Guatemala will resume international adoptions starting in January 2027 with the U.S., El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.

The National Adoption Council (CNA) asserts that after a two-decade suspension, the country has eliminated the notarial adoption system, which was plagued by corruption and child trafficking. Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Canada have prohibited their citizens from adopting Guatemalan children until Guatemala implements the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

The adoption law has been in effect since 2007, following decades in which adoptions were a business: they could cost up to US$40,000. The United Nations even requested an investigation into former Attorney General Consuelo Porras, on suspicion of involvement in irregular adoptions.

Estuardo Mexicano, director of the CNA, points out the progress: a specific law for the Attorney General's Office; the certification of foster families; the supervision of homes to rule out a history of irregular processes; in addition, post-adoption follow-up:

"There are already enough filters to establish the legality of children in a state of adoptability, that their origin is well determined through an investigation by the Attorney General's Office."  

It is incomprehensible that adoptions are still taking place today, according to journalist and documentary filmmaker Qian van Binsbergen. While making her documentary, she stumbled upon abuses surrounding adoptions that touch upon her own life story.

Was she two days old? Seven months? A year and a half? Qian van Binsbergen has a suitcase full of papers, but is not sure how old she was when she was brought to the orphanage in China.

And yet it is so telling. "It says something about the essence of why you were given up," she explains on *Dit is de dag * (EO). "With Chinese adoption, the one-child policy plays a role. In that case, agreements were made in advance to give up a child if it was a girl. If I was indeed only two days old, that would be an explanation."

But what is the truth? "If I follow the entire trail of my papers, I probably lived with my original family for two months. That means that my original mother not only carried me in her womb for nine months in circumstances I do not know, but also fought for another two months to keep me in her family."

Police said that they have developed “strong leads” and are examining one or two couples who may be the biological parents of two of the rescued babies.

The investigation into a child trafficking racket busted last month, in which seven newborns were rescued, has hit a roadblock. On one hand, investigators have been unable to locate the biological parents of rescued newborns; and on the other, while they have found some couples whose babies are missing, they haven’t been able establish if these couple are linked with the trafficking network.

Delhi child trafficking probe hits roadblock as parents of rescued babies remains untraced, representational image (Hindustan Times)

© Sofía Yanjarí für ZEITmagazin

Adoption scandal in Chile:The Stolen Son

As a toddler, Héctor was taken from his mother in Chile and grew up in Germany. 50 years later, he set out to discover his past.

By Sophia Boddenberg

The Secretariat's staffing quota has been expanded from 137 to 165, and
Investigation Bureau 3 has been formally established, reflecting the third amendment to the Enforcement Decree.

[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Hwang Jun-seon = Song Sang-kyo, the newly appointed Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is delivering his inaugural address at the inauguration ceremony held at the Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of March 4. 2026.07.07. hwang@newsis.com

[Seoul = Newsis] Reporter Cho Seong-ha = The 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) has prepared an amendment to the enforcement decree to increase the number of secretariat personnel by 28 to carry out expanded truth-finding duties.

The investigation into the historical abuses in international adoption in Flanders appears to be bogging down due to conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency. Three participating academics have already withdrawn. Among adoptees, incomprehension is growing.

When Sophie Withaeckx saw the contract in December 2025, she found an unexpected clause that immediately made her decide not to sign: she and her fellow researchers were expected to maintain absolute secrecy.

The Flemish Centre for Adoption (VCA) had asked her to oversee the screening process of a new investigation into illegal adoptions as an independent expert.

A valid question, Withaeckx initially thought. As a lecturer at Maastricht University, she had already served on the Flemish expert panel that investigated abuses in intercountry adoption. She knew better than anyone how often the grievances of adoptees were ignored.

Expert Sophie Withaeckx: “If you are not allowed to speak publicly about your advice, you run the risk of being automatically expected to stand behind every decision.”

One of the 241 whistleblowers reporting irregularities in their adoption discovered that the woman who illegally smuggled her biological mother across the border later became director of the Flemish Adoption House. She is not the only whistleblower hitting a wall at the Flemish Centre for Adoption today. “The people responsible have since been given even more important positions in Flemish adoption organizations.”

Charlotte* (29) was smuggled across the border from France as a baby. Her adoptive parents made no secret of this.

Her Belgian biological mother had unexpectedly become pregnant as a student in 1996. Because she did not want her parents to find out, she turned to the adoption agency vzw Gewenst Kind - Amok .

For she could prevent her name from appearing on the birth certificate, which she absolutely did not want. Nor could she prevent the court from investigating whether a solution was possible within the family – for example, through the child's grandparents.

The non-profit helped the unwanted pregnant woman, more specifically by first smuggling her abroad – to France – to allow her to give birth there anonymously. A trick that had been devised and perfected by cloistered nuns in the 70s and 80s.

On receiving the child, the CWC named the baby Kiyan, which means king or royal in Persian.

KOCHI: Nine-day-old Kiyan, the newborn found abandoned near a roadside food stall in Maradu last week, has been discharged from the Ernakulam General Hospital after having recovered from an infection and has been shifted to a special adoption agency for further care. The Ernakulam Child Welfare Committee (CWC) formally took charge of the infant on Monday.

On receiving the child, the CWC named the baby Kiyan, which means king or royal in Persian.

“The boy was found abandoned near a roadside food stall close to Forum Mall. On receiving the information, a team from the Maradu police station safely transported the infant to the casualty department of the Ernakulam General Hospital,” said CWC chairperson Ullas Madhu.

For more than 45 years, Holt supporters have helped children and families in India create healthier, more hopeful futures through our long-standing partnerships with Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK) in Pune and Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT) in Bangalore. Through your generosity, more than 40,000 children and families each year receive access to education, child development centers, nutritional support, skill training and vital social services for parents — especially single mothers.

Together with BSSK and VCT, Holt works to address both immediate needs and long-term stability. Programs focus on empowering women and girls through education and vocational training, supporting migrant families with nutritional support and ensuring children with disabilities receive the care, therapy and resources they need to thrive within their communities.

This January, we invite you to join Holt on a special journey to India. You’ll visit these life-changing programs in Pune and Bangalore, meet children and families whose lives are being transformed by your support and hear powerful firsthand stories of resilience and hope. Along the way, you’ll have opportunities to participate in activities with children and families, engage directly with communities and provide tangible support to those you meet.

Throughout the week, you’ll also immerse yourself in India’s vibrant culture — exploring local landmarks*, savoring traditional cuisine and more. Each experience will deepen your understanding and appreciation of the communities you’re helping.
*JUST ADDED: Visit to Taj Mahal!

Join us for an unforgettable journey that celebrates the hope you bring and strengthens your connection to the children and families whose lives you help transform. This trip promises to be both heartfelt and fun — creating memories that will last a lifetime!

For decades, a small group of specialists at Starship Hospital’s child protection unit have played a central role in some of NZ’s most serious physical child abuse cases. Their opinions trigger police investigations, child removals, criminal prosecutions and prison sentences. In many cases, their medical findings are treated as the starting point for everything that follows. But what happens if some findings are wrong?

It took three weeks of evidence, 30 witnesses and four hours of deliberation for a jury to reach a verdict that will reverberate far beyond the Dunedin courthouse it was delivered in.

Captured in the season finale of Melanie Reid’s latest award-winning investigative podcast, Diagnosis of a Crime, the recent criminal trial of a professional athlete marked what may be the first time the opinions of New Zealand hospital paediatric doctors were seriously challenged in court by international medical experts.

The evidence heard during the trial, and the result, has drawn attention to a developing global controversy that has been likened to Satanic Panic, a moral hysteria fuelled by pseudo-science that gripped institutions around the world in the 1980s and 1990s and led to dozens of wrongful convictions. (In New Zealand, this played out in the Christchurch Civic Creche case.)