Holt International Agency Sued by Adoptive Parents of Child Placed from Thailand

Posted on August 2, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

According to Adoption Mosaic, a Pennsylvania adoptive family has sued Holt International adoption agency, alleging that the family was misled about the medical and psychological needs of a child from Thailand that Holt placed with them.

Here’s is the link their post on Facebook, and on Instagram.

Adoption Mosaic notes:

“While this lawsuit centers on one family’s experience, it also raises broader questions that many adoptees, first families, adoptive parents, advocates, and researchers have been asking for decades:

• What information is shared, and what isn’t?

• How transparent are adoption agencies throughout the adoption process?

• What accountability exists when families receive incomplete or misleading information?

• How can we better protect children and families while centering ethics over placement?

As this case unfolds, it has the potential to become an important moment in the ongoing conversation about transparency, ethics, and reform within intercountry adoption.”

Holt is one of the largest adoption agencies In the US, and perhaps the world. In recent time, they have been under fire, including last week when a group of adult adoptees held a “funeral” for Holt at their Eugene, OR, office.

The Eugene, Or, based newspaper Register Guard also has stories about the Holt lawsuit, behind a paywall,

This recent Pennsylvania case is not the first wrongful adoption suit that Holt has faced. In 2019, Adam Crapser was the first Korean adoptee to sue Holt in Korea. Last year, a Korean birth mother sued Holt.

Holt, of course, is not the only adoption agency that has been sued for wrongful adoption. My understanding is that these lawsuits have been filed since the late 1980’s in connection with U.S. adoptions, including from foster care. More recently, international adoptions have also been the subject of these lawsuits, which involve charges of fraud, inaccurate and undocumented medical conditions; coercion, exploitation, and more.

While the suits have historically been brought primarily by adoptive parents, there are increasing examples of suits from adoptees and from birth parents. And there are ramifications: The Netherlands decided to ban foreign adoptions completely by 2030 after lawsuits revealed fraud, corruption, kidnapping, and other abuses.

Grandparents, Estrangement, Grief, Power, Control: All wrapped up together in adoption

Posted on July 31, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

And they need to be carefully pulled apart, though there is plenty of intersection. I compared it today to the tentacles of an octopus or 10.

I just posted the note below on my Grandparents and Adoption Substack. I invite you to read my posts on that page, and to share your thoughts.

Here is the note:

I’ve been ruminating a lot recently about grief and estrangement, and how they are entwined in adoption. I’ve also been thinking about the roles of power and control, and how they figure in both adoption and estrangement. I have seen how all this can play out with grandparents.

There are estranged adoptees who prevent their adoptive parents from seeing the grandkids.

There are grandparents who played a commanding role in forcing their pregnant daughters to place the child for adoption, thus often estranging their grandchild/the adoptee from their family of origin forever, subject to laws and DNA testing. The Baby Scoop Era saw that play out many times.

There are grandparents who treat their adopted grandkids differently from their biological ones.

And there are so many things left unsaid and unknown, that can haunt folks in the adoption community for a lifetime. Who held power? What was questioned about that power, and by whom? What narratives are we to construct to better understand the power, the control, and the grief?

An adult and a child are walking along the beach. The sky and beach look hazy. — Photo by Maureen McCauley ©

Adoption has its fair share of intergenerational trauma, all rolled up with grief, power, and control, sometimes resulting in quiet or overt estrangement. It’s a lot of tangled and delicate threads. I am especially interested in the role grief plays, as I think we don’t always shine the needed light on it. Ambiguous grief is real, and is a huge part of both adoption and estrangement.

Jeannette Walls, in the Glass Castle, wrote that “One of the hardest things you will ever have to do, my dear, is grieve the loss of a person who is still alive.”

So true.

International Adoptees Travelling in the U.S.: Do Not Fly Without Proof of Citizenship

Posted on July 30, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

The increased presence of ICE agents at U.S. airports has prompted concerns for international adoptees. The Adoptee Rights Law Center has issued an advisory: Do Not Fly.

The Law Center’s founder Greg Luce, an attorney (and an adopted person) with significant experience in immigration law and a deep commitment to international adoptees, wrote this:

Given the recent significant presence of ICE officers at dozens of US airports across the United States, I am currently advising intercountry adoptees NOT to fly domestically unless 1) it is necessary and 2) you travel with either a US passport book or a U.S. passport card.

Why should Intercountry adoptees avoid air travel within the U.S.? According to Greg, “Immigration enforcement at U.S. airports threatens anyone who may not have available proof of U.S. citizenship, even if they are U.S. citizens—and even if they are in the process of securing citizenship or legal status. Intercountry adoptees, particularly those who by law are U.S. citizens but do not have available proof of citizenship (e.g. do not have a US passport or a Certificate of Naturalization/Citizenship), are vulnerable to immigration questioning and possible enforcement. Unless you have a US passport book or U.S. passport card and carry it with you on domestic flights, I do not recommend flying domestically within the United States at this time.”

Please share this important information. I hope that folks aren’t pulled in for questioning or more, and hope that everyone has their needed documentation and is safe.

My unofficial, non-lawyer thoughts: The passport card is easiest to carry. It’s great if folks can get both the passport book and the card, and keep the passport book in a safe place at home. You can photocopy the passport book page with your photo, and carry that, I’d guess. Some folks are using digital ID on their Apple phons, for example. Here’s an article that may be of interest: Your passport, now on your iPhone. Helpful or risky? I’ll reiterate my call that all international adoptees have their Certificate of Citizenship. Keep that in a safe place. Keep copies too.

For those adoptees who have questions or need further info, here’s what the Advisory says:

“If you are an intercountry adoptee in the United States and have additional questions about U.S.-based airline travel, you may request a free consultation to discuss your travel plans and how best to prepare for them. This applies ONLY to intercountry adopted people in the United States who have upcoming domestic travel. Use this form to make the request for guidance.“

Additional sources about ICE presence at U.S. airports:

From CNN: ICE arrests at US airports are happening more frequently, attorneys say.

From The New York Times; ICE Arrests Surge at Airports, Opening New Front in Deportation Drive.

From USA Today: New ICE tactic targets travelers at US airports.

Aselefech Evans on “Roots Renewed” With Tami Garcia

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

Roots Renewed is a new podcast, hosted by Tami Garcia, that talks about reconnecting to heritage, especially for folks who are part of a diaspora or have otherwise lost their connection to their original culture, language, roots.

Tami’s latest guest was Aselefech Evans, MSW, LSWAIC; co-editor of Lions Roaring Far From Home; international, transracial adoptee; and part of the Ethiopian diaspora. Adopted at six years old along with her twin sister, she was raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and now lives in Seattle.

In this episode of Roots Renewed, Aselefech talks with Tami about losing her Ethiopian culture as a result of being adopted, and how she has reclaimed that culture, along with her Oromo heritage. She’s dealt with an eating disorder, raised a daughter who’s now in college, and reconnected with her Ethiopian family in Ethiopia and in the U.S. She discusses the challenges of reunion, and how different cultures intersect, not always easily, especially without a common language. She mentions the joys of Ethiopian food, and ways to reconnect with one’s original culture even when it seems daunting to do so.

And she talks about the groundbreaking book Lions Roaring Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees. Lemn Sissay (OBE, British-Ethiopian adoptee, award-winning poet and playwright) and Nicole Chung (editor, author, U.S.-born Korean adoptee, award-winning memoirist) are among those who praised the book.

All revenue from the sales of Lions Roaring goes to Ethiopian adoptees, for travel back to Ethiopia, or for school costs, or for rent, or for many other reasons.

It’s a great interview, well worth watching.

Full disclosure: Aselefech is my daughter, as well as my co-editor, along with Kassaye Berhanu- MacDonald, of Lions Roaring. Aselefech mentions in the podcast that there will soon be a fundraiser to translate the book into Afaan Oromo, Amharic, and Tigrinya, as well as an audio version of the book.

You can watch the podcast on YouTube, and you can listen to it on Spotify and elsewhere. Enjoy.

Adult Adoptees Hold “Funeral for Holt” International Adoption Agency

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

On July 24, a group of international adoptees held a “Funeral for Holt” International adoption agency outside Holt’s Eugene, OR, office.

According to KEZI.com News, the protestors sought to acknowledge what they called the “slow death” of international adoptions.

International adoptions to the United States have declined dramatically in recent years, from a high of nearly 23,000 in 2004 to about 1,200 in 2024. That decline is reflected in other so-called “receiving” countries as well, such as Western Europe and Canada.

Why stage a protest at Holt? Holt International adoption agency is largely known for starting international adoptions from South Korea in 1956, after the Korean War. Holt has placed some 40,000 children for adoption, making its reputation as the largest adoption agency in the world.

Recently, Holt and other adoption agencies have come under fire for those thousands of placements. The Associated Press did a series on Korean adoptions, alleging that “fraud – fake paperwork, stolen babies, switched identities – was pervasive throughout a program that sent 200,000 Korean babies for adoption to the West. The questionable or downright unethical practices were tacitly encouraged by Western countries who wanted to keep the flow of children coming.”

South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been investigating human rights abuses in intercountry adoption for several years, working with international Korean adoptees from Europe, the U.S., and Australia. According to NBC News, “South Korea’s truth commission says government is responsible for fraud and abuse in foreign adoptions.”

Further, the adult adoptees at the Holt protest called for the abolition of adoption, as well as increased transparency and accountability. In Europe especially, and increasingly in the U.S., Australia, and Canada, adult adoptees have been calling for an end to international adoptions. They cite the multi-billion adoption agency system as one that holds an inordinate and inappropriate amount of power, exploiting poor families, commodifying children, and erasing cultural, linguistic, and historic ties. Increasing numbers of adult adoptees cite fraud and corruption in their own adoptions, as well as trauma that is too often ignored or dismissed. Many advocates call for family preservation, as well as reparations, accurate family records, and substantial services to first families, who are often the most invisible and voiceless in the adoption process.

Sweden, The Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, and France are among the countries which have suspended or ended international adoptions, due to trafficking, corruption, and fraud. The adult adoptees in those countries have been speaking out for several years, and it may be that we will see more protests, like the one at Holt, here in the United States.

No one, and I’d include the most fervent adoption abolitionist, wants any child to suffer, to be abused, to be forgotten, to be unsafe, to be without medical care. The system of international adoption as we have known it in the past is coming to an end. There are many voices calling for many solutions and approaches. We’d do well to listen to the voices of adult adoptees and to their original families, if we are to create the much-needed, and inevitable, changes in the way we care for vulnerable children.

“World Domination” in Viewers of My Blog

Posted on July 14, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

WordPress, where I have my blog, recently told me I have achieved “World Domination.” My blog has received views from 150+ countries.

I love seeing where folks are viewing from. The top five countries so far this year are the U.S. (over 10,000 views), then the U.K., China, Canada, and Ethiopia.

Those countries have been fairly consistent over the years, with Australia and several western European countries frequently in the Top Ten.

I am grateful to each person who reads my blog posts, wherever they are in the world. Thank you.

Guatemala To Reopen Intercountry Adoptions in January 2027

Posted on July 11, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

Guatemala closed to intercountry adoptions in 2008, almost 20 years ago, due to numerous allegations of fraud and corruption, as well as charges of kidnapping and exportation of Indigenous children. Guatemala used private lawyers to facilitate adoptions, and the lawyers were alleged to have made millions.

The Center for National Adoptions in Guatemala recently announced that the country will reopen to adoptions in January 2027 with El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

CNA, the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones website states “The help of lawyers, processors, intermediary entities or third parties with a desire to profit is not necessary.” Their decision appears focused on several hundred older children, including teenagers, sibling groups, and children with disabilities and medical conditions. I did not see any information about the recent decision on expanding international adoptions on their website.

In 2019, NBC News reported in “A painful truth: Guatemalan adoptees learn they were fraudulently given away” that “Extreme economic and political inequalities triggered a civil war between the Guatemalan government and rebel groups that lasted 36 years, from 1960 to 1996. The Guatemalan army launched an operation in 1980 targeting the country’s Mayan population, who were believed to be supporting rebel groups fueling the guerrilla movement. The army destroyed 626 villages, killed over 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million.

Thousands of children were lost along the way and some who were found by the military were never returned to their families.

In 2007, before stricter adoptions laws were passed, Guatemala made $200 million in adoptions, according to a 2010 report from the International Commission Against Impunity of Guatemala.

‘Guatemala has always been very divided socially, but the motivation seemed strictly economic,’ González said, adding that the business of adoption become a lucrative one for lawyers and government officials before the country’s adoption laws were strengthened in December 2007 following public scrutiny and a national outcry.

‘The law changed after the world had their eyes on Guatemala,’ González said. ‘But the lesson learned here, whatever the intentions, is that 30 years later, an entire generation has been affected by this and only a handful of people were charged.’ “

Humaniam, a respected NGO dedicated to children’s rights, posted this article in 2024, “The exploitative practices of Guatemala’s adoption industry.” One source for the Humaniam article was Harper’s “Children for Sale: When Guatemala’s adoptions became big business,” also written in 2024. The focus of the Harper’s article was Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, by Rachel Nolan. Nolan’s book, published by Harvard University Press, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction in 2025.

Telediario, a national news service, recently posted two videos about CNA’s decision: Guatemala prepares to resume international adoptions after 18 years, and Guatemala finalizes protocols to restart international adoptions after 18-year closure. Both are in Spanish, auto-dubbed in English.

Lynelle Long of ICAV (Inter Country Adoptee Voices) posted about the news, asking several questions about it, on LinkedIn. Her post includes a link to a Guatemalan news article.

I find this news surprising, given the history of Guatemalan adoptions. Also, many countries have closed or severely restricted international adoptions; among them are China, South Korea, Ethiopia, and Russia. Vietnam closed in 2008, and several years later reopened. The other countries remain closed to international adoptions, and the numbers of adoptions have dropped dramatically in recent years.

Thus, a country re-opening Ito international adoption s big news, especially a country with such a problematic, disturbing history. It will be most valuable to hear the perspectives of Guatemalan adoptees and birth/first families about this.

On the 15th Anniversary of Hana Williams’ Death

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

Had she not died at the hands of her adoptive parents when she was 14 years old, Hana Williams–born Hana Alemu in Ethiopia–would now be almost 29 years old.

Hana died in the backyard of her adoptive home, on a chilly day, 15 years ago. She weighed about 80 pounds at the time of her death, less than what she had weighed upon arrival from Ethiopia in 2008.

Her cause of death was determined to be hypothermia and severe malnutrition. She had been in the United States just three years.

Her adoptive parents, Larry and Carri Williams, were found guilty of homicide in 2013 and remain in prison. Carri was sentenced to 37 years, so she could be free in 2050. Larry was sentenced to 28 years, so he could be free in 2041.

Larry and Carri had seven biological children, who witnessed the horrific abuse of Hana and the other Ethiopian adoptee in their home, Immanuel. The children also witnessed Hana’s death, and then the trial of their parents for manslaughter, homicide by abuse, snd assault of a child.

I don’t have any update on Immanuel, who would be about 27 now. He may have had a hard life in Ethiopia. He certainly had a horrific life with his adoptive family.

Hana had left Ethiopia for a better life, which turned into cruelty, abuse, starvation, punishment, and ultimately death at the hands of people who had been entrusted to love her and keep her safe.

She died three days after Mother’s Day in 2011. I think often of her, and of her Ethiopian family.

A grassy field with a blue sky and clouds, featuring decorative lawn ornaments, including a flamingo and a flower pot, with mountains and a barn in the background.

I took the photo above about 2 years ago. It was a beautiful day in Sedro-Wooley, Washington. I was glad to pause to spend time there, and was struck by how isolated her grave spot is. The site is to the right of center of the photo, by itself.

Ethiopia ended international adoption in 2018, in part due to Hana’s death.

May Hana rest in power. We remember you, and keep you in our hearts.

Suicide Among Adoptees and First/Birth Parents: What Does the Research Show?

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

I hear heartbreakingly often about adoptees who have died by suicide. I heard about one just today.

I do not want to pathologize adoptees or first/birth parents. I realize that many or most may not struggle with suicide or suicidal ideation. Still. We know that sometimes death by suicide is not reported as having been specifically by an adoptee, or as a cause of death at all. We know that many folks outside the adoption community are shocked that an adoptee would choose to die this way, because many folks have a Hallmark idea of adoption, and a lack of awareness that some (not all) adoptees struggle mightily with trauma, whether their adoptive family is loving or not.

And we know that research is scarce, not only about the role of suicide for adoptees but certainly also for birth/first parents.

A new study came out recently: Long-Term Mental Health Effects of Mother–Child Separation Due to Adoption. The author is Lynn Roche Zubov, Ph.D., a first mother in reunion. Dr. Zubov recently retired as a Professor of Education at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, U.S.

From the Abstract: “Data were collected from 1313 adoptees, first mothers, and first fathers. Study results indicate that adoption has lasting adverse effects on both adoptees and first mothers. Adoptees and first mothers are significantly more likely to attempt suicide (35 times and 37.7 times, respectively), abuse alcohol, display hypersexual behaviors, and restrict their eating compared to their peers.”

Those numbers, 30+% more likely to attempt suicide, are frightening, and have engendered a lot of discussion.

Via AdoptionUK: “At a YouTube webinar organised by the UK-run Adult Adoptee Movement, Dr Zubov explains that her study was conducted predominantly in the US through recruitment via Facebook groups and forums, with some international participants.

Notably, the sample includes adoptees who were removed at birth and who had no reported experiences of neglect or abuse in their first families (except, potentially, in utero). Dr Zubov suggests that the experience of growing up away from birth parents presents significant challenges for many adoptees in its own right, additional to or separate from experiences of early neglect or abuse. This hypothesis echoes the language of adoptees such as Zara Philips as well as psychotherapists and doctors with an interest in adoption, including Paul Sunderland and Dr Gabor Maté.

On the YouTube video, Dr Zubov shares that adoptees in this sample reported higher rates of mental health challenges compared to the general population. In terms of emotional distress, 82.7% of the respondents answered “yes, definitely” to the question of whether they experience pain and loss, and 55.7% reported a pervasive lack of belonging. Approximately 80% of adoptees reported using “unhealthy coping mechanisms” to manage complicated feelings.”

The data and results have been the subject of much discussion. Take a look at a few viewpoints: a Reddit conversation; an academic research blog “Adoption and Suicide Attempts: A Quick Re-Analysis;” a LinkedIn post by Dr. Liz DeBetta, an adopted person and Ph.D.; a Thread by Brooke Randolph, LMHC, LIMHP, LPC, LPCC-S; a therapist and “adoptee ally;” and a Facebook post on First Mother Forum.

A beautiful beach at sunset with vibrant orange and yellow hues in the sky, reflecting on the water. Silhouettes of people can be seen walking along the shoreline.

Please do your own research and reflection on the study as well. Note that there is a difference between suicide attempts and suicide itself. While there’s a fair amount of information out there, we need more research.

Here are a few resources:

A 2022 study asked “What about trauma? Accounting for trauma exposure and symptoms in the risk of suicide among adolescents who have been adopted.”

A 2022 Australia study: INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION AND SUICIDE IN AUSTRALIA: A Scoping Review

A commonly quoted study prior to Dr. Zubov’s paper was from 2013, from the American Academy of Pediatrics: Risk of Suicide Attempt in Adopted and Nonadopted Offspring.

A 2006 report from Sweden suggested that “Increased risk of suicidal behaviour in non-European international adoptees decreases with age.”

Finally, we all need to learn about suicide prevention, and decrease the fear of talking about it. Take a look at the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. We need to share the 988 hotline here in the U.S. We need to listen and learn.

Adoptive Parents and Estrangement

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Maureen McCauley

Estrangement in adoption is a tough, somewhat taboo topic.

It’s real. It affects many parents and adult adoptees. Research shows that many families experience estrangement, and adoptive families fall into that sphere.

Adoption Mosaic’s Navigating Estrangement class for adoptive parents is now open for registration. We start on Wednesday April 28 and meet for 8 weeks. I am a co-facilitator, along with adoptees Becca Flatt and Jenna Lowe.

The idea for this class evolved from our work in Adoption Mosaic’s Seasoned Parents course, geared to adoptive parents whose children are over 18 (and often are much older). The parents want to learn how to better communicate with their adult children about adoption, including issues such as race, the adoption industry, the role of gratitude, the complexity of parenting. I have co-facilitated the class three times. We talk about why we chose adoption, about how adoption has changed over time, about the role of race in our children’s lives and our own, and about the fact that issues in adoption don’t end when a child turns 18.

In fact, sometimes the issues manifest in different ways as our children get older. And communicating with a 35 year old adult is very different from communication with a 15 year old.

We have had adoptees ask (or insist that) their parents to take the Seasoned Parents class; some adoptees have done the same for the Estrangement class. You can contact Astrid Castro (Adoption Mosaic’s founder and CEO) and schedule a free 15 minute consultation to talk about how to approach this, and to answer any other questions.

You can register for Navigating Estrangement here.

There are many resources provided in the class. There are also many resources about estrangement available to the community via Adoption Mosaic.

Adoption Mosaic runs a program for estrangement adoptees as well: Adoptee Beacon.

Being in community can make such a difference. Please feel free to share this info! Many thanks.