After Andrea Kelley and her husband adopted their first child from Ethiopia in 2000, she set out on a mission to fill in the missing pieces of her son’s history by finding his mother. After thousands of hours and dollars spent, Andrea had no luck. So she created the Beteseb Felega – Ethiopian Adoption Connection organization in 2014 to help other family members and adoptees find resources to complete their history.

Andrea operates the organization full-time in Shawnee, Kansas, and has grown the Beteseb Felega – Ethiopian Adoption Connection to feature a database and new DNA project in order to help others navigate searches and provide post-adoption services.

DESCRIBE YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE WITHIN BETESEB FELEGA – ETHIOPIAN ADOPTION CONNECTION.

I started Beteseb Felega – Ethiopian Adoption Connection after a 10-year failed search for the mother of one of my children born in Ethiopia because we didn’t have enough information in our adoption paperwork to find the family. I founded and now run the organization from my home office in Kansas City. I manage and coordinate our team of three social workers from different parts of Ethiopia and I specifically work with adult adoptees and adoptive parents who want to search for their birth family in Ethiopia. I also handle all the administrative work for the organization including running the website and our Ethiopian Adoption Search Registry Database.

The organization now provides access to birth and adoption histories for Ethiopian adoptees. We want to restore the history and relationships that have been lost through international adoption. It’s a basic human right that is sometimes overlooked in the adoption process because it’s commonly believed that children will have a better life after being adopted. I realized that if Ethiopian birth families could reach out and search for their children, there would be a higher likelihood of success for everyone. That’s why I created our Ethiopian Adoption Search Registry in 2014 — to give a voice to Ethiopian birth families.

British couples who travelled to Pakistan to adopt children have been left stranded after the Home Office told them to expect months of delays in processing visas because of the Ukraine refugee crisis.

The delays are part of wider failings in visa processing that have left families around the world stuck waiting to return to the UK.

Zainib* has been in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, since November. She told the Guardian that the delays had left her feeling abandoned.

“It’s 37 degrees here, there are shortages of gas and water, and the electricity goes off for several hours a day,” she said. “I’m afraid to go outside because of the kidnapping risk and political instability here.

“I’ve been here since November. Getting our baby took three weeks, then we applied for her visa on 18 January. Initially, the Home Office told us it would be 12 weeks – that was 21 weeks ago.

Abortion rights advocates and antiabortion advocates demonstrate outside the Supreme Court after a leak of a draft majority opinion overturning abortion rights on May 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Cynthia Landesberg is a Korean adoptee and a lawyer in the D.C. area.

Everyone loves a good adoption story. You know: the rags-to-riches tale of a baby found on the street and placed in a loving home, who becomes a lawyer, or a teacher, and one day has a family of their own. I’m well-acquainted with this story because it’s the narrative people imagine when they hear about my life. But it’s far from the whole truth.

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I’m a Korean transracial adoptee and mother of two Korean adoptees. I’ve seen adoption fables used for entertainment, profit and politics, most recently by the Supreme Court as it debates the constitutional right to abortion — and as some of its members exalt adoption as a righteous and practical alternative.

New Zealanders with an interest in adoption are being encouraged to have their say on options for reforming Aotearoa’s 67-year-old adoption laws.

The Ministry of Justice - Te Tāhu o te Ture has today unveiled a range of options aimed at

putting the rights and best interests of children at the heart of a new adoption system.

The Ministry held its first round of public consultation last year. Deputy Secretary Policy Rajesh Chhana said the Government now wanted to hear again from the public about some options it is considering for a new adoption system.

"Last year, the Ministry of Justice heard from over 270 people and organisations, and met with over 25 individuals and groups," Mr Chhana said.

On 20 June 2022, the Government asked the public’s views on the options for reform. As part of this engagement, the Ministry of Justice meet with a range of individuals and communities both face-to-face and online.

The second round of engagement closed on 7 August. We’ll use your feedback to inform the development of final policy proposals for adoption law reform. This may include refining, changing or adding to the options set out in the discussion document.

On this page:

Options for reform

Discussion document

Justice Chagla was informed by advocates Gauraj Shah and Mahesh Chitnis that their client had approached the HC to probate the Will of her deceased adoptive father in February 2022

However, in the absence of an adoption deed or the consent of her biological father for the adoption, the application for probation of the Will in favour of the 70-year-old was not allowed

Mumbai Stating that if there are other documents which can sufficiently establish the claims of adoption, then an adoption deed or documents showing consent of biological parent is not needed, the Bombay high court (HC) accepted photographs and wedding invitation cards of a 70-year-old woman as proof of her adoption.

The single-judge bench of justice R I Chagla was hearing a testamentary petition of the senior citizen, who was adopted by the deceased testator in 1954 and had sought a declaration that she was the heir of the deceased. However, the Prothonotary and Senior Master had refused to probate the Will as the deed of adoption or consent of her biological father for the adoption was not available.

Justice Chagla was informed by advocates Gauraj Shah and Mahesh Chitnis that their client had approached the HC to probate the Will of her deceased adoptive father in February 2022. However, in the absence of an adoption deed or the consent of her biological father for the adoption, the application for probation of the Will in favour of the 70-year-old was not allowed.

On the basis of the mother’s statement and enquiry, her friend Sonia and their associates Meena, Vineet, Rekha and Moni were arrested from Delhi and UP.

A seven-month-old baby was rescued by the Delhi Police this month after his parents allegedly sold him to a Haryana-based couple for Rs 5 lakh. Police said it was the baby’s mother who informed the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) helpline about the case and asked for support to get the pending payment as she had allegedly only received Rs 20,000.

The DCW and Delhi Police found that the baby was sold 3 days after his birth at an IVF centre in Ghaziabad and arrested all eight persons, including the mother, in a case of child trafficking. The gang members have allegedly been operating from Delhi, UP and Haryana.

According to the police, the matter came to light on May 12 when the mother called the DCW helpline and confessed she had sold her baby in October 2021 and wanted help with the pending payment.

“We conducted an enquiry and found that the woman gave birth to a boy in October last year at a Malviya Nagar-based hospital. Her friend Sonia got her discharged two days after the delivery and took her to Sangam Vihar. A day later, she took the woman and her baby to an IVF centre in Ghaziabad where the baby was sold to another woman named Meena. The parents were promised Rs 5 lakh in exchange for the child,” DCP (South) Benita Marya Jaiker said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: She was just a year old when a Belgian couple, Maurice and Liliane Pollet, adopted her from The Holy Angels Convent’s orphanage in the state capital. Forty-one years later, Catherine Pollett has set out in search of her biological mother Sarala and unknown father, who she believes are from Thiruvananthapuram. Sister Mary of the convent, who acted as a link during the adoption process, could have been Catherine’s go-to person to trace them, but she is no more.

Kathy, as she is called, has the letters Sr Mary and the Belgian couple had exchanged in the 1980s and a few photos of the ayah, who had looked after her when she was a baby. Catherine is keen to meet the ayah too. She told TNIE from Belgium that her adoptive mother never spoke about Kerala, its culture or her biological parents.

“I was told that my mother had left me in a basket in front of an orphanage. The reason I’m searching for my biological parents is because I have certain health issues. If for any reason my biological family doesn’t wish to see me, I would at least love to see the pictures of my dad and mom,” said Catherine, who had stayed with her Belgian parents until she turned 23.

Sr Angel, the incumbent mother superior at The Holy Angels Convent, told TNIE that nearly 25 infants from the orphanage were adopted by various Belgian couples in the early 80s. “Catherine might have been one of them,” she said.

“I was a young nun back then and was studying at All Saints College. The orphanage was as old as the Holy Angels Convent, the 150th anniversary of which was celebrated in 2019. But the orphanage is no longer functioning. I got in touch with a few senior nuns who were close to the late Sr Mary, but they too are clueless about Catherine’s parents. We don’t know anything about the adoption register either,” said Sr Angel.

People whose adoption did not go well and who want to investigate where their roots lie in their country of origin can receive financial support for this. But they only receive a subsidy for these so-called roots trips if they make them in a group. Minister Franc Weerwind for Legal Protection does not intend to give money for individual trips, he said during a debate.

He wants the subsidy scheme to come into effect by October at the latest. Interest groups can submit project proposals for this. According to the minister, these searches will contain many common elements and questions, such as the role of the embassy in the country in question and where to start a search. He thinks it is better that people make such a journey together so that they can support each other if necessary. As far as he is concerned, these are small groups of no more than five people. The PvdA, among others, disagrees and prefers personal support.

Central mediation organization

The House largely supports far-reaching changes to the adoption system that Weerwind is going to implement, such as the establishment of one central intermediary organisation. These are necessary because a lot has gone wrong with adoptions from abroad for years, a study revealed. Two years ago, intercountry adoption was suspended, because abuses still occurred then.

Weerwind is looking at which countries the Netherlands can enter into an adoption relationship with again. He won't say more about that until September. In any case, it must concern countries that have the same constitutional guarantees as the Netherlands. The minister mentioned Portugal, Peru, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as countries that are still being analyzed in more detail.

Jayme Hansen, who has a tremendous range of professional international work experience as well as the lived experience of being a Korean adoptee to the United States, was recently named to the Board of the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity. (IAAME).

According to Inter Country Adoption News:

“Congratulations to Jayme Hansen!! Jayme is our ICAV USA Director and has just been voted in as a Board member of the USA Accrediting Entity, IAAME for a 2 year term. This is the org in the USA who accredits all adoption agencies on behalf of the Dept of State who hold overall responsibility for intercountry adoption. We have been saying to the Dept of State for years now that Lived Experience needs to inform all policy, practice and legislation – so it’s awesome to see they have actively sought lived experience at this level in their key organisation!

Jayme comes in with a wealth of NGO experience and has sat on numerous NGO boards and has done volunteer work for 28 years. IAAME is designated as an Accrediting Entity (AE), under the authority of the Secretary, and as allowed by 22 CFR 96.7(a) to Accredit agencies and Approve persons to provide intercountry adoption services in the United States.

IAAME is a 501(c)(3) organization operated by staff with extensive experience in providing child welfare services, administering child welfare standards, contracting, licensing, monitoring, and both domestic and intercountry adoption services. More information can be found at: https://www.iaame.net/“