Kim Catford was born in Vietnam as Ha Van Tuan in February 1973, towards the end of the Vietnam War. At about 6 months of age, he was abandoned and taken to the Sancta Maria Orphanage in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

50 years ago, in November 1973, he was adopted by the Catford family from South Australia. He was 9 months old at the time.

On 8 December 2023, the Federal Council revealed the results of a study on the adoption of foreign children in Switzerland. The report highlights frequent irregularities in the adoption process and pushes the executive to want to revise international adoption law.

The Federal Council has not yet finished with the issue of illegal adoptions. Indeed, after a shocking report published in 2020 which revealed the illegal and sometimes mafia-like practices of private intermediaries and Sri Lankan authorities in the 1980s, the executive made public, at the beginning of December, the conclusions of a second study, this time on the adoptions of children from ten other countries between 1970 and 1990. This study conducted by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) states:

"There are also indications of illegal practices in these countries, child trafficking, falsification of documents and false indications of origin."

What happened? What was Switzerland's role? What are the responsibilities? Watson spoke with Sitara Chamot, coordinator of the Bureau d'Aide à la Recherche des Origines (BARO), which supports adopted adults.

On Friday, December 8, the Federal Council issued a statement on the report reporting irregularities in international adoptions committed in the past. What was your reaction to this statement?
Let's say that these are not major revelations; for me, who has worked in supporting adopted people for about ten years, what this report shows was not a surprise. Obviously, we regret these events and the role played by the Swiss authorities who sometimes turned a blind eye, but we are satisfied that this large-scale study was commissioned by the Federal Council.

As per the findings of the GSCPCR, middlemen identify vulnerable families -- particularly those residing on the streets or facing financial hardship -- as potential targets in the child adoption game. 

Urges childless couples to follow legal adoption procedures and collaborate with adoption agencies

The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has issued an advisory regarding the alarming rise in unlawful adoption practices.

It has identified a concerning trend, especially in South Goa, where childless couples are involved in unauthorised adoption practices, posing significant risks to the well-being of vulnerable children.

The commission says that unlawful adoption practices present a substantial challenge, involving the bypassing of established legal procedures.

New Delhi, 18th December 2023: The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, and “Where are India’s Children” (WAIC), an NGO dedicated to securing family rights for abandoned and orphaned children in India, are thrilled to announce a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance child welfare and adoption initiatives.

Under this pioneering partnership, CARA and WAIC commit to enhancing collaboration through research and data-based evidence to promote the well-being of children. The MoU marks a new era in public-private partnerships and innovation, focusing on noninstitutional care of children and rehabilitation through adoption.

Leveraging technology, CARA and WAIC will expand the legal adoption pool, offering more children the chance to find their forever families. The organizations will also advocate for the adoption of special needs and older children, while raising awareness to prevent unsafe child abandonment

Tripti Gurha, CEO of CARA, stated, “This MoU is a significant step forward in ensuring the well-being of every child. Collaborating with WAIC allows us to pool resources for positive change.”

Meera Marthi, CEO of WAIC, added, “We are proud to join hands with CARA to make a lasting impact on vulnerable children’s lives, providing the love and care they deserve.”

The High Court of Justice rules unanimously in a groundbreaking decision that same sex couples may adopt children, under the terms of the 1981 law on adoption.

Current law states that only “a man and his wife together” can adopt children, which has for the most part meant that only heterosexual couples have been able to adopt, although same-sex couples have been able to do so in rare circumstances.

In its ruling, the court notes that it had dismissed a previous petition on the issue in 2017 because the government at the time promised to amend the legislation which gave preference to heterosexual couples.

Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman points out in his ruling that this legislation was never completed and that the state has said there is no horizon for doing so.

Vogelman deploys the judicial doctrine of “interpretation” to re-read the 1981 law in order to understand the language as allowing two people in a committed relationship to adopt children, as opposed to a specifically heterosexual couple.

Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib has been in contact with her fellow ministers in Ethiopia, India, Chile, Guatemala, Colombia, Congo and South Korea in connection with possible illegal adoptions. 

She stated this on Monday at a meeting with organizations representing adopted people.The minister gave the organizations an update on the investigation into the adoptions. This was requested in a resolution adopted in Parliament last year. For example, the archives of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs are being searched for traces of illegal adoptions. 

The Belgian consular posts in various countries are also involved in the investigation. They send their archives to Brussels, where they are analyzed.“We must do everything we can to tell the people involved the truth about their origins,” the minister said on Monday. Adoptions have allegedly been carried out over the past seventy years after kidnappings or with smuggled children, the resolution of June last year stated. If this is confirmed in the investigation, the Chamber will ask that Belgium officially recognize that such adoptions have taken place.Knack - Time To Read

The victims must receive help in their search for their biological relatives. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the House may later decide to set up an investigation committee.

En December morning in 1978, Claudia Alejandra Svane sat on a plane to Denmark. She had a stack of papers with her. If the five-year-old Claudia could read, she would see that she was born out of wedlock and that she therefore now had to go to Denmark to be an adopted child.

The papers also contained gruesome details: She had allegedly been found abandoned and hungry in front of a church in Santiago de Chile – the capital of Chile. She had no parents.

That was the story her Danish adoptive parents Alisa and Ole were told. That was the story she herself grew up with in an otherwise incredibly safe childhood home in the small town of Manna near Brønderslev in North Jutland. That was the story she and the adoptive parents believed. That was the truth.

But it was all a lie. The papers were fabricated.

In the real world, at the age of three or four, little Claudia had come to the hospital in Chile's capital with an inflamed head wound. Records show how the hospital would keep her overnight. And when her mother came to collect Claudia the next day, the doctors told her that the young girl had died. The mother demanded to see her daughter's body, she came several days in a row, she protested, complained, maybe cried, but the doctors refused to hand over the body. And so it turned out. And all the while, money changed hands, and Claudia was secretly sent to Denmark.

Event details

Center for Children's Rights Amsterdam in collaboration with Spui25

External event

November 14, 2024

Spui 25-27, Amsterdam

26 NOVEMBRE 2010 À 13H30

Le Blogueur, cette semaine : Le choix d’adopter

Jusqu’où peut aller le « choix » d’un enfant, de son âge, de ses origines ou de sa couleur de peau, quand on souhaite adopter ? 
 

•  
• Le Blogueur se penche sur les réalités européennes d’un phénomène devenu glamour à Hollywood : l’adoption internationale et le droit de « choisir » son enfant. En Europe, les critères diffèrent d’un pays à l’autre.
  
  Le Blogueur enquête en Espagne, grand pays adoptant qui accompagne paternellement les parents, en leur donnant entre autres le choix du pays d’origine de leur futur enfant.
  
  En Grande-Bretagne au contraire, on évite l’adoption internationale afin de favoriser la proximité ethnique. La ressemblance entre les parents et l’enfant fait partie des critères permettant son adoption par le couple. L’adoption sans tabou ? 
  
  Quant à la Roumanie, longtemps premier vivier d’enfants dans le monde, elle interdit aujourd’hui à l’Europe l’adoption de ses enfants alors qu’elle en a 70 000 sur les bras… Au nom de la lutte contre le trafic d’enfants, peut-on refuser à toute une génération le droit d’être adoptée ? Car dans cette histoire, plus personne n’a le choix…
  
  
  N'ésitez pas à envoyer vos idées ou vos liens pour les prochaines émissions !

Prejudice that 'denies ethnic babies a home': Barnardo's chief blames councils for fall in adoptions

By KATE LOVEYS

Last updated at 11:02 AM on 24th January 2011

The number of babies adopted is falling as ‘prejudiced’ local authorities will not let white parents look after ethnic children, the head of Barnardo’s says.

Just 70 under the age of one were found homes last year – a mere 2 per cent of the total 3,200 children adopted.