2007年VOA标准英语-Adoption of Vietnamese Babies on the Rise
时间:2019-01-11 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(八月)
Hanoi
30 August 2007
In March, when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopted a Vietnamese child, they created one of the biggest media circuses the country had ever seen. But while they were surely the most famous foreigners to adopt in Vietnam, they were hardly the only ones. With adoption 1 is growing more difficult in China and elsewhere, many American and European adoptive parents are turning to Vietnam. In Hanoi, Matt Steinglass has more.
Jeff and Cerise Roth-Vinson hold Oriana, the 6-month-old girl they recently adopted in Vietnam
Jeff and Cerise Roth-Vinson arrived in Vietnam in late July to fulfill 2 a longtime dream.
"We've been married for almost 13 years now, and we always knew that if we decided 3 to have children, we would want to adopt," explained Cerise.
The Roth-Vinsons were volunteers together in the U.S. Peace Corps 4. They live in the U.S. state of Oregon, where Jeff is a high school science teacher, and Cerise works for an international educational exchange organization.
The newest addition to their family is a little Vietnamese girl named Oriana.
"She's six months. And just over five months when we got her. So we've had almost a month together," said Cerise.
Jeff and Cerise are part of a growing wave of American parents adopting in Vietnam. Americans adopted 312 Vietnamese babies in the last six months of 2006.
In the first half of 2007, that rose to 418. U.S. Embassy officials predict it will grow to 1,000 by year's end.
Dr. Jane Aronson, an adoption counselor 5 in New York City, says there are a number of reasons for the rising numbers.
"The appeal for Vietnam, at this point, and it's always been the same, is that the process is very pleasant," Dr. Aronson said. "The process is usually between nine and 12 months, and the babies are well cared for, in small baby homes, and it's a kind of lovely experience for people. The flexibility 6 of the system to allow single-parent adoptions 7 is very nice as well."
Single parents used to look to China to adopt. But China has instituted new regulations that bar foreign single parents from adopting, as well as obese 8 people and couples with more than two divorces between them.
Chinese babies still make up the largest number of children adopted by foreigners, but the numbers have been falling. In 2005, Americans adopted nearly 8,000 Chinese children. In 2006, that fell to 6,500, and the waiting time to get a child stands at one and a half years.
Other Asian countries, such as South Korea, have made foreign adoption more difficult as well. In Cambodia, foreign adoptions have ceased entirely 9 because too many adoption brokers 10 were found to be trafficking - paying parents for their babies.
Vietnam, too, had problems with trafficking for adoption in the late 1990s. The director of Vietnam's Department of Inter-Country Adoptions, Vu Duc Long, says in 2003, the country blocked all adoptions to the U.S. and several other countries while it reformed its procedures.
Long says in the 1990s and early in this decade, there were scores of cases of adoption brokering 11 for profit, and dozens of officials were sent to prison.
In 2005, the country introduced a new adoption system and signed a new agreement on adoptions with the United States.
The U.S. has a complicated history regarding adoptions from Vietnam. In 1975, in the waning 12 days of the Vietnam War, American philanthropies organized Operation Babylift, which flew thousands of children to the U.S. for adoption, to escape what Americans perceived as the Communist threat.
Hundreds of those children died when one of the transport planes crashed on takeoff.
Such historical echoes were not an issue for the Roth-Vinsons. Jeff says they chose Vietnam because it is a country they could feel a connection to.
"It was very easy for us to pick Vietnam. A wonderful country, with a rich culture and history, and something that fits very well with us, since her culture, her home culture, will be a part of our life, too, for her entire lifetime, and our lifetimes, too," said Jeff.
For Oriana Roth-Vinson, the historical issues did not seem very important, either.
- An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
- The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。
- If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了,你就要履行你的诺言。
- This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
- When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
- The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
- Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。
- Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
- The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。
- Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
- The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年,收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网
- The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了,不能算是健康。
- Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。
- The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
- His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
- The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司,经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
- From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分
- Intertwined with these were rivalry, power brokering, and patronage. 然而也不乏有抗争、强权操纵与任命特权交织其中。 来自互联网
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