'Madonna effect' raising kids' dumping in orphanages

Melbourne, Apr 9 : Celebs like Madonna who adopt children from poor countries are doing more harm than good, according to a new research.

It's called the 'Madonna effect' and it's increasing the number of children being dumped in adoption havens.

UK researchers have claimed that demand for children from wealthy Westerners for kids from poorer nations means that large numbers of families in the developing world are sending their children to orphanages in the hope that they will be adopted abroad.

The report by a team of psychologists from Liverpool University called for controls to curb international adoptions, stop the "market mechanism" affecting children, and "uphold child rights".

The study said that adoptions from abroad are too much of a trade and do harm to the children involved.

"This process has been labeled the Madonna effect, so-called after the singer's adoption of a young boy from Zambia in 2006," The Daily Telegraph quoted the report, as stating.

Study author Professor Kevin Browne said: "Some argue that international adoption is a solution to the large number of children in institutional care but we have found the opposite is true."

ANI