It's a dark chapter in Chile's history.

During the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990, thousands of babies were stolen from their biological mothers and sold into adoption, mainly to foreign couples from the United States and Europe. In Chile, they're known as "The Children of Silence."

And now, for the first time in the country's history, a Chilean judge announced he was prosecuting individuals alleged to have stolen babies in the country.

Alejandro Aguilar Brevis, a Santiago Court of Appeals judge in charge of the investigation "determined that in the 1980s" there was a network of health officials, Catholic priests, attorneys, social workers and even a judge who detected and delivered stole babies from mainly impoverished mothers and sold them into adoption to foreign couples for as much as $50,000, according to a Monday press release by Chile's judiciary.

The investigation, which focuses on the city of San Fernando in central Chile, involves two babies who were stolen and handed over to foreign couples, according to the judiciary statement.

Serious crimes have been committed in international adoptions, an investigation published on June 2nd concludes. The Adoption Commission proposes that international adoptions be stopped and that adoptees receive an apology and a sum of money. But for Susanna Johansson, it is too late, she writes in a post in poetic form.

Susanna Johansson, adoptee, sociologist, poet and author of the poetry collection Heliumballoon

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Many of us want an apology and a confirmation.
Many of us want a public apology
as a reparation for all that we have endured.

The investigation speaks clearly: Swedish authorities and organizations have accepted procedures and acted in ways that have made it difficult and in some cases impossible to assess whether an adoption is in the best interests of the child, writes Agnes Arpi.

So there she finally stood on June 2, Anna Singer, professor of civil law and special investigator for the Adoption Commission, who has been investigating international adoptions to Sweden for more than three years. An investigation that has been characterized by several extended investigation periods, criticism of the expert group and leaks from the same .

Her conclusions were difficult for some to digest, especially the one that the placement of children for adoption in Sweden should be discontinued. For others, it is a long-awaited victory.

Ten countries, not ten cases

The government, the Socialist Party and the Conservatives have agreed to conduct a historical survey of adoptions to Denmark from 70 countries in the period 1964-2016.

But this outcome is unsatisfactory, according to both experts and two adoptees who DR has spoken to.

- I am very disappointed, says David Kildendal Nielsen, who was adopted from India.

- The government, the Socialist Party and the Conservatives are presenting it as a great deal that is good for the adoptees, but it is a descriptive historical review, and we have had five of them that had no consequences.

David Kildendal Nielsen, who is adopted himself, is not satisfied with the agreement that has been reached:

The government, the Socialist Party and the Conservatives have agreed that both a historical review and an analysis of the future of adoption should be carried out.

The framework for a long-awaited impartial investigation of international adoptions to Denmark has now been put in place.

It will be a historical investigation of adoptions to Denmark from 70 countries in the period 1964-2016, where, among other things, the practices of the authorities will be examined.

This is stated in a political agreement reached on Wednesday between the government and the SF and the Conservatives.

A number of initiatives in the field of adoption aim to strengthen our knowledge of the past, provide increased support for adult adoptees, and analyze the possibilities for international adoption in the future.

Since the 1960s, children have come to Denmark through international adoption mediation. A number of reports and stories in the media have cast doubt on the basis for international adoption mediation back in time. Since then, much has changed in both Denmark and in many of the countries that have given up children. In 1997, the Hague Adoption Convention came into force in Denmark, and most recently in 2016, the Danish system for international adoption was fundamentally changed with stricter supervision. In recent years, however, it has proven difficult to implement adoption mediation under the current requirements, and there is currently no permanent solution for international adoption mediation to Denmark.

Therefore, the government, the Socialist People's Party and the Conservative People's Party have agreed on a number of important initiatives in the area of ​​adoption, which together will contribute to more knowledge about the past, provide increased support for adult adoptees and also shed light on future options for adoption. The starting point for the agreement is consideration for the best interests of the child, regardless of age.

There is agreement on the following: 

1: An impartial study of adoption mediation to Denmark from all partner countries

Justice Aguilar Brevis indicted Ivonne Gutiérrez Pávez, Ismael Moisés Espinoza León, Carlos Sigisfredo Vega Segura, Laura Rosa Silva Sánchez, and Sylvia Clara Vilches Rojas for the crimes of criminal association, child abduction, and willful misconduct. A request was made for the first defendant's extradition to Israel.

The visiting judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Alejandro Aguilar Brevis, issued the first indictment for child abductions between the 1970s and 1990s, and the Supreme Court sent an extradition request from Israel for one of the defendants.

The judge prosecuted and ordered the pretrial detention of five people for criminal association, child abduction, and willful misconduct in the illegal adoption of two minors from the commune of San Fernando, who were given to foreign couples.

Minister Aguilar Brevis indicted Ivonne Gutiérrez Pávez, Ismael Moisés Espinoza León, Carlos Sigisfredo Vega Segura, Laura Rosa Silva Sánchez, and Sylvia Clara Vilches Rojas for the crime of criminal association.

In addition, Ivonne Gutiérrez Pávez was charged with two counts of child abduction. Ismael Espinoza León, Carlos Vega Segura, and Laura Silva Sánchez were also charged with child abduction.

Panaji: A couple from Goa who recently adopted a child told TOI that although the wait was three and a half years long, the patience was worth it.
 

Five children in Goa are waiting to be adopted.
 

As for the couple who waited for three-plus years, a child was made available to them for adoption after they registered online on the CARINGS portal of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). “We did a lot of research and spoke to friends who had adopted earlier, so we were aware of the long waiting period,” the couple said. “Although we were mentally prepared, we got impatient after three years. Every day was very trying.”
 

The couple added that they had no issues as far as the process is concerned, as it’s a neat procedure. “The waiting period is the only concern, and we hope that it decreases in the future,” they said. However, the couple said they received a lot of negative reactions when they decided to adopt, spurred by the stigma that some attach to adoption.

“Many couples choose to remain childless, fearing what society will say. They have reservations about the background of the child and the genes, which is very strange,” the couple said.

Parents who register on the CARINGS portal can choose up to three states from which to adopt a child. It is a rarity for parents from Goa to get a child from the state — given its size, it has fewer children on the adoption list.
 

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Micromanagement is the fastest way to lose good people.

If you don’t trust your team, why hire them at all?

Is your boss always watching?
Do they need updates every hour?
Are they more focused on control than results?

If yes, you might be dealing with a micromanager.

The bad news? 
It kills trust and motivation.

The good news? 
You can handle it. 

❌ 9 Signs of a Micromanager:
1. They Struggle With Trust
2. They Struggle to Delegate
3. They Hover Over Your Work
4. They Need Constant Updates
5. They React Poorly to Initiative
6. They Obsess Over Small Details
7. They Focus on Blame Over Solutions
8. They Give Overly Detailed Instructions
9. They Demand Approval for Everything

A great boss trusts and empowers. 
A micromanager controls and suffocates. 

If these sound familiar, you might be dealing with one.

📍How to Handle It: 
✔️ Deliver quality work to build trust.
✔️ Understand why they micromanage.
✔️ Keep them updated before they ask.
✔️ Show results instead of explaining every step.
✔️ Have open conversations about working styles.
✔️ Frame independence as a way to improve efficiency.
✔️ Suggest structured check-ins to reduce interruptions.
✔️ If nothing improves, consider escalating or moving on.

Break free from micromanagement,
Own your work, build trust, and set boundaries.

Ever dealt with a micromanager? Share your experience below.

♻️ Repost to help others deal with micromanagement
➕ Follow Jitender Girdhar for more