Disposable Children: Re-adoption in America

No longer want the child you adopted? Don’t worry, in America, you can place a classified advert on a website and get rid of them. It’s called ‘rehoming’ and a deed signed by a lawyer is enough to transfer parental authority to anyone. There have even been cases of suspected sex offenders or people whose own children were taken away from them by social services ‘rehoming’ other children.

A quarter of children adopted in the USA are later abandoned by their new parents. That’s 25,000 children, every year. Agencies have sprung up, who – for a fee of around $5,000 – try and find new families for these children. But others resort to unofficial adoption networks and it’s there that children are most vulnerable.

We meet Jack, Poppy and Nita, three children passed around like packages and left hurt and confused. We also hear from a father who made the decision to give away his adopted daughter. Heartbreaking and compelling viewing.