Check this brief article in the SF Chronicle examining the confusion between adoption and abduction.
How child traffickers are exploiting the poor and unsuspecting
Adoption reforms too late to reunite Kenyan mom, son
Katharine Houreld, Associated Press
(03-02) 04:00 PST Mombasa, Kenya —
The offer of a foreign education for her beloved youngest son seemed like a dream come true for Elizabeth Rioba. But the Kenyan mother says a family member tricked her into signing adoption papers, and now it’s been five years since she’s seen her boy.
The Polish couple that adopted 4-year-old Abednego and renamed him Mikolaj says the procedure was fully legal, took six months and involved Polish diplomats who spoke with the birth parents. Rioba acknowledges she signed papers, but says she did not understand them.
Child protection experts say such tragic misunderstandings are common in a part of the world where adoption is a foreign concept. Criminals can exploit the gap between wealthy Westerners who genuinely want to help and poor Africans who want to do the best they can for their children.
A Birth Project 