If German parents adopt a child abroad, the adoption in the Federal Republic is initially considered non-existent. Rolf Bach, head of the Joint Central Adoption Agency for the four northern German states, says “there is no legal basis in the Federal Republic” for the recognition of the adoption.

It makes no difference whether the adoption came about through dubious agencies, reputable aid organizations such as Terre des Hommes and the International Social Service or, as is now the case in hundreds of cases, on personal initiative, for example when the parents contacted the state "commissioner" of the youth welfare authority in Colombo themselves.

The parents are quickly confronted with the legal uncertainty of the German authorities after their return if - the normal process - they want to have their adopted child entered in the family register at the local registry office. The “responsible administrative authorities are often overwhelmed” when it comes to the question of whether foreign adoption can be recognized or not, according to legal experts Helga Gross and Ingrid Baer from the International Social Service.

With the introduction of the law on adoption in 1956, the legislature departed from two ideas, which in hindsight both not proved to be correct.

In particular, the introduction of adoption as being a child protection measure was strongly criticized in the literature. As noted rightly by Delfos and Doek, the characteristic of child protection is that it is never permanent, whereas adoption in principle is permanent. A measure of child protection is also characterized by the fact that in the interest of the child there is an intervention into the exercised authority over him. Parental authority is limited by that measure.

In contrast, adoption confirms legally the existing factual relationship between foster parents and the foster child and builds the authority of the foster parents who have custody into parental authority.

Also Red- Boer found that the "to consider adoption for political reasons as a measure child protection, leads to a lame comparison. "In that context, she pointed out that child protection measures such as exemption from the parental rights or withdrawal of the parental rights do not lead to the loss of familial ties, while adoption does indeed break the existing family ties indeed to then put new family relationships in their place.

From the development that the legal form of adoption after 1956 has gone through, and which this chapter will look at closer, will also show that this idea has been abandoned.

NRC Handelsblad

17-10-1981

1

RING IN COLUMBIA KIDNAPS CHILDREN FOR SALE ABROAD

By WARREN HOGE, Special to the New York Times

Published: August 16, 1981

BOGOTA, Aug. 15— The authorities have uncovered a multimillion dollar international ring in which hundreds of poor Andean children were kidnapped or bought from their mothers and sold under forged birth certificates and adoption papers to childless couples from the United States and Europe.

A Bogota lawyer has been jailed on charges involving the smuggling abroad of 500 to 600 youngsters from Colombia and possibly 100 more from Peru. In neighboring Ecuador, officials have turned up more than a hundred questionable adoptions by Italian families.

The authorities have uncovered a multimillion dollar international ring in which hundreds of poor Andean children were kidnapped or bought from their mothers and sold under forged birth certificates and adoption papers to childless couples from the United States and Europe.

A Bogota lawyer has been jailed on charges involving the smuggling abroad of 500 to 600 youngsters from Colombia and possibly 100 more from Peru. In neighboring Ecuador, officials have turned up more than a hundred questionable adoptions by Italian families.

The Colombian network is said to have included three juvenile court judges, six notaries, nurses in two maternity clinics, officials of the Government's family welfare agency, several secretaries and housewives and a Colombian consul in Spain. Among those charged in Peru is an official of the Government unit that handles international earthquake aid. The principal figure arrested so far in the Ecuadorian cases is the president of the national children's court.

Lies and Kidnappings

Some babies were obtained through nurses who told mothers that their offspring had been born dead and passed the infants along to the lawyer. Others were simply kidnapped or bought from impoverished peasant women. At times members of the organization were sent out to patrol the city's red-light district to find pregnant prostitutes and persuade them to sell their babies.

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The authorities have uncovered a multimillion dollar international ring in which hundreds of poor Andean children were kidnapped or bought from their mothers and sold under forged birth certificates and adoption papers to childless couples from the United States and Europe.

A Bogota lawyer has been jailed on charges involving the smuggling abroad of 500 to 600 youngsters from Colombia and possibly 100 more from Peru. In neighboring Ecuador, officials have turned up more than a hundred questionable adoptions by Italian families.

Het vr?e volk : democratisch-socialistisch dagblad

28-07-1981

1

De Telegraaf

25-07-1981

1

Het vrije volk : democratisch-socialistisch dagblad

18-05-1981

1

NRC Handelsblad

16-05-1981

1