Thousands of children born to victims of rape during Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 were adopted by foreign families. Now, many want to discover their roots

Jane Radika was searching for answers. Approaching 50, she had become reflective about life and yearned to know more about the circumstances of her adoption, from an orphanage in Bangladesh to a small Cornish town in England.

“I was only five weeks old when I came to the UK, so I have no recollection of it. From what I have learned, my mum gave birth to me in the Mother Teresa orphanage in Dhaka. Unfortunately, I have conflicting information – her name may be on my Bangladeshi birth certificate or it may not. It has been lost, which is heartbreaking, but apparently the orphanage has a copy.”

Jane knew almost nothing of Bangladesh growing up and online searches got her only so far. She felt drawn to visit, but the pandemic and personal circumstance had made the prospect seem distant. One morning, she decided to write a letter to the Guardian:

“Dear Thaslima, I came across some of your articles and wondered if you could help. I was adopted into the UK from Bangladesh in 1972 by a British family. I grew up not knowing anything about my past, except that I was a ‘war baby’ and that my birth mother was a Birangona. I want to know if there are others out there like me. Who are they? Where did they go? Can you help?”

For years, Bibi Hasenaar felt rejected because she was adopted aged four. Then she saw a photo that described her as missing – and began to uncover an astonishing dark history

Bibi Hasenaar has had two lives. One began in November 1976, when she was about four, arriving in the Netherlands to meet her adoptive parents. “I remember it vividly. There’s a photo of us at the airport with other children arriving from Bangladesh – it was published in a Dutch paper.” Her older brother Babu was there, too.

Her other life appears only in fragments. She remembers being in a children’s home with another older brother and having her food stolen by older children. “It was not a nice place to be,” Hasenaar says. Her only memory of their mother is her long black hair. But of the flight out of Bangladesh, she remembers every detail. At her kitchen table in the village of Muiderberg, 30 minutes’ drive east of Amsterdam, sipping hot water and fresh ginger, the 51-year-old slowly recounts the long journey that changed her life.

The police said they have registered a case of conspiracy and illegal trafficking of a human being but have not arrested anyone in the case so far.

The Bhoiwada police on Wednesday registered a case against a Bhiwandi-based couple for illegally adopting a seven-day-old child from an Uttar Pradesh-based woman. The police said the child was born to a woman through an illicit relationship and as she did not want to keep the child, the infant was handed over to the childless couple.

According to the police officials, the three persons who have been booked have been identified as Irshad Rangrez, his wife Tahira and a woman named Rubina Bano.

The police said that Irshad, who is a vegetable vendor, stays with his wife in Bhiwandi while Bano was their neighbour there till four years ago. In 2019, Bano left her Bhiwandi residence and shifted to Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh with her family and she was aware that the couple were not able to conceive a child and were undergoing treatment.

“So on July 18, she allegedly called the couple and informed them that one of her relatives had delivered a child and they wanted to give him away. Bano further asked them to come to UP and take custody of the child immediately,” said an officer.

Natalie Montaño was recently reunited with her biological mother from Colombia. And believes this is yet another illegal adoption case. Now she and other adoption activists are demanding a halt to adoptions while the investigation is ongoing.

- I have been an activist for a while, and was not surprised, because my case is not unique. What has happened in Colombia and other countries is just heartbreaking, says adoption activist and former vice-chairman of Utenlandsadopterte (UTAD), Natalie Montaño to Utrop.

Natalie was born in a clinic in Bogotá, and was then at the Lot Pisingos orphanage for nine months before she was adopted to Norway.

She says that she had no burning desire growing up to find her biological origin. But that she still made an attempt after she turned 18.

- This did not lead to anything. But four years ago I happened to come across a page for adopted Colombians worldwide, and posted without thinking too much about it, she says.

BENGALURU: An adopted son cannot continue to exercise rights as a coparcener in his genitive family, the Kalaburagi bench of the Karnataka high court has observed in a recent judgment.
Dismissing the regular second appeal filed by Bheesmaraja, a resident of Secunderabad, Justice CM Joshi has pointed out that in M Krishna vs M Ramachandra and in another case, the HC had already held that on adoption, the adoptee gets transplanted into the family that adopts him with the same rights as that of a natural-born son, and such transfer of the adopted child severs all his rights with the family from which he was taken in adoption.
 

“It was categorically heldthat he loses the right of succession in genitive family properties,” the judge added.
Son of Pandurangappa Ellur and Radhabai, Bheesmaraja was given in adoption to Hyderabad-based couple P Vishnu and P Shantabai. The adoption deed was executed on December 22, 1974; at that time, Bheesmaraja was 24 years old. His biological father died in 2004.
Thereafter, in the very same year, he moved the Raichur court for partition. He argued that the adoption was without his consent and was prohibited under the provisions of Section 10 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. His mother, sister and brother resisted his claim, saying he was a consenting party to the adoption, and the suit was dismissed on December 10, 2007. OnJanuary 22, 2010, Bheesmaraja’s appeal, too, was dismissed.
Challenging both orders, he moved the HC, reiterating he is a coparcener in his genitive family and, therefore, had an existing right in family properties.

On the other hand, his mother, brother and sisters, and the children of his deceased brother, Ashokraj, argued that in the Arya Vysya community, to which they belong, adoption of a person aged more than 15 is allowed.

“If we accept the contention of the counsel for the appellant herein, it would lead to a situation whereby an adopted son would continue to be exercising rights as a coparcener in the genitive family as well as the adoptive family. Therefore, this contention at any rate cannot hold good,” the judge noted.

An organisation involved in reconnecting families devastated by the forced adoption era has called for compensation for mothers, fathers and children who were adopted out as babies in a strongly-worded submission to Western Australia's inquiry into the practice.

So far, Victoria has been the only state in the country to promise redress to thousands of mainly unwed mothers who were coerced into giving up their babies for adoption from the 1930s to the 1980s.

But now the head of the organisation Jigsaw WA, which has been supporting people traumatised by forced adoption since 1978, has called for all parties – mothers, fathers and adoptees — to receive redress which would be a national first.

In her submission to the ongoing WA inquiry, Jigsaw manager Isabel Andrews called for a base rate of redress for anyone involved in forced adoption, many of whom have had to deal with life-long consequences including PTSD, depression, grief and identity issues.

"It's important to acknowledge that some individuals experienced additional layers of trauma, such as adoptees who were abused by their adoptive parents," Ms Andrews said in the submission.

Andrea Johanna Bratt Mæhlum is born in Latin America in the 80s. Before she is five, she has already been moved between two orphanages. At the age of six, she is flown to Fornebu in Oslo, where she and her siblings start a new life.

One January day in 1989, a plane from Costa Rica lands at Fornebu airport.

Six-year-old Andrea Johanna sits on board with her two siblings. This is the first time they will set foot on Norwegian soil.

It is the mildest winter in years, with an average temperature of 2.4 degrees in Oslo. Nevertheless, it is as if a wall of ice hits Andrea in the face as she steps out of the plane.

A new family of five goes out excited and expectant. No one knows what their new everyday life will be like.

Jayme Hansen, who has a tremendous range of professional international work experience as well as the lived experience of being a Korean adoptee to the United States, was recently named to the Board of the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity. (IAAME).

According to Inter Country Adoption News:

“Congratulations to Jayme Hansen!! Jayme is our ICAV USA Director and has just been voted in as a Board member of the USA Accrediting Entity, IAAME for a 2 year term. This is the org in the USA who accredits all adoption agencies on behalf of the Dept of State who hold overall responsibility for intercountry adoption. We have been saying to the Dept of State for years now that Lived Experience needs to inform all policy, practice and legislation – so it’s awesome to see they have actively sought lived experience at this level in their key organisation!

Jayme comes in with a wealth of NGO experience and has sat on numerous NGO boards and has done volunteer work for 28 years. IAAME is designated as an Accrediting Entity (AE), under the authority of the Secretary, and as allowed by 22 CFR 96.7(a) to Accredit agencies and Approve persons to provide intercountry adoption services in the United States.

IAAME is a 501(c)(3) organization operated by staff with extensive experience in providing child welfare services, administering child welfare standards, contracting, licensing, monitoring, and both domestic and intercountry adoption services. More information can be found at: https://www.iaame.net/“

As an organisation, we reognise and work with adoptees and adoption organisations recognising the impact of forced adoption practises and the continued need for transparency and support throughout the adoption process.  Below is a letter sent to members of parlament raising the concerns of the wider adoption community we have signed, 10 years on.

We wish to express our unreserved support for those impacted by forced adoptions in Australia, and our recognition of the immense courage, determination, energy, and grief entailed in coming forward and sharing their experiences. We commend the Australian Government’s recognition of past harms and abuses, and the offerings of formal apologies to communities who bear the lifelong impacts of forced family separation. Gillard’s formal apology in 2013 and Australia’s commitment to increased openness of records and provision of support services was closely watched by adoptee communities overseas and in Australia and is viewed by many as an example to which governments around the world should aspire.
Concerns were raised in the lead up to the 2013 National Apology, regarding the lack of acknowledgement of intercountry adoption and adoptees. Ten years later, we urge you to consider whether it is possible to justify viewing intercountry adoption as exempt from the issues identified in domestic adoption practices. Like domestic adoption and its impacts, which were so poignantly articulated in Gillard’s Apology, issues of consent, coercion, mistreatment, and stigma surrounding single motherhood are also embedded in intercountry adoption practices. 
While there are some safeguards in place, such as the Hague Convention, there are no guarantees that intercountry adoption practices are exempt from the harms identified by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee in 2012. For example, child trafficking has been identified in the cases of Australian intercountry adoptions from Taiwan, India, and Ethiopia. The UN’s Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoptions in 2022 is testament to ongoing concerns around vulnerabilities in the intercountry adoption system and human rights violations. 
Responding on behalf of the Australian Prime Minister,  a recent letter to Ms Lynelle Long of Intercountry Adoptee Voices, was sent from Tim Crosier (Branch Manager of Children’s Policy Branch), advising  that the government is prioritising a focus on preventing and responding to illegal and illicit adoption practices, expatriate adoption and concerns about past ICA practices. This is a welcome and critical development in acknowledging intercountry adoption practices and their impacts. However, Australia has been historically slow in appropriately responding to the victims of these past practices in intercountry adoption and we would like to see Australia commit to investigating intercountry adoption practices with the intention of providing a formal apology and including appropriate remedies, particularly around support to our human right to identity and origins.
Our concerns are not limited to a handful of intercountry adoptees. In the years since the 2013 Apology, numerous receiving countries have launched investigations into intercountry adoption including Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and France – with Norway commencing an investigation in 2023. 
On the 10th anniversary of the National Apology for Forced Adoptions, we kindly request that:

• Intercountry adoption no longer be considered separate from Australian adoption more broadly;
• Intercountry adoptees be recognised as facing, along with their domestically adopted peers, struggles with identity, belonging, uncertainty, and loss, which can be painful and lifelong; and
• The Australian government commits to an investigation into intercountry adoption practices given Australia’s legal and ethical commitment to ensuring intercountry adoption respects fundamental human rights under the Hague Convention for Intercountry Adoption and the United Nations Conventions: specifically the conventions on the Rights of the Child, Enforced Disappearances, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, and All forms of Discrimination against Women.
• Where it has been proven that an adoptee was stolen from their country of origin, a redress must be considered, as has been done after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

We ask that you also consider what it means to continue to exclude intercountry adoption from a broader acknowledgment of forced adoptions and the message this sends: that overseas born adoptees and their original families do not face similar challenges, and that our experiences and the community-based knowledge we have patiently and painfully amassed over the years does not matter. At this significant historical juncture, we ask you to consider the impacts of this double standard on us, our siblings, families, partners, and our children, who also inherit the legacy of family separation.
Kind regards,
Australian Intercountry Adoptees
           Leah Hamilton, adopted from South Korea, residing in Queensland

1. Julie Colbert, adopted from Korea to QLD
2. Dr Indigo Willing, adopted from Vietnam and residing in QLD, Australia. Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith University. Founder, Adopted Vietnamese International (AVI). 
3. Benjamin Kelleher, adopted from Brazil, residing in Queensland
4. Kim Faulkner, adopted from Indonesia, residing in NSW
5. Brooke Arcia, adopted from Sri Lanka to NSW
6. Kisharni Eggleton, adopted from Sri Lanka, NSW, Australia. Founder of Sri Lankan Adoptees in Australia
7. Emma Pham, fostered from Vietnam to NSW in 1973, adopted at 1990
8. Meg O’Shea, adopted from South Korea and residing in NSW, Australia US Korean Rights Group (AUSKRG)
9. Kisani Hayes. Adopted from Sri Lanka, NSW Australia
10. Samara James, adopted from South Korea, living in Sydney, Australia. 
11. Michelle Piper, adopted from Korea, residing in NSW, Australia. Committee member of Australia US Korean Rights Group (AUSKRG).
12. Damian Rocco, adopted from Vietnam to NSW
13. Linzi Ibrahim, adopted from Sri Lanka, NSW, Australia. Sri Lankan Adoptees Australia group 
14. Sara Vidler, adopted from Sri Lanka, Parkes, NSW, Australia 
15. Jaya Mather, adopted from Sri Lanka 1983, living in New South Wales Australia 
16. Dr Liz Goode, adopted from South Korea, residing in NSW 
17. Paula Park, adopted from South Korea to NSW
18. Joel de Carteret, adopted from the Philippines, residing in NSW
19. Dominic Golding, adopted from VietNam, residing in ACT
20. Hannah Brugman, adopted from South Korea, living in ACT, Australia
21. Jai Jaru, adopted from Thailand to South Australia 1981
22. Roopali Gulab Meshram (Paula Karvouniaris) - illicit adoption from Preet Mandir, India, adopted to Adelaide South Australia 
23. Lalitha Robinson adopted from Sri Lanka to South Australia 
24. Sumana Filmer adopted from Sri Lanka to South Australia. 
25. Kimbra Smith, illegally adopted from Taiwan, living in South Australia, Australia
26. Hilina Winkenweder, adopted from Ethiopia 2001, living in South Australia
27. Theodora Sullivan, adopted from Greece to SA, founder of Adopted from Greece
28. Kai Hambour, adopted from India to SA
29. Thomas Philp, adopted from Thailand to South Australia. Adelaide. 
30. Min Mednis, adopted from Thailand to South Australia 
31. Lynelle Long adopted from Vietnam to VIC
32. Ebony Hickey illegally adopted from Haiti to Australia, Victoria.
33. Catherine Robinson, adopted from Malaysia to Victoria Australia
34. Dr Jessica Walton, adopted from South Korea, residing in VIC, committee member of Australia US Korean Rights Group (AUSKRG)
35. Dr Ryan Gustafsson, South Korea, residing in VIC, member of Ibyangin International Network & Australia US Korean Rights Group (AUSKRG)
36. Geetha Keogh, adopted from Sri Lanka, Black Rock VIC, Australia 
37. A.Gale, adopted from Vietnam, living in Victoria
38. Jack Hamilton, adopted from South Korea, living in Victoria
39. Mya Ballin, adopted from China to the US, residing in VIC
40. Ché Stevenson, adopted from South Korea to US, residing in Victoria
41. Tia Brown, adopted from South Korea, Perth Western Australia.
42. Carly Reid, adopted from South Korea to Australia, residing in Perth, Western Australia
43. Meseret Cohen, adopted from Ethiopia, WA, Founder of Buna Chat
44. Chae Ryan, adopted from South Korea and living in WA, Australia US Korean Rights Group (AUSKRG)
45. Jasmine Eberhardt, adopted from South Korea to Tasmania
46. Jason Hardy, adopted from Vietnam to NSW, residing in NT
47. David Hopkins, adopted from Sri Lanka to NSW, living in Sydney 
48. Leanne Tololeski, adopted from South Korea, residing in Western Australia
    
    InterCountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV) - Australia wide & International  

Ibyangin International Network: Adopted Overseas Koreans Creating Change. Steering committee in Seoul, Melbourne, Montreal, Oregon, Idaho, and Copenhagen (https://www.ibyangin.org/)
Australian Domestic Adoptees
           Peter Capomolla Moore, domestic adoptee, President Adoptee Rights Australia Inc., NSW. 

There are untold numbers of children around the world who, for any number of reasons, are without a family and in need of a loving home. Recognizing this need, Americans have proven year after year to be among those most willing to help. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a 2022 report, “U.S. families have historically adopted half of all children eligible for intercountry adoption.” We are a country eager to open our homes to children all over the world and welcome them into our families.  

In recent years, however, procuring intercountry adoptions has become exceedingly difficult due to a number of factors. Travel restrictions, war, and the outright suspension of intercountry adoptions by some nations, among other factors, have continued to shrink the number of children brought to America to be united with a forever family. And according to the State Department’s most recent Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption, those difficulties persisted (and in some ways grew) last year. 

What did the report reveal?

Since 2004, intercountry adoptions in America have been in a precipitous decline, a trend that continued once again last year. For instance, in 2004 almost 23,000 children joined a new family here in the United States via intercountry adoption. After years of steady decline, that number dipped to 1,517 in 2022, a decrease of more than 90% in less than 20 years and the lowest in recent history. 

Of the 1,517 children who were adopted from other countries, the largest numbers came from Colombia (235), India (223), and South Korea (141).