As images of bomb-torn villages and floods of refugees fill our TV screens, people's thoughts turn to the children, especially the orphans left by conflict - whether it be internal fighting in another country or a large scale international conflict such as the current war on terrorism.

Many people are moved to seek information about adopting these children, said Jean Erichsen, author of the book, "How to Adopt Internationally, 2003-2005: A Guide for Independent and Agency-Directed Adoptions." Unfortunately, adopting children orphaned by sudden political turmoil or natural disasters, like earthquakes and floods, is much more complicated than adopting a child already relinquished by a parent to an institution, said Erichsen.

In order to move through the U.S. immigration system, documented evidence must exist to prove that the child has no living relatives, and investigating a child's social history and creating identifying documents is a slow process, particularly when existing infrastructures have been destroyed by man or nature. American Consulates may be overwhelmed and unable to investigate and issue orphan visas, she said.

In a passage in her book "How to Adopt Internationally," Erichsen explains that many of the U.S. immigration laws concerning international adoption were formed in the years following the Vietnam War when the U.S. learned a painful lesson about war orphans.

"As Vietnam fell to the communists, panicked parents handed their children to American officials for quick transport to the United States. Unsure that they would survive themselves, parents were desperate to save their children. Yet, while children of the Baby Lift were being placed in adoptive American homes, some of their parents, who survived the fall, were making their way toward freedom in Thailand and eventual immigration to the United States. Within a few years, they were holding a green card and searching for their children. Custody suits - the only ones to ever result from an international adoption - followed."

As a result, extensive documentation of a child's orphan status is now required for immigration under U.S. orphan law.

An additional restriction on the adoption of war orphans is the fact that international adoption requires the cooperation and agreement of the child-placing country. Such agreements aren't possible when two countries are at war.

"The child-placing country has its own set of laws concerning international adoption requirements and procedures," said Erichsen. "They say who can and who cannot adopt."

Furthermore, Islamic countries do not allow international adoption, except in rare cases. The Quran, or Koran, the holy book of Islam's "sharia" or law, does not address adoption," said Erichsen. "Thus, adoption is not recognized in most Islamic countries."

"That's one reason why few international adoption programs exist in Africa and the Middle East," she said, adding that the best way to help the orphans and hungry children in countries experiencing political or natural disasters is through donations to organizations directly involved in food relief and refugee resettlement.