The end of China’s international adoption program has left adoptees with mixed emotions

This decision has affected not just families who wanted to adopt from China but also Chinese adoptees.

For Aili Montague, being a Chinese adoptee makes up a significant part of their identity.

Montague was adopted from the city of Huainan, China, in the Anhui province at around two and a half years old.

A now 18-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Hjallerup on 11 March. 

The North Jutland Police write this in a press release.

The defendant's defender, Mette Grith Stage , also confirms to Nordjuyske that the 18-year-old pleads guilty to murder.

Quickly arrested

The 13-year-old girl was found seriously injured at the heating plant in Hjallerup around 10 p.m. 

Ranchi: Adoption process in the state has become increasingly difficult for prospective parents in recent times. The waiting duration has significantly lengthened, with families now having to wait between 2.5 to 3 years before being matched with a child. The waiting list in Jharkhand exceeds 3,000 families.

Govt agencies offer children aged between 0 to 6 years for adoption, comprising those who have been surrendered by their parents or found abandoned.

Sangita Sahay, a social worker at Karuna NMO, said, "Parents in line to adopt is more than the children available for adoption across the district. Since 2018, the number of families seeking to adopt has surged. Now, prospective parents are required to wait at least 2.5 to 3 years before they can adopt a child. These days, the lists from 2021 are being released.

"The current situation is evident at Ranchi's two adoption agencies. Karuna houses 18 children whilst Sahyog Village has seven children available for adoption. Adoption costs Rs 64,000, and agencies conduct post-adoption monitoring to ensure child welfare.

Alka Sharma, superintendent at Sahyog Village, said, "This number is likely understated, as many interested families do not even register with the agency, leaving a significant number unaccounted for. The demand for adopting both a baby girl and a baby boy are the same.

The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case against a woman booked for human trafficking, who allegedly sold her minor daughter for Rs 15,000 to a couple in Maharashtra as she was unable to maintain herself and her child.

In doing so the court noted that the woman had a "bonafide intention" to get the child adopted, even though the procedure was not followed adding that ingredients of the offence of trafficking were not made out. 

Justice K Natarajan allowed the petition filed by one Mandara and quashed the proceedings registered under Section 370 (Trafficking of a Person) read with Section 34 (common intention) IPC and Section 81 (Sale and procurement of children for any purpose) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

The FIR registered by the police on March 13, 2019 was based a complaint filed by the one Punith Kumar E., District Child Protection Officer alleging that the petitioner woman had sold her child to accused Nos.2 and 3. 

It was alleged that the petitioner is said to have married to one Girish and out of the wedlock, they begot a male child and the petitioner's husband deserted her and the child. Thereafter, it was alleged that she became intimate with another person named Venkatesh and out of that relationship, she delivered a female child on February 24, 2019.

How did we move from the first international recognition of children's needs in the 1920s to the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child? How did the imperative of protecting the youngest gradually become linked to that of their emancipation, and therefore the consideration of their opinions and capacities for action? Historical insight.

This year, 2024, we commemorate the centenary of the first statement of the rights of the child, through the Geneva Declaration, and the 35th anniversary  of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

From the regulation of labor to the progress of schooling, from the development of pediatrics to the "invention" of early childhood, including state intervention within the family unit when necessary, there were certainly many advances in the 19th century  to improve the fate of children in Europe. But it was in the 20th century  , in the aftermath of the Great War, that the transnational movement for the adoption of a declaration of the rights of the child achieved a tangible result.

Looking back at this story helps shed light on contemporary issues surrounding young people's voices, on an international scale.

DR documentary wins Amnesty's Media Award 2024

Recipients of Amnesty's Media Prize. From left: Lisbeth Dilling, Søren Klovborg, Karoline Engelund and Nikolaj Venge (far right). Number two from the right is David Kildendal, who features in the documentary. Mikkel Inumineq Jørgensen

Amnesty's Media Prize 2024 goes to Søren Klovborg, Karoline Engelund, Lisbeth Dilling and Nikolaj Venge from DR for the documentary series 'Det store adoptiontyveri', which uncovers one of the biggest adoption scandals in Denmark. It investigates and exposes the trafficking of children to Denmark.

It has just been announced in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen, where DJ's Fagfestival 2024 will be held.

Event details

Center for Children's Rights Amsterdam in collaboration with Spui25

External event

November 14, 2024

Spui 25-27, Amsterdam

A former Arkansas pastor has pleaded guilty to three counts of rape involving his minor children and been sentenced to 50 years in prison, according to a statement released yesterday by Arkansas authorities.

As part of a negotiated plea agreement, James “Jamie” Cowan, 46, pleaded guilty to raping minors on Nov. 12, according to a statement released by Jana Bradford, Arkansas prosecutor for the 9th West District. In addition to his 50-year sentence, Cowan also received 30 years of a suspended sentence upon release.

Cowan must serve at least 70% of his sentence or 35 years, Bradford said. This would make Cowan 81-years old at the time of release, “effectively making this sentence a life term,” Bradford added.

The decision to offer a plea deal was made after consideration of the victims’ wishes, “ensuring they would not have to endure the further trauma of testifying in a court trial,” Bradford said.

In a motion for a bond reduction, Cowan says he is a pastor. The Arkansas Justice Project’s Post reported Cowan is the former pastor of the Little River Community Church and a TikTok video said the church was in Winthrop, Arkansas.

Mysuru: The state govt's adoption initiative helped 33 children from the Chamarajanagar adoption centre find loving homes between 2018 and Oct 2024.
Among the adopted, 15 children were adopted by families within the state, 13 by couples from other states and five were taken in by families abroad, including five physically challenged.
The govt-introduced adoption scheme appeared as a boon not only for childless couples, but also for orphaned, abandoned, surrendered and destitute children to find families. Of the 33 children adopted, 21 were girls and 12 were boys.
According to the Chamarajanagar District Child Protection Committee, 28 children were surrendered by their parents unable to take care of them due to poverty, health and other reasons. All the children adopted by parents are below two years old.
Most of these adopted children were rescued by the District Child Protection Committee, when newborn girls and boys were abandoned by their mothers in dustbins, bus stands, temple premises, markets and other crowded places fearing social stigma, poverty, and other reasons.
Officials in the women and children welfare department attributed child marriage as one of the main reasons for abandoning children in hospitals and other places after giving birth, fearing legal problems, social stigma and other issues. The department also rescued several children found orphaned after the death of their parents.
Speaking to TOI, Chamarajanagar District Child Protection officer Cheluvaraju said that once these children were rescued, the state govt not only took care of their health but also looked after their upbringing and education with the help of non-govt organisations like Jeevan Jyothi Trust of Kollegal, which runs an orphanage exclusively for such children and takes care of rescued abandoned children. It also facilitates childless couples to adopt children under the adoption scheme.
As per the Adoption Scheme 2022 Act, childless couples who want to adopt children rescued by the child welfare department must register their names through an online portal launched by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). The couple must be economically, mentally, and physically sound. They must play a crucial role in the well-being of the adopted child and must take care of the future of the child.
Once they apply online, a team from the department inspects the house of the applicant to verify their economic and social status, study their background and will submit the report to the respective deputy commissioner, who is also chairman of the district adoption resource authority, for approval. The department will keep the names of the couple secret after adopting children under the scheme. The department will also keep a tab on adopted children's parents for two years to verify they are taking care of the child.
Once the department officials rescued abandoned babies, and parents who surrendered their children to the District Child Welfare Committee, there was a provision for the mothers and family members to take back their children. Six months will be given for such parents to take back their children. If they do not turn up, then details of all orphaned, rescued, and abandoned children will be uploaded to the CARA website portal to facilitate adoption under the scheme, he said.

Adoptive parents and advocates have  called upon  government to ease the stringent adoption regulations that they say are preventing many vulnerable children from finding homes.

They urge policymakers to revise existing adoption laws and create a system that prioritizes every child’s right to grow up in a family.

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