Late last year, an intercountry adoption case gone bad made headlines and sparked outrage across the globe.

Jade, the adopted daughter of Dutch diplomat Raymond Poeteray and his wife, Meta, was placed in the care of Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department. The Poeterays said they could no longer care for the 8-year-old.

Adopted at 4 months old from South Korea — where the Poeterays were stationed in 2000 — Jade had moved with the family to Indonesia then Hong Kong in 2004. Her parents, who have two biological children, never applied for Dutch citizenship on her behalf — begging the question: Did they ever intend to keep her?

The couple’s open letter to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published on Dec. 13 cited cultural differences and Jade’s “severe form of fear of emotional detachment” as reasons for relinquishing their child.

Upon hearing Jade’s story, scores of individuals and organizations have expressed astonishment and deep concern over her well-being. Adult adoptee-led groups such as our Korea-based organization, Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.’L), and Arierang based in the Netherlands, have issued official statements expressing shock over the Poeterays’ act while condemning the couple’s explanation as unacceptable and requesting the Korean and Dutch governments thoroughly investigate the case.

But the real problem lies with how the Poeterays were allowed to adopt Jade.

Korea’s international adoption practice has been slow to change despite it being the pioneer in intercountry adoption, having exported more children for international adoption than any other country. An estimated 200,000, two-thirds of which have been adopted by American families, have gone overseas over the past half-century.

Korea is still not a signatory to the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) — in addition to outlining minimum standards and procedures regarding adoptions, the convention requires that a central authority, i.e., the government, be designated to ensure the state’s compliance with the provisions.

According to the U.S. Department of State’s Web site, all Korean children sent currently overseas for the purpose of adoption are done so under South Korea’s special adoption law No. 2977, Section 9 (A) (last revised in 1995) which states that adoption agencies are required to handle overseas adoption of Korean orphans. Section 10 (A) provides that such adoption agencies be authorized by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW).

Under current practice, Korean adoption agencies require prospective foreign adoptive parents to first be approved by a counterpart agency in the receiving country. This process normally includes a series of home-study visits to assess the couple’s capabilities of raising an adopted child, followed by further evaluation after the child has been placed in the home to ensure that she is adjusting well to the new environment. 

It’s likely, however, that the Poeterays were able to sidestep these requirements.