In order to understand Spar’s analysis of the ethical considerations in the business of adoption, it may be wise to likewise draw on the thoughts and analysis made by the Dalai Lama on the ethical issues behind the issue of genetic modification and human cloning in a chapter entitled “Ethics and the New Genetics” in his book “The Universe in a Single Atom.” Both issues seem all too innocent and greatly beneficial on the surface, but a closer look into these two controversial topics lead {correct word: leads} to a darker and more dangerous reality than what one may initially perceive. As the Dalai Lama suggests, “we need to examine the [issues] from the perspective of a global ethics that is grounded in the recognition of fundamental human values that transcend religion and science.” (#6)
Spar contends that “adoption is indeed a market, particularly in its international dimension” (p. 2) early on. It is a market with continuous demand by would-be parents and an ever-increasing supply of “waiting children and a panoply of intermediaries — adoption agencies, social workers, lawyers.” (p.2) She further splits the two opposing views on adoption, the first of which considers adoption “as a purely social interaction” and the other one seeing it as “a market of the worst possible sort.” (p. 2) The first view considers the lovely picture painted earlier, highlighting adoption as a means to complete a family while the second view treats children as nothing more than a commodity, with a tag price and a corresponding market value. The issue is, in the Dalai Lama’s words, “the relationship between our knowledge and power on one hand and our responsibility on the other.”