MILAN. In Italy one becomes a parent in only two ways, by biological relationship or by adoption. Words entrusted to a newspaper by the Minister to the family and equal opportunities Eugenia Roccella after the events in Padua, where last month the prosecutor challenged the birth certificates of 33 children of two mothers. Parents by contract? No thank you. The Italian right (and not only) opposes the Gestation for others (Gpa) so much as to want to transform it into a universal crime and does not welcome other forms of medically assisted procreation either, such as heterologous fertilization which in any case is only allowed for heterosexual couples . Lombardy councilor Guido Bertolaso recently filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office for a much-contested fertility fair held in Milan last May.

But if the falling birth rate is a problem, primarily for the Government which makes it a flag issue, can we perhaps answer that adoptions are a viable solution? We see. A same-parent couple who have resorted to surrogacy abroad can only resort to a special adoption in Italy, a procedure which requires the intervention of a judge of the Juvenile Court and which in any case does not guarantee a full adoption since not only does it leave the children out of the estate but it is also exposed to the risk of being challenged. A long journey with an uncertain outcome, a limbo of years, as the rainbow families denounce. Ordinary adoption, an option to which heterosexual couples have access, is currently excluded. Although difficult, foster care is possible, but what happens more often than not is that same-parent couples who sign up for lists are never called back. As for the transcripts of birth certificates in the Municipal Registry, the problem is the legislative vacuum, and for dads it is a road that almost always ends with an appeal.

The life of a "traditional" couple who want to adopt is not any easier. Years of waiting and postponements, of social workers and courts, of psychologists, interviews and assessments: a story already written. Like that of Angelo and Vittoria, eight years to embrace Andrea, a native of Burkina Faso, and a coup d'état in between which certainly didn't shorten the times. Or that of Laura and Stefano, also 'linked' to Burkina Faso, who received the suitability decree from the Court of Mestre in 2020 and today may have to wait another year at least before the country's definitive green light.

Ciai, one of the authorized bodies and active since 1968, denounces a "constant, dizzying and irreversible" drop in the number of international adoptions in Italy. In 2022 it concluded 16 (there were 20 in 2021, 14 in 2020) and as of 31 December there were 58 pending. Overall in Italy at the end of 2022, the Commission for international adoptions (Cai), which supervises compliance with the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 and operates within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers at the top of which Minister Roccella sits today, has counted 565 successful adoptions. They were 563 in 2021, 526 in 2020 and it is likely that we are heading towards a further reduction. In 2001, according to Istat data, there were almost 4,000 foreign minors adopted in Italy. There are 2,500 couples waiting, according to Ciai data, which moreover has recently opened to adoptions for singles and same-parent couples. What weighs heavily is the lack of children for reasons that concern the international scenario, from the demographic decline in countries such as China and Vietnam to conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, from nationalisms such as in the case of states such as Poland and Ethiopia, to the complications caused by administrative and judicial systems subject to continuous shocks, as in Burkina Faso, which combine to close the channels. But that's not all: the inefficiency of social services and juvenile justice also weighs heavily. to the complications caused by administrative and judicial systems subject to continuous shocks, as in Burkina Faso, which combine to close the channels. But that's not all: the inefficiency of social services and juvenile justice also weighs heavily. to the complications caused by administrative and judicial systems subject to continuous shocks, as in Burkina Faso, which combine to close the channels. But that's not all: the inefficiency of social services and juvenile justice also weighs heavily.

At least three adopted kids and their adopted parents were invited to the symposium.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Congress, on Monday, has raised an objection after Union minister Smriti Zubin Irani got pictures clicked with adopted kids and parents at symposium, alleging violation of law. The opposition party has also demanded action against the organisers.

A symposium on child protection, safety and welfare organized by the union ministry of women and child development in Bhopal on Sunday, has fallen in controversy, over the union minister's pictures with adopted kids.

The Congress state media vice president Bhupendra Gupta, alleged, “Despite being a minister, she (Smriti Irani) didn’t hesitate in making public the identity of adopted kids and parents who’ve adopted them. All the BJP leaders are the same when it comes to violating the law.”

“Being a minister, she has some legal obligations to fulfill, but instead of abiding by the legal obligations, she has violated the law by making public the identities of the kids and their adopted parents. She often remembers Rahul Gandhi, but has herself violated the law. The Congress will explore legal options in the matter and move accordingly. The BJP needs to apologize to the country, the adopted kids and their parents, for the minister’s irresponsible act. We demand legal action against the organizers of the event,” Gupta demanded.

A team of engineers who surveyed the Bon Secours plot in Tuam has reported similar anomalies at the Co Tipperary site which could be mass burial plots.

There have been calls for a fresh investigation at Sean Ross Abbey Mother and Baby Home after the discovery of what’s believed to be mass baby graves.

A team of engineers who surveyed the Bon Secours plot in Tuam has reported similar anomalies at the Co Tipperary site which could be mass burial plots.

An expert survey by TST Engineering Company pinpointed several locations in the grounds of the abbey with likely human activity beneath the surface.

Almost 1,100 babies died at the home in Roscrea between 1931 and 1969 – but only 42 infant remains were found by the Commission of Inquiry.

Possible trafficking victim asks help to find biological family

Kuo Downing-Reese (郭慧如), a US flight paramedic who might have been the victim of a Taiwanese child-trafficking ring in the early 1980s, on Thursday appealed for the public’s help in finding her birth parents.

Accompanied by her adoptive mother Mary Reese, Downing-Reese has returned to Taiwan in an attempt to locate her birth family.

Private firms that provide genetic testing to help locate relatives are not common in Taiwan, Downing-Reese said, adding that her search on Web sites such as Ancestry.com and 23&me had proven unfruitful, reducing her hopes of finding her parents.

However, after a number of adoptees reported success in reuniting with their families in Taiwan, she became hopeful and decided to embark on her own campaign, Downing-Reese said.

In the raw and unflinching drama Earth Mama, Olympian-turned-director Savanah Leaf centres a woman fighting to get her kids out of an oppressive system

Eleven years ago Savanah Leaf competed at the London games as a member of Team GB’s first ever Olympic volleyball team. But to hear the London-born, Oakland-raised film-maker tell it now, that was nothing compared to the pressure of making her first feature film. “It was really tough,” she says to the Guardian. “At times I was looking around like, damn, how are we going to finish today?”

That A24-stamped indie – Earth Mama – hits US theaters this weekend after a warm reception at the Sundance Film Festival. And, well, “tough” is definitely one way to sum up this 100-minute heart render. Another: Gia, a pregnant single mother, is straining to recover from past drug use and the two small children put in foster care as a result, and barely has strength remaining to keep pushing.

Gia is bogged down inside a crappy apartment with her call-girl sister, stuck working a soul-crushing job at a mall portrait studio staging portraits with newborns and young moms. She has to endure case workers giving her a hard time about being late to supervised visitations, and for not sacrificing enough time to participate in reunification programs. She seems fated to end up like too many Black woman left to fend for themselves in Oakland’s concrete jungle. And yet she keeps going. “She’s definitely an Olympian, too” says Tia Nomore, who plays Gia. “A street Olympian. Shorty is jumpin’ through hoops, OK? She’s absolutely persevering.”

Proper sex education, change in perceptions of single motherhood needed, experts say

A series of alleged infanticide cases that have emerged in an ongoing nationwide investigation into “ghost children” has laid bare the dark stories of South Korea’s mothers of unwanted pregnancies and how the country lacks protective measures and adequate sex education, according to observers here.

Mothers not wanting to confess their pregnancies to their parents or endure economic hardships, in particular, have contributed to the infanticides, according to a study published by professor Kim Youn-shin at Chosun University’s medical school. The study, which analyzed recent court rulings on infanticide cases, showed that many women -- mostly single mothers -- hid the pregnancy from family as they feared becoming a single mom. The stigma of being an unwed mother has persisted in Korean society and, in most cases, leaves an indelible mark on the mothers’ lives, according to the study. Many women also resort to foul play as they are not equipped with economic resources, it added.

In light of increasing infant homicide cases, the research team stressed the need for comprehensive sex education programs that offer age-appropriate information about sexual health, such as birth control and safe sexual intercourse, which could prevent unwanted pregnancies. The research team suggested that conventional measures that reflect women’s rights should be introduced.

Sex education in Korean schools mostly consists of a single-session lecture with an hourlong video covering broad concepts of sex, lacking specific information about sexual intercourse, puberty, reproduction, clinical services, abortion and contraceptive use for safe sex in the real world -- all of which could help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

While denying custody to Ariha’s parents or the Indian Welfare Services, the court relied on two injuries that she had suffered — a head and back injury in April 2021 and a genital injury in September 2021

A district court in Pankow, Germany, has in two judgments dated June 13  denied the custody of Ariha Shah — the 28-month-old — to her biological parents and handed her over to Jugendamt, the German youth services.

Rejecting the application of Dhara and Bhavesh Shah to return the child to them directly or at least hand her over to a third party, the Indian Welfare Services, the court awarded Ariha’s custody to Jugendamt and ruled that “the parents are no longer authorised to decide on the whereabouts of their child”.

On June 3, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi urged the German authorities “to do all that is necessary to send Ariha to India at the earliest, which is also her inalienable right as an Indian national”. Earlier in June, 59 MPs from 19 political parties, including the BJP, Congress, the Left and the Trinamool Congress, had written a joint letter to German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann and asked him to do everything possible to ensure that Ariha was repatriated to India at the earliest.

With the Central Youth Welfare Office of Berlin being appointed Ariha’s provisional guardian by the court, it said the authority shall decide on her whereabouts. The parents had initially sought Ariha’s custody but had withdrawn the request. They had then requested that the child be given to the Indian Welfare Services and to restore parental custody in full, with the understanding that she would be moved to the foster home run by Ashok Jain in Ahmedabad. The parents also planned to move back to India with her.

Alma Feenstra will start as head of the Policy Implementation department at the Service, Partnerships and Implementation (DSU) department at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment with effect from 1 July 2023.

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Alma will lead the Policy Implementation department. This department implements a large number of European regulations. Examples include the European Social Fund +, the European Migration and Security Funds and the Just Transition Fund (JTF).

Ingrid Vanhecke, director of DSU: “I am very happy with Alma's appointment. Alma is an energetic and experienced manager who, with her style of situational leadership and working from trust, fits well with the team leaders and employees of the department. In addition, she brings in knowledge and insights from outside, about applicants and users of schemes, and she has a relevant network outside SZW. Alma also brings political and administrative insight, with which she will make a valuable contribution to the department, management and SZW.”

Background to the study In 2021, 

Yves Denéchère, professor of contemporary history at the University of Angers and director of the TEMOS research laboratory (CNRS UMR 9016), proposed to the Mission de l'adoption internationale (MAI) that a historical study be carried out on illicit practices in international adoption in France. On the basis of a scientific project that he had drawn up, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (DFAE, Direction des Français à l'étranger et de l'administration consulaire - MAI) agreed to fund a 12-month post-doctoral mission (year 2022) and signed an agreement with the University of Angers and the TEMOS laboratory. Fabio Macedo, a PhD in history with a thesis on the history of adoption (EHESS, 2020), has been recruited by the University of Angers as a postdoctoral researcher to carry out this work under the supervision of Yves Denéchère. The agreement binding the parties, signed in December 2021, stipulated that the research work was to produce a "Historical study of illicit practices in international adoption in France". It was agreed that the scientific direction and orientations of the research would be the sole responsibility of the laboratory, that the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs would not be involved in its drafting, which was strictly respected, and that the research report would be disseminated freely. This is why the document has been posted on the HAL SHS portal. After an introduction defining the purpose of the research and placing it in the current context, particularly European, this document is divided into four parts. A review of the academic literature analyses how, by whom and why illicit practices in international adoption have been studied (I). The bibliography lists the books and scientific articles published on the subject (II). The main part of the research report consists of an annotated guide to the sources - archives, audiovisual sources, the press - used to document illicit practices (III). Finally, t

New Delhi, Jun 13 (IANS): A petition in the Delhi High Court challenges the modifications made to the Adoption Regulations under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Justice Pratibha M. Singh was hearing a plea by Jesi Jeevarathinam, who has two biological children and had applied to adopt a child in December 2020.

The changes in the Regulations prevent parents who already have "two children" from adopting a child without any disabilities, as defined by the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act.

It is Jeevarathinam's case that she had applied for the adoption of a third child under the Adoption Regulations, 2017, which was in effect at that time and only prohibited parents with "three or more children" from adopting a child without any disabilities.

The petitioner has argued that the decision by the Steering Committee Resource Authority to implement the Adoption Regulations, 2022 with retrospective effect is arbitrary, unreasonable, and violates Article 14 of the Constitution.