A TikTok user named Kalkidan is opening up about the dark side of international adoption in Ethiopia.

On July 27, Kalkidan, a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, took to TikTok to share her harrowing illegal adoption story. The young beauty claimed that she was “trafficked to the United States in 2008” and that her abductors “falsified” her adoption paperwork.

“On paper, I was six, but in real life, I was 7,” Kalkidan told her followers in a viral video that has garnered over 650,000 views.

@kalkidantems

I dont think enough ppl realize how many kids were kidnapped and brought to the US under false pretenses that they were “orphans” or had no family like myself…#ethiopian_tik_tok #habeshatiktok #adoption #ethiopian_tik_tok🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹 #fyp #fypシ #viralvideo

♬ original sound - Kalkidan

Regulator says access to DNA testing and genetic matching already allows identification without formally applying for details at age 18

People who donate sperm, eggs and embryos to help others have children will lose the right to anonymity from the moment the child is born, under proposed changes to UK fertility law.

Existing rules around IVF treatment state that children conceived from donor tissues can apply for details that identify their biological parents only once they reach the age of 18.

But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said a combination of easily accessible DNA testing, genetic matching services, and information sharing on social media had allowed people to sidestep formal routes and trace donors independently.

A Pākehā mother in a same-sex relationship sought the help of a Māori sperm donor so she could have what she described as a “half-caste” baby.

But the friendship between the mother and donor broke down, and now a court has appointed the man as a guardian and granted him three-weekly contact to ensure the child’s cultural needs are met.

The 5-year-old girl’s mother, now single, opposed guardianship, saying the man had little involvement in the child’s life and his intermittent visits were “confusing” to the young girl.

According to the decision published by the Family Court this month, the child, identified by the pseudonym Elle to protect her real identity, was born in 2018.

The other parties aren’t identified, although the man is described by the judge as having a “nationally important role in New Zealand’s cultural heritage”.

Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750

Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.

The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).

After selling a birth certificate, the hospital would follow the “normal” registration process for new babies, including issuing vaccination booklets and assisting with household registration requirements, Shangguan claimed.

Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750

Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.

The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).

Decision memorandum accompanying letter to Parliament about Woo decision on reports of discussions about the future of intercountry adoption

Woo request about meeting reports on the future of intercountry adoption

ore than 15 000 adoptions have taken place in South Africa in the past decade.

November is World Adoption month. The National Adoption Coalition of SA said that according to the UN, an estimated 260 000 adoptions take place worldwide each year.

The coalition said that based on statistics from the Department of Social Development, 15 068 adoptions were registered in South Africa from April 2010 to March 2020.

Many South African children grow up in families that face poverty, exposure to domestic violence, neglect, abuse, exploitation, lack of parental care, abandonment, unplanned crisis pregnancies, substance abuse and mental health issues.

Katinka Pieterse, chairperson of the coalition and CEO of Abba Specialist Adoptions and Social Services, said these children “should be entitled to responsive services to protect them and to return them or place them in a nurturing family environment”.

In France, people who were illegally adopted internationally are trying to make their voices heard by the courts. As this phenomenon does not currently constitute a criminal offence, the fight is likely to be difficult.

There are 120,000 children who have become French through international adoption between 1980 and today. A figure that is largely underestimated, without counting all the cases where the children arrived without a visa. So how many were there illegally? The question makes all those involved in adoption tremble. " We don't have precise figures on the number of illicit practices, we would have to do it case by case," notes Fábio Macedo, a doctor of history at the University of Angers.

The criminal response is also summary: "There is no specific law on illegal adoptions."  Joseph Breham, a criminal lawyer, firmly establishes this statement. He clarifies the legal situation in which people who have been adopted illegally find themselves.

"There is no specific law on illegal adoptions."

Joseph Breham, criminal lawyer

The lawyer has mastered this subject well to work, with his colleague, Noémie Saidi-Cottier, on the Malian case against the authorized adoption organization (OAA) "Le Rayon de soleil de l'enfant étranger". The establishment, which is said to be at the origin of several illegal adoptions between Mali and France, is currently the subject of an investigation after the lawyers of nine "adoptees", men and women who are sometimes well into their forties, filed a complaint for the offense of receiving stolen goods... All of them were adopted in France under an adoption regime that is not the same as in the country of birth; sometimes to the detriment of the wishes of the biological families. This goes hand in hand with the falsification of documents, false declarations and breach of trust by the parents. With no way of knowing their initial ties, these adoptees live in a biological void. "I know I have a brother, but no one wants to tell me ," complains Marie Marre, one of the plaintiffs in the Malian case and spokesperson for the movement [1].

"I think that at different stages of life, we need to continually adjust our commitments to find a balance that is aligned with our values and priorities."

​

Mia Dambach, Co-Founder and Executive Director for Child Identity Protection, on her work as a children’s solicitor in Australia, why ensuring children’s identity protection worldwide is important and the role of her many backgrounds in her daily life.

Dear Mia, you have studied at University of Sydney were you did a Bachelor in Law and a Bachelor in Commerce with a triple major in accounting, marketing and economics before doing your Master of Laws (LL.M.). How did you end up volunteering at a local children’s court during your studies?