Du bien-enfant à l’enfant sujet : les statuts des adoptés à l’international

Abstract

Anne Cadoret. From the child-property to the child-subject : international statutes for adopted children Full adoption is carried out according to a procedure dictated by the Hague Convention, the aim of which is to prevent child trafficking. To reach this aim, children who are offered up for adoption are stripped of all original parentage and become available for an adoptive relationship. Each child is a “child-property”. This article examines the ontological status of the child at this precise moment, looking into the conditions and organisation of the transfer. It describes how the child, starting as a child/property offered up for adoption, gradually becomes a child/subject from the moment the child is “related” to specific adopting parents, before being able in time to become a fully fledged person, a subject, taking on board the history of his/her transfer and the specificity of his/her filiation. A large part of this reflection is based on a survey undertaken with organisations authorised and accredited to conduct adoption.