Deborra-Lee Furness paces the hall in the Hilton Hotel, talking animatedly on her mobile. In fact, from the moment she walked into the hotel to the moment she left, she barely paused for breath, talking intently to journalists, to guests, to anyone who would listen, about the cause she is so passionate about - the desperate plight of orphans around the world.
The plight is indeed desperate. According to statistics quoted at the launch, 1625 per hour – yes, hour – are forced onto the streets as a result of the death of, or abuse by, an adult. Here they fight for survival by scavenging for food, begging, or prostituting themselves for money. If the global community of orphans was a country, it would account for the tenth highest population in the world.
Yet there is hope. In Western countries, there are hundreds of thousands of prospective parents desperate to embrace these children as their own, who elect – through infertility or preference – to create a family by international adoption. In the USA, for example, around 17,500 children found families intercountry adoption in 2008.
Tragically, however, in Australia in that same year, only 270 international orphans found families. This is not for lack of potential parents. Laws in this country are so restrictive, due diligence takes so long, that thousands of potential adoptive couples languish on the waiting lists, as thousands of children die, impoverished and alone. Many couples are not considered for up to ten years, by which time they are immediately rejected for being too old.
Had Deborra-Lee not held US citizenship, she would have been faced with exactly this scenario. She and husband Hugh Jackman would no doubt have remained childless, instead of being who they are today - the loving parents of two adopted children, Oscar, 9 and Ava, 4.
Deborra-Lee heads the lobby group Orphan Angels, whose goal is to lobby the Government to make adoption more expedient, more transparent and more acceptable in our society. Deborra-Lee has also recently joined Dr Jane Aronson and her Worldwide Orphans Foundation which provides direct services in many areas to care for the health of children living in orphanages around the world. www.WWO.org. Though it is easy to be cynical about celebrities who endorse charities, it is clear from meeting Deborra-Lee that she is utterly committed to her cause. She speaks with tremendous emotion and passion, later awkwardly wiping away tears as we watch the new community service videos of impoverished orphans, lined up anonymously in their rows of tiny cots.
Deborra-Lee considers herself part of the global village, responsible not just for her own family, but for children all around the world. “I'm here because it made me mad,” she tells me. “There are people longing for a child, who'd be such great parents, while kids are forced to be prostitutes, or walk round the streets, because bureaucracy is standing in their way.
”In person, Deborra-Lee is upbeat, friendly, and quite disarmingly natural. She speaks quickly, keen to get her message across – about the need for a dedicated national agency, expedient and accessible adoption services for genuinely displaced children, and education to promote inclusion and combat ignorance and stigma.
She refers frequently to the anti- adoption culture in our country. Couples on IVF, for example, are prohibited from applying for adoption until all medical options have been exhausted, by which time they are often too old to qualify. Furthermore, adoptees continue to be discriminated against in some of our immigration laws and policies, and access to information is frequently limited and discouraged.
“Please spread the word,” she asked me earnestly, as we said our goodbyes. “It's so unfair that thousands of children are dying unloved, when there are so many people who want them, so many people with love to give.”
Kerri Sackville.
