A person who works in the European institutions is concerned about how the LGTBI lobby is present in them and "puts pressure on the democratic debate and national powers."

The European Commission has repeatedly used the same legal expert announced as "independent" to draft several reports and a legislative initiative.

Specifically, a person who works in the European institutions and who prefers not to give his name tells El Debate that experts related to certain topics are being used, such as homosexual marriage and its legislation in member countries. This is the case of the 'Recognition of paternity' project proposed by the European Commission, it is a regulation – a legislative instrument with direct effect, without approval by national parliaments – aimed at harmonizing legislation on same-sex families throughout the EU.

These Member States would be forced to recognize the effects of same-sex marriage, including surrogacy, contracted in another Member State.

It was at the end of this month of April 2023 when the European Parliament, and more specifically, its Directorate General for Internal Policies, carried out a study on this topic entitled 'Cross-border legal recognition of paternity in the EU'.

Illegally adopted children testify: “How could Belgium let this happen? »

False identities, children torn from their biological families and wrongly qualified as orphans, psychological violence... While the word is freed among adopted children, who have become adults in search of their origins, the Belgian government is slow to recognize their status as victims .Article reserved for subscribersA first photo marked with a number for Yung Fierens (left) and a false name for An Sheela Jacobs (right).A first photo marked with a number for Yung Fierens (left) and a false name for An Sheela Jacobs (right). - Dominique Duchesnes.Charlotte Hutin Testimonials - Journalist at the Society DepartmentBy Charlotte Hutin

Published on 07/18/2023 at 06:00 Reading time: 9 mins

En the hands of An Sheela Jacobs, the photo of a chubby baby with dark skin carried by one of the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity orphanage in Kolkata (India). This little girl, more or less 11 months old, is holding an A4 sheet with a first name written in capital letters: Charmain. A name to which An Sheela never felt "connected", but which she thought was her name from birth until the age of 38. “During a second trip to India, I discovered that the data, which appear on the official documents of my adoption and which were accepted by the judge, are false. I learn that the first name given by my biological parents is Sheela. So I decided to call myself An Sheela. An being the first name given to me by my adoptive parents. »

An Sheela Jacobs I still don't know my exact date of birth, the identity of my biological parents, if they really abandoned me, or if it's just another lie
 

Research into indications of tampering in international adoptions, including in Belgian archives, has still not been conducted. Last year in June, the House unanimously asked for this.

Domestic adoptees have already been given excuses because unmarried mothers were forced to give up their children. Metis were apologized because the colonial authorities in Congo and Rwanda-Burundi stole children of mixed blood from their native mothers.

The international adoptees, on the other hand, received nothing yet. Yet many suspect that many adoptions abroad have been tampered with. There was therefore enthusiastic applause from the public gallery when MPs approved a resolution last year asking the government to conduct an administrative investigation into abuses in international adoptions. A report on this should be completed by now.

But the government took no action. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib (MR), there is nothing in the consular archives about international adoptions. She answered this to a question from N-VA MP Ingvild Ingels. “She said her department does not have jurisdiction over international adoptions, which is not correct. She repeated that answer twice, even after a relevant report had surfaced.'

Children tied up

The Dutch government has been too careless in the past with adoptions of foreign children, acknowledges outgoing minister Franc Weerwind (legal protection). "All you can think is: How can I do this better?"

Petra Vissers July 17, 2023

In the spring, Minister Franc Weerwind (D66, legal protection) speaks with a woman adopted from China. Her date of birth? January 1st. Just like countless other Dutch people whose cradle was in China. It is an administrative date, nothing more. She tells the minister that she would like to know when she was really born.

My goodness, Weerwind thinks. A date of birth should be so obvious. “Those kinds of examples make the story hit me very hard,” he reflects on that moment in his office in The Hague. “Those questions… Who are you? When were you born, who are your parents, where are you from?”

'I'm not going to justify it'

After Kees van der Spek (59) revealed that participants of 'Spoorloos' in Colombia had been linked to the wrong biological parents, KRO-NCRV called in a detective agency. The investigation shows that there was no malicious intent. Adopted Diego, who did not participate in 'Spoorloos', finds that conclusion rather simplistic, because he is also a victim of Edwin Vela, the controversial fixer of the program.

Adoption Truth and Transparency Worldwide Information Network (ATTWIN) consists of local
and global individuals and families separated by adoption. This social media group was initiated
in November of 2011.
The mission of Adoption Truth & Transparency Worldwide Network is to protect local and
global families from the crisis of trafficking for the purpose of adoptioni

through education and

services that assist victims and survivors and prevent further exploitation.
The group consists now of 7780 members; the great majority (at more than 5100 members are
from the United States). The other nations represented are as follows: Canada, United Kingdom,
Australia, Ethiopia, Netherlands, Ireland, India, Sweden, South Africa. The top ten cities
represented by members are the following: 1) New York, New York; 2) Los Angeles, California;
3) Addis Adaba, Ethiopia; 4) Seattle, Washington; 5) Seoul, South Korea; 6) Minneapolis,
Minnesota; 7) London, United Kingdom; 8) Portland, Oregon; 9) Phoenix, Arizona; 10) Toronto,
ON Canada

They see their daughter just twice a year. And she has never seen the two-story brick house in Annapolis that is supposed to be — according to all the documents they signed — her American home.

Bhagya, 12, is still in an orphanage in Nepal, where Aaron and Emma Skalka met her eight years ago. They fly there twice a year, Skype, call and email her as much as they can to talk about her hobbies, her friends, her grades.

They are stuck in an adoption limbo — a morass of paperwork and politics, fraught with the ethical weight of international adoptions and the fierce conviction of two people who don’t want a little girl to be abandoned a second time.

And they just sued the American government, essentially arguing to overturn a ban on adoptions from Nepal implemented when abuse and corruption in the system was uncovered 13 years ago. The Skalkas — who hired their own investigator to ensure everything was legit and unforced — are pressing the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to acknowledge the Nepalese approval of Bhagya’s adoption.

“The State Department doesn’t understand,” Aaron Skalka said. “From the moment we signed those papers, there was an emotional commitment to this child.”

When Ian and Darryl decided to adopt a child, they could never have known they would pick up a new set of grandparents along the way.

The Doncaster-based couple were initially nervous when they learned that Aspen, the child they had been matched with, would have an ongoing relationship with her birth grandparents. They worried that the mandated two visits a year could quickly spiral out of control and that boundaries would dissolve.

Thankfully, their fears turned out to be unfounded. Today, Aspen is a happy, playful three-year-old girl who has a beautiful, loving relationship with her two dads as well as her two grandmothers, Karen and Carol – a lesbian couple. All four play a vital role in Aspen’s life, and Ian and Darryl couldn’t be happier that their daughter has extra loving grandparents to fuss over her.

“Both me and Darryl were really nervous about it,” Ian tells PinkNews. “We did talk about it and said, is this the thing that’s going to stop us adopting Aspen?”

Despite their concerns, Ian and Darryl decided to push ahead with the adoption. The first time they met Karen and Carol they knew they had struck gold.

OPINION

Imagine this: You are a pre-schooler and through no fault of your own you cannot remain with your family.

You are placed into foster care and the carers are restricted from sharing images of you, including on social media or revealing any of your story. This is to protect your privacy, and to give you agency over your own story, including if, when and how you choose to tell it.

But what happens to those restrictions if, instead of remaining in care, you're adopted? They are no longer in place and your own story is now in the hands of your adopters. Can you see why this scenario could go badly?

Intern Lorianne looks back

In recent months, intern Lorianne has strengthened our team. Now that her internship at Adoption Support Center is behind her, she looks back on the past period and cautiously looks ahead to the future.

Hi there! I am Lorianne Deketelaere, an enthusiastic student of Applied Psychology at Howest in Bruges. With my teaching diploma already in hand, I decided last academic year to start the Applied Psychology course. Towards the end of my teacher training I did not feel completely satiated. It was during an elective course that focused on psychological well-being that my interest in psychology really started to grow. That subject stirred something in me that made me know that I wanted to continue with this.

For my second-year internship in Applied Psychology, I was given the opportunity to do an internship at Adoption Support Center. As an adoptee, this organization immediately captured my imagination and I was extremely curious about what I could learn there.

During my internship I gained a broad insight into what exactly adoption in Belgium entails. I had the opportunity to interview fascinating people and write articles about their experiences, operations and organizations. Furthermore, I was able to participate in numerous informative sessions, preparation meetings and training that enriched my knowledge about the adoption landscape and related themes (such as attachment and trauma).