Queering the family? A multi-layered analysis of relations of inequality in transnational adoption

Abstract

This paper explores the tensions between the (equal) parental right claims in adopting countries and the global inequalities in class, race and geographical location that shape transnational adoption. It uses the story told by a Belgian couple who disguised their lesbian relationship from the authorities involved to explore the narratives of child, family and nation that undergird transnational adoption. The paper discusses the potential and limits of the creation of non-traditional families for producing greater equity and significant reinterpretations of kinship and the family script. Moreover, taking into account different layers of both oppression and privilege, it discusses the ethical implications of the (queer) liberal ideologies of parental rights and Western moral superiority that prevail in transnational adoption. It argues for a shift away from the desire to create non-biological and/or non-heterosexual forms of private nuclear kinship through transnational adoption to a more profound and critical re-thinking of the (transnational) care of children, with space and acceptance for profoundly different constellations of care.

En este artículo se analizan las tensiones entre las reclamaciones de los (mismos) derechos al parentesco en países de adopción y las desigualdades globales de clase, raza y ubicación geográfica que determinan las adopciones transnacionales. Para este estudio nos servimos de la historia explicada por una pareja belga, que ocultó a las autoridades competentes que eran lesbianas, para analizar las narrativas de hijo, familia y nación que constituyen la base de la adopción transnacional. Abordamos las posibilidades y limitaciones de la creación de familias no tradicionales para producir una mayor igualdad y las reinterpretaciones significativas de parentesco y guión familiar. Asimismo teniendo en cuenta los diferentes niveles de opresión y privilegios, estudiamos las repercusiones éticas de las ideologías liberales (homosexuales) de los derechos al parentesco y la superioridad moral de occidente que prevalece en la adopción transnacional. Abogamos por un alejamiento del deseo de crear formas no biológicas y/o no heterosexuales del parentesco nuclear privado mediante la adopción transnacional hacia un replanteamiento más profundo y crítico del cuidado (transnacional) de los hijos, con el espacio y la aceptación para constelaciones de atención sumamente diferentes.

Cet article explore les tensions entre les revendications de droits parentaux (égaux) dans les pays d'accueil des enfants adoptés et les inégalités mondiales entre classes sociales, races et lieux géographiques qui déterminent de l'adoption transnationale. En se basant sur l'histoire de deux femmes belges formant un couple et ayant caché leur orientation sexuelle aux autorités concernées, l'article explore les récits sur des enfants, sur la famille et sur la nation qui sous-tendent l'adoption transnationale. Sont discutés le potentiel et les limites de la formation de familles non traditionnelles dans la perspective d'une meilleure équité et de réinterprétations significatives de la parenté et du script familial. En prenant en compte différents niveaux d'oppression et de privilèges, l'article traite aussi des implications éthiques des idéologies libérales (queer) fondant les revendications des droits parentaux et la supériorité morale occidentale prédominante dans l'adoption transnationale. Il argumente en faveur d'un abandon du désir de créer des formes de parenté nucléaire privée - non-biologique et/ou non hétérosexuelle - à travers l'adoption transnationale pour permettre une redéfinition profonde de la prise en charge (transnationale) des enfants, comprenant un espace et une acceptation de constellations profondément différentes de cette prise en charge.

Keywords::

• lesbian
• parenting
• intersectionality
• transnational adoption
• Belgium

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the adoptive parents who participated in this research. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The writing of this paper was conducted in the author's function as Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and as visiting fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

Notes

^1. The phrase ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexed and queer/questioning individuals and groups’ is used in current sexualities theories and aims to be more inclusive than the formerly used ‘gays, lesbians and bisexuals’. However, I refer to Belgian organisations working on sexual rights as gay, lesbian and bisexual (the English equivalent of the Flemish holebi), as this is the way most of these organisations tend to describe themselves.

^2. From 2004 to 2012, approximately 10,321 men and 9142 women were involved in a same-sex marriage in Belgium (real numbers may be slightly higher, as some partners, who are not registered in the civil register, are not included in the figures) (Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie op basis van het Rijksregister).

^3. Between 2003 and 2012, the number of yearly realised transnational adoptions fluctuated between 171 and 327 for Brussels-Wallonia, and between 122 and 244 for Flanders. In 2006, there were 884 transnational adoption applications in Flanders alone, 22 of which by gay or lesbian couples. In Brussels-Wallonia, between September 2006 and June 2007, 622 candidates registered for the domestic or transnational adoption preparation programme (Kind & Gezin; Direction de l'Adoption).

^4. South-Africa is the only birth nation Belgian agencies work with that allows same-sex couples, though the religiously inspired local partner organisations seem to give preference to heterosexual couples.

^5. I have changed the names of the participants.

Additional information

Funding

Funding

The material presented in this paper is based on fieldwork conducted in 2008–2012 and funded by the Ghent University Special Research Fund (BOF) [grant number 01D01008]. The writing of this paper was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) [grant number FWO13/PDO/030] and the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.