback]

Mirah Riben (Author), Jena M. Gaines (Editor), Evelyn Robinson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

Expose of the privatization of the adoption industry; the indistinguishable line between gray and black market; the scams and rip-offs; exploitation in both domestic and international infant adoption markets where the children are the commodity and prices are set based on quality (i.e. age, race, health)while 143,000 children linger in foster care. Extensively researched and documented inside report of the lack of regulations that allow anyone to call themselves an adoption "professional" and arrange adoptions. Questions whether the money can be removed from adoption and return it to a service which puts the best interest of children first instead of simply allowing anyone who pay - including pedophiles - to "adopt" a child. Goes further than Riben's first book - "shedding light on...The Dark Side of Adoption" (1988) and reveals for the first time Riben's involvement in the notorious Stenberg murder case in NYC.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book a wonderful and well-integrated mix of approaches part analysis, part case studies from the front lines, part hand-book, part up-to-date law and policy review is a testament to Riben's powerful and enduring commitment to the rights and needs of vulnerable women and their children. Riben's book is a clear, bright blueprint for change. Rickie Solinger, historian and author, Wake up Little Susie; Beggars and Choosers --Direct to author

Combines the historical and legal perspective with really hard hitting journalism. Maureen Flatley, political consultant and media advisor specializing in child welfare and adoption --Direct to author

Once again, as in Dark Side, Riben has pulled back the covers and exposed the unpleasant truths and problems that need to be addressed in American adoption practices....the conclusions that Riben comes to are inarguable. Most impressive on every count ....well researched and thought out. Annette Baran, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., co-author The Adoption Triangle --Direct to author

About the Author

Mirah (aka Marsha) Riben has been researching, writing and speaking about the need to reform, humanize, and de-commercialize American adoption practices since 1971. Excerpts of The Dark Side of Adoption have appeared in Utne Reader; Social Issue Resources Series, Inc.; and Macrocosm USA. Additionally, her articles have appeared in The Women's Newspaper of Princeton, Suburban Parent, Jersey Woman, the New York Times Op Ed, The Jewish Press, The Adoption Therapist, Mothering, Nurturing, and Family Journal. Riben, a former Director-at-Large of the American Adoption Congress, is co-founder of Origins, a New Jersey-based national organization for women who have lost children to adoption. Speaking publicly since 1979, Riben has appeared on several national television programs, including Joan Rivers to discuss the Steinberg/Nussbaum murder of their illegally adopted child. She has been keynote speaker for the American Adoption Congress; and has spoken at countless other conferences including Parents of Tomorrow, Adoption Forum, Council on Equal Rights in Adoption, Origins, and Concerned United Birthparents. Riben was an invited speaker at the 7th Annual NJ Research Conference on Women, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. She has substitute taught at Staten Island College and guest lectured at Rutgers University. Riben is the mother of four, one of whom was lost to adoption shortly after birth and is now deceased.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: AdvocatePublications.com; 1st edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427608954
• ISBN-13: 978-1427608956
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MIRAH RIBEN has been researching, writing and speaking about the need to reform, humanize, and de-commercialize American adoption practices since 1979.

Riben is author of "shedding light on ...the Dark Side of Adoption" (1988) and "THE STORK MARKET: America's multi-billion dollar unregulated adoption industry" (2007) and many articles.

She is a former Director-at-Large of the American Adoption Congress, and co-founded Origins, a New Jersey-based national organization for women who lost children to adoption in 1980, the original Origins. She is past Vice President of Communications of Origins-USA, Inc, a national non-profit that advocates for mothers' rights and keeping natural families together.

Riben has been keynote speaker for the American Adoption Congress (national and regional conferences) and has spoken at countless other adoption conferences including: Parents of Tomorrow, Adoption Forum, Council on Equal Rights in Adoption, Origins (NJ), and Concerned United Birthparents. Riben was an invited speaker at the 7th Annual NJ Research Conference on Women, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, and the 2007 Adoption Ethics and Accountability Conference sponsored by The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and Ethica, Inc. She has substitute taught at Staten Island College and guest lectured at Rutgers University. She has has presented at academic and legal venues, including Practising Law Institute as well as appearing on national television, including Joan Rivers to discuss the Steinberg/Nussbaum murder of their illegally adopted child.

After the 1987 murder by Joel Steinberg of his illegally adopted child, Lisa, Riben reunited the toddler boy found in the home Steinberg shared with Hedda Nussbaum. Travis Smeigel is back with the family who thought they couldn't parent him. The account is detailed and documented in her second book.

Riben, who Was nominated 2009 National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Public Citizen of the Year for her work in adoption, was among the very first mothers to publicly speak about the lifelong effects of losing a child to adoption. Risking imprisonment, she reunited hundreds of families separated by adoption and helped mothers prevent unnecessary adoption providing them temporary shelter in her home.

A former magazine editor and administrator at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, she is a staunch advocate of family preservation, and opposes all profiteering in adoption and falsified birth certificates. Riben is the mother of four, one of whom was lost to adoption in 1968 with whom she was reunited, and who is now deceased.

Mirah blogs at http://FamilyPreservation.blogspot.com

Complete bibliography of published works and CV available at:

http://www.AdvocatePublications.com

Author contact for media interviews and speaking engagements, etc: [e-mail]

Last edited 4/27/11

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read adoption book., June 6, 2007

By 

David Kirschner "PhD." (Woodbury, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry (Perfect Paperback)

The Stork Market by Mirah Riben, is a must read, for anyone touched by adoption. It is an informative, well-documented and fascinating expose of the many abuses - permeating a muti-billion dollar, unregulated adoption industry. Written in a crusading, investigative reporting style, the Stork Market is a courageous book. It will please many in the adoption world, but is sure to threaten others - especially those who profit from the lucrative business of adoption.
As a pediatric/child psychologist, I have worked in the trenches and treated hundreds of the worst-case casualties, of our closed adoption system; so I can attest to the truth in this important book, and offer first person witness, to the validity of much that Ms Riben documents and is concerned about. Surely, a family system based on secrecy, lies, and a denial of human/civil rights can not ultimately be "in the best interest of the child;" and a passionate caring that the needs of the children be primary, "not secondary, or even worse, irrelevant to an adult's agenda," is evident throughout the book.
The Stork Market was especially touching, in my understanding of birth mothers and their feelings about the children they gave up for adoption. Treating troubled adopted children/teens and their adoptive parents, I have mainly known birth parents, only through their children's fantasies about them - or sketchy information (very often based on outright lies) told to the adoptive parents by agencies, lawyers or "facilitators." The book deepens insight into a piece of the adoption triangle, the "ghost mother," seldom seen by child or family therapists - even those specializing in adoption issues.
However, despite it's much needed focus on the many problems and abuses in the adoption world (or perhaps because of this), the Stork Market loses objectivity and balance - with barely any mention of successful outcomes in adoption - or loving, caring and even validating adoptive parents. There are risk factors in adoption; but we should give credit to those adoptive parents, who have given their children the support and strength to navigate so many uphill challenges.
As Ms Riben writes, "Adoption is a very personally and emotionally charged issue for those touched by it. Few can think about it without passion." Absolutely true - but passion can cloud objectivity, and we need to all be on the same team (adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, therapists), to fix this flawed system - and make adoption work better.
Nontheless, The Stork Market is an important book, and a must read for anyone interested in the subject of adoption.
David Kirschner, PhD., Author - Adoption: Uncharted Waters.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing the truth behind adoption, December 22, 2007

By 

Triona Guidry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry (Perfect Paperback)

Adoption surrounds us. We all know someone who has considered adoption, is adopted, or has given up a child for adoption. Law and society have evolved, so that adoption is celebrated, no longer a shameful secret. Few, however, are aware of the less-savory side of adoption, nor its ongoing impact on our country. In her new book, "The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry," author Mirah Riben tackles the truth behind the myths.

"Infant adoption is a multi-billion dollar unregulated industry... run by those with little or no training or education in the field of child welfare or social services. It has become a total distortion of the intended purpose of finding homes for orphaned children, and instead exploits mothers and commodifies their children," Riben says.

According to the author's research, adoption hasn't progressed much since the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. Anyone can be an "adoption professional," for there are no requirements or standards. Today's baby brokers use the Internet to ply their trade, while state agencies push children into unmonitored homes to claim federal subsidies. Celebrity adoptions demonstrate the widespread disregard for the rules.

Prospective adoptive parents are among the victims of this horrific trade. Vulnerable in the face of infertility, they are presented with an idealized picture that neglects detail. "The fact is that adoption is a business; babies are priced based on age, race, ethnicity, health, and physical ability." Corruption is rampant, and a failed outcome can be devastating. Riben offers guidelines to avoid being victimized, and recommends a thorough background check of any adoption agent.

Although most adoptions today are considered "open," these words have little legal meaning for a birth mother. Riben quotes the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC), "Unless sanctioned by law, agreements for post-adoption contact are purely voluntary and cannot be enforced in court." The promise of open adoption lures expectant mothers to ensure a steady supply of adoptable infants. "The reality is that there is no guarantee that adoption will provide a better life, only a different one."

The author also addresses the plight of those adult adoptees whose records are sealed, and who therefore face considerable obstacles in learning their background. "Adoption records were never sealed to protect mothers who surrender-or those adopted-and do not exist now for their protection." Those who lobby against open records do so on behalf of the brokers, to secure their bottom line. "Maintaining sealed adoption records does not "protect" mothers-or adoptees-from shame; it legitimizes it."

Evelyn Robinson, one of Australia's leading adoption experts, asks in the book's foreword, "What is wrong with adoption in the United States... Greed and consumerism masquerade as altruism, as parents and children are drawn into a quicksand of legal and illegal adoption." She continues, "[Adoption] should be about finding homes for children who are unable to live with their families, after all efforts have been made to keep the family together."

Through comparison with Australian methods, Riben offers a future for American adoption. Payments of all kinds should be eliminated, she says, and objective counseling provided to expectant mothers. Contact between expectant mothers and prospective adopters should be curtailed, and certification of adoption practitioners made mandatory. Penalties for human trafficking would further discourage the brokering of babies.

"The Stork Market" is a compelling and disturbing look at the state of adoption in America. Describing the progress that has already been made, Riben says, "The profit motive and corruption in adoption cannot be mended; it must be ended."

About The Reviewer

Triona Guidry, an adoptee and mother of two, is a freelance writer and consultant.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kudoos, Mirah, don't put down your pen!, August 26, 2007

By 

Blancherose "blancherose" (Sag Harbor, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stork Market: America's Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry (Perfect Paperback)

When I read Mirah Riben's brisk polemic against adoption as we know it in America I found myself internally screaming: How can we make this book required reading for every person considering adoption--both the women who give birth and the people who adopt? For good measure, let's get it to every legislator in this country who doesn't yet understand that the commerce of adoption has not served those for whom it was ostensibly designed: the children.

Perhaps I'm jaded: I'm one of the women still caught in the trap of a closed adoption of the mid-Sixties, when I surrendured a daughter to adoption. Do I feel abused by the system Riben so systematically takes apart? Yes. But our voices are lost in the din of would-be adopters who have delayed conception until their plan to build a family is through the taking of someone else's child--and severing as many ties as possible with the child's natural family and heritage.

Thankfully, Riben exposes this calculating and cruel mind-set--and what it has done to the children--with copious and well-documented research and a clear, engaging writing style. Given today's shortage of American babies available for adoption, Riben's chapters on the international adoption trade are especially revealing and moving. Case studies, statistics, analysis--Riben uses all the tools to make her point and delivers it with the crushing blow of a hammer.

No one who reads this book will come away without thinking that the adoption policies of America need to be re-thought and re-done. Riben, a longtime adoption-reform activist, deserves more attention and credit than I fear she will receive.
Kudoos, Mirah, don't put down your pen!
--Lorraine Dusky, author of "Birthmark" (1979), the first memoir from a birth mother.