This decision was justified by the conclusions of a report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child pointing out the flaws in adoption procedures in Madagascar.

International adoption procedures for children from Madagascar by people residing in France have been suspended, according to a decree published on Sunday, October 22, in the Official Journal (OJ) .

“All international adoption procedures concerning children habitually resident in Madagascar by any person habitually residing in France are suspended ,” according to this decree dated October 17.

Adoption procedures for Malagasy children were already subject to a provisional suspension for one year since October 2022.

Stop illegal adoptions

In June 2023, Anke Wesenbeek, a 30-year-old Belgian donor-conceived woman won a landmark court case after a year-long battle to gain information about her paternal heritage...

In June 2023, Anke Wesenbeek (co-author), a 30-year-old Belgian donor-conceived woman won a landmark court case after a year-long battle to gain information about her paternal heritage.

Two years before, after extensive research through commercial DNA-testing companies, she identified a man as her probable genetic father, but a direct DNA-comparison was needed for absolute certainty. The man was offered professional mediation and support by the Flemish Ancestry Centre, but their correspondence went unanswered. When Wesenbeek engaged a lawyer to send similar offers, the man's lawyer formally confirmed his client's unwillingness to cooperate. Wesenbeek therefore decided to take her quest to court.

Belgium is one of the few remaining European countries to still operate an anonymous donation policy. It wasn't until 2007 that the traditional preference for donor anonymity was enforced by law. The 'Law on Medically Assisted Reproduction' (MAR) followed the parliamentary committee's view that sharing any donor information must be avoided as this could reinforce the 'myth' that the donor's genes determine the donor offspring's characteristics (Nys & Wuyts, 2007). In 2012, advocacy by donor-conceived people reopened the discussion, leading to law proposals to abolish donor anonymity, but no parliamentary majority has been achieved.

PANAJI: A father and his two sons, one of them a minor, allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl who the family had adopted. The girl, who had been residing in Tiswadi taluka with the family of four — a husband, wife and two sons — was allegedly raped over the course of two years.

The incident came to light on Sunday when one of the brothers tried to touch the girl inappropriately. Police said she consequently left the house and narrated the incident to a neighbour who later called an NGO.

While narrating the whole incident to the NGO, the survivor said the abuse began in March 2021, when one of the brothers touched her chest and private parts and then had sexual intercourse with her. The father and the other son, a minor, also abused her similarly and raped her, police said. The survivor said her mother was unaware of the abuse as she used to leave the house for work. After speaking to the NGO, the girl called the police.

“Two FIRs have been registered against the father and one of the sons at Agasaim police station, and action has been taken against the third accused, the North Goa SP said.


(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

From 1956 to 1984, thousands of young women in the Netherlands gave up their children for adoption. This usually happened under pressure from family, authorities and the church. Babies were often taken from their mothers immediately after birth. This was a relatively unknown story until a few years ago, until more and more mothers and children came forward with their stories.

The Domestic Distance and Adoption Committee conducts independent research into the history of domestic distance and adoption in the period 1956-1984. Last week, this Commission launched the website www.cbaa.nl. This contains more information, and children, mothers, but also fathers and other involved parties can report.

The protection ofchildren against organizedviolent sexual abusein the Netherlands

Luc Nibbeling (29) and his partner Luuk started an adoption procedure in the US in 2018. Their dream fell apart when it was banned in 2021. Now they are in the middle of a surrogacy process in Canada.

Want to have children

“I have always wanted to have children. Coming out meant that I also had to acknowledge and accept that I would never become a father naturally. That's why it took me until I was nineteen before I dared to take the step. When I met Luuk shortly afterwards, I immediately discussed my desire to have children, which is unusual in the gay scene . Especially in the beginning, gay men are often concerned with accepting themselves, which causes any desire to have children to fade into the background.

Luuk thought the same; he also wanted to become a father. In 2017 we went to an information evening about LGBT parenting organized by the Meer Dan Gewenst Foundation for the first time and in 2018 we started the adoption process. You can choose to adopt in the Netherlands, but the supply of adopted children is not large here; Often the first search for these children is in their own environment. As a gay couple you can only choose from four countries: the Netherlands, US, South Africa and Portugal. We decided to go for the United States.

It was a big disappointment when we heard that international adoption was being suspended. Adopting from the US will probably be completely banned, because there are sufficient prospective parents in the US itself. We were disappointed and sad. What now? We gave ourselves a year to explore other options.

Citing some of the judgments of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that India's legal framework has been frequently weaponised to systematically oppress certain communities.

In a report by Bar & Bench, CJI Chandrachud added that judges should be cognisant of social realities as the marginalised social groups have been subjected to "horrendous wrongs".

He said that in both India and the US oppressed communities were denied voting rights for a long period of time.

The CJI underscored that the constitutional democracies must make sure that safeguards for these marginalized communities are upheld and policies are made for their upliftment.

Speaking at the Sixth International Conference on the 'Unfinished Legacy of Dr. BR Ambedkar' organised by Brandeis University, CJI Chandrachud said that advised that marginalise communities should have a meaningful voice in decision-making process as well.

We are looking for a new caretaker for the Oranje Fonds and Andersson Elffers Felix (AEF). As a caretaker you take care and responsibility for our two monumental office villas with beautiful gardens on the Maliebaan in Utrecht.

Position : You are responsible for keeping our buildings and grounds (Maliebaan 18 and 16) safe, orderly and representative and you are the first point of contact for internal colleagues, suppliers and other external parties. The position is for 32 to 36 hours, spread over 4 days: 2 days at the Oranje Fonds and 2 days at AEF. We aim for 4-5 months of training time/overlap with the current caretaker, who is retiring.

Activities :

▶ Carrying out periodic checks on maintenance
▶ Minor repairs and minor maintenance work
▶ First point of contact in case of malfunctions and defects
▶ Involving, directing and checking activities of external parties, including: cleaning, gardener, painter, contractor, electrician and security
▶ Logistical work at events
▶ Carrying out periodic maintenance checks checking stock (food, cleaning products, office supplies) and replenishing it
▶ Part of the emergency response team
▶ Carrying out occupational health and safety-related matters
▶ Administrative work

What do you take with you:

In an aggressive piece the director of the Center for Adoption Policy in New York, Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq. reacts on the dwindling numbers of children who are adopted from abroad in the United States. The numbers went down from 17,000 in 2008 to 7,000 last year. The article, published on the Center’s website (http://www.adoptionpolicy.org/...), blames the Department of State (DOS) and UNICEF and their attitude towards international adoption for the decline. Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq. writes: ‘When speaking at international forums such as the Fifth International Policy Conference on the African Child: Intercountry Adoption: Alternatives and Controversies (May 29-30, 2012; http://www.africanchildforum.org/...), DOS and UNICEF speak with one voice, defining international adoption as cultural genocide, a sign of national failure or as a cover for fraud.’

Who doesn’t like a fiery pen, which scribbles angrily hyperbolic allegations? I do, for sure, but ‘cultural genocide’? That is even for me a bit too wild. I asked UNICEF about this and they emailed me, that ‘this is a gross misrepresentation of UNICEF’s position on inter-country adoption’ and referred me to their position paper on the subject. UNICEF, being an international organization, formulates pretty lame and bureaucratic: ‘UNICEF supports inter-country adoption, when pursued in conformity with the standards and principles of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoptions – already ratified by more than 80 countries.’ Not the language of anti-adoption Nazi’s I would say. It says further: ‘Inter-country adoption is among the range of stable care options.  For individual children who cannot be cared for in a family setting in their country of origin, inter-country adoption may be the best permanent solution.’ It is not poetry, I agree, but I imagine that the Department of State whether they like it or not, has to take this same international perspective.  The US is – most of the time – part of a community of countries, who try to work together and try to find solutions for problems in concert with others.

I checked that African conference where according Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq. UNICEF and DOS misbehaved. Well, most of the speakers were from African countries and only two sessions gave word to members of adoptee receiving, western countries. In one of them I found an American official, Ambassador Susan Jacobs, Special Advisor for Children’s Issues of the US Department of State. Would she have spoken about the ‘cultural genocide’ that international adoption would be? I didn’t ask, so to not embarrass myself.
  I didn’t see a UNICEF speaker. If UNICEF was involved it was maybe to wreak havoc in the hallways in between the sessions and to pick up the check at the end of three days in May 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
 The results of the conference can be read in a report online. It is obvious that the African countries were and are collaborating to find a collective answer to the very western and very invasive solution to the problems of parentless children (or orphans) in their countries, which is international adoption.
 To suggest that the US or UNICEF instigated the following paragraphs would be rather patronizing:
  'The term "adoption" does not feature in African languages and in many African countries adoption is a concept that most people are not familiar with, which signifies the fact that intercountry adoption is a "foreign practice".’
And:
  ‘Awareness  should be  raised  throughout  the continent as to what adoption entails and that intercountry adoption should be a measure of last resort.’

The final result of the conference is formulated in a document and it is clear that Africa, other than Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq. wants us to believe, is just not in favor of international adoption: ‘The conference adopted the Addis Ababa Communiqué on Intercountry Adoption which calls for a reversal of the current trend of resorting to intercountry adoption as a primary solution for African children in need of alternative care. Instead, the communiqué calls for prime priority to be given to enabling all children in Africa to remain with their families and in their communities. The communiqué therefore calls upon African States, Civil Society organisations and Treaty Bodies to assume their responsibilities in ensuring the wellbeing of all children in Africa.’ I know, no poetry either.

Interestingly and surprisingly enough the document expresses Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq.’s position:
‘The US fully endorses intercountry adoption and does not regard it as a measure of last resort. despite the acknowledgement of the principle of subsidiarity, the main purpose of intercountry adoption is considered to be the upbringing of a child by a loving family, even when this entails the physical removal of a child from his or her family or country of origin.’ It sounds as if Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq. and not Ambassador Susan Jacobs was in Addis to express the American position!

In this weekly column, people talk about something they 'never want to experience again', never want to do again or never want to do again. This week: Hester Bouwmeester (45) from Lebanon knew early on that something was not quite right with her adoption. Still, it came as a shock that she was stolen from the hospital as a baby. "They told my parents I was dead and already buried."

"I was ten days old when I arrived in the Netherlands. That date is about the only thing that is correct on my adoption papers, it turned out. My adoptive parents in the Netherlands received a phone call that I was born and they flew to Lebanon to pick me up. My mother had fertility problems but had a great desire to have children. The spirit of the times was very different then, she and my father really thought they would do well to 'save' a child from the war. They did this with the best intentions and went from there. that the adoption was completely legal.

At that time, adoption was romanticized: parents did something 'good' and the children should be especially grateful that they were lifted out of poverty. It ignored the fact that children were being torn from their natural environment and their families. In my case that was even more harsh, because I had a twin sister whom I would not see again until forty-five years later."

"I grew up in the Netherlands in a warm, loving family. Eighteen months after my arrival, my parents adopted another baby from Lebanon through a recognized foundation. I got along well with my sister, we could play around in the yard of our farm. "I wasn't unhappy, but I always felt 'different'. As if I was missing something. At school I found it difficult to connect with other children."