‘He’s not a dog’: TikToker calls out adoption agency for Facebook ad about rehoming child
A Facebook page full of ads to “rehome” adopted children has come under fire after one TikToker called out the page in a viral video.
Second Chance Adoption is a program by Wasatch International Adoptions that allows adoptive parents to find a new home for their adoptees. The agency posts descriptions and photos of children available for re-adoption on their Facebook page, “Second Chance Adoption.”
TikToker Kirsta (@karpoozy) made a video ripping apart the language used in one of the Facebook posts on Dec. 13. Kirsta’s video has since reached over 470,000 views.
In her video, Kirsta reads through the agency’s post, which describes the child as “compliant,” “usually obedient,” and “a good eater.”
“He’s not a dog,” she says in the video. “They are literally describing this child like you would see ads for a dog in a shelter.”
Kirsta, who is an adoptee herself, goes on to explain how such posts might allow people to exploit adopted children.
“The fact that the first thing they decided to describe this child as is ‘compliant’—that is an open invitation to anyone with malicious intent,” she says in the video. “‘Hey, this is a child that’s really easy to take advantage of.’”
Wasatch International Adoptions is fully licensed by the U.S. State Department and has been since 1997. On Saturday, the agency made a post on the Second Chance Adoptions Facebook page clarifying the program. All second-chance adoptive parents must meet strict requirements, it said.
“Children who come into the program need new homes to thrive and develop,” the post reads. “The original adoptive family may be struggling, but so is the child. He/she needs a different environment to heal.”
Still, in her video, Kirsta points out that there is an “underground market” for adopted children on Facebook. In 2013, Reuters released a sweeping investigation on these private, Internet-facilitated adoptions, finding some instances of “severe abuse.”
Many commenters on Kirsta’s video were critical of the second-chance adoption program. Several questioned the program’s legality, though the program is fully licensed.
“This looks like trafficking,” one user wrote. “How is this legal?”
Others were upset that adoptive parents would put children up for re-adoption.
“I just [scrolled through their page] and can not believe some of the things I read,” one user commented. “One child’s (7 year) adopted parents said that he will never heal and they give up.”
Others took issue with the way the agency described the child.
“Why put so much emphasis on obedience unless you have bad intentions and you don’t want him sticking up for himself,” one user wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @karpoozy via TikTok and Wasatch International Adoptions via email.
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