When Children Are Traded

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, NYT

A few ads offering free children on the Internet:

“Born in October of 2000 — this handsome boy, ‘Rick,’ was placed from India a year ago and is obedient and eager to please.”

“We adopted an 8-year-old girl from China. ... Unfortunately, we are now struggling, having been home for 5 days.”

“Prayerfully seeking a loving and nurturing family for our 14-year-old daughter who has been with us for almost a year. She honestly is almost a model child.”

This is “private re-homing,” something that once meant finding a new home for a dog that barked too much. Now it refers to families recycling their adopted children, often through Internet postings.

There are commonly no courts involved, no lawyers, no social service agencies and no vetting of the new parents. There’s less formality than the transfer of a car.

(More here.)