Legal Definitions - baby-brokering

Baby-brokering refers to the illegal practice of facilitating or profiting from the commercial exchange or sale of a child. This typically involves an intermediary who arranges the transfer of a child from one party to another in exchange for payment, beyond legitimate costs associated with legal adoption services. It is distinct from legal adoption processes, which are heavily regulated to prevent children from being treated as commodities and to ensure the child's best interests are paramount.

• Example 1: A woman, Ms. Rodriguez, approaches a pregnant teenager in a vulnerable situation, offering to "find a good home" for her baby. Ms. Rodriguez then connects the teenager with a wealthy couple seeking to adopt, demanding a substantial, unregulated "finder's fee" directly from the couple for arranging the transfer of the child. She keeps a significant portion of this fee for herself, far exceeding any legitimate expenses.

  Explanation: Ms. Rodriguez is engaging in baby-brokering because she acts as an illegal intermediary, profiting from the arrangement and transfer of a child outside of the legal, regulated adoption system. Her primary motivation is financial gain from the transaction involving the child.

• Example 2: An unlicensed organization advertises itself as an "adoption facilitator" online, promising quick placements of infants for a high "consultation fee." The organization's owner, Mr. Chen, identifies desperate birth parents and then charges prospective adoptive parents exorbitant, unregulated fees for a child. Mr. Chen provides only a minimal payment to the birth parents, pocketing the vast majority of the money for orchestrating the transfer of the child, without any legal authority or oversight.

  Explanation: Mr. Chen's organization is involved in baby-brokering because it illegally profits from arranging the transfer of children for commercial gain, operating outside the strict legal and ethical guidelines governing legitimate adoptions.

• Example 3: In a region with economic hardship, an individual, Mr. Singh, establishes a network where he identifies impoverished families willing to give up their children. He then markets these children to foreign couples seeking to adopt, charging the couples significant sums for "expedited processing" and "placement fees." Mr. Singh provides only a small fraction of this money to the birth families, keeping the vast majority as profit for orchestrating the transfer of the children across borders.

  Explanation: Mr. Singh's operation constitutes baby-brokering as he is illegally profiting from the commercial transaction and transfer of children, treating them as commodities to be bought and sold for personal financial gain.