In the years following the introduction of the adoption law, mothers and children were crushed in a chaotic and opaque system. The life story of Hans van Rijssel (64) illustrates the consequences of this lack of oversight. "Child Protection Services made me swim. And I'm still swimming."

After his mother,  under pressure from her parents, gave up her son , Hans was initially placed in the "De Kloek" home in Leusden after his birth. After five months, he moved to "Zonnestraal" in Bilthoven, and then lived for more than two years in "Huize Aldegonde." "I was brought in there by the social worker," he recalls. "I stood in that large hall, I turned around, and I was alone. And that's how I've felt ever since."

At Huize Aldegonde , his biological mother and the man she's about to marry try to pick him up. At the home's door, the couple learns that Hans is already living with a family. What they don't know is that he had been taken away just five days earlier.  Read more about what happened here.

Van Rijssel has nothing good to say about the family he ends up with. Officially, he lived there from age 3 to 18, but in reality, he only spent three and a half years under their roof. The boy was sent to various homes throughout his childhood because he allegedly had behavioral problems. "I was stupid, always did everything wrong," he says. Throughout that time, he was under the guardianship of the Utrecht Reformed Children's Association. His foster parents never adopted him because, according to his file, "they didn't dare accept all the consequences."

At the same time that pressure on unmarried women to relinquish their babies is mounting, the question of who is responsible for the thousands of children relinquished is also becoming increasingly unclear. Mothers and children are being crushed in an opaque and chaotic system.

Gertha stands at the door of the Aldegonde orphanage in Amersfoort. It's February 23, 1960, a cold and cloudy day. Gertha's then three-year-old son, Hans, lives in the stately orphanage. She was unmarried when she had him, but she gave him up under pressure from her parents.

She's picking up her son today, she thinks. She has an appointment with the Utrecht Child Protection Council: once married, she can pick up her child. The wedding is in a few days. She's getting married, and her future husband, Hans, acknowledged his paternity on February 11th. The child is legally his son; they'll take him home together.

Things take a different turn. Gertha is told at Aldegonde's door that Hans has already gone to foster care. She can't take him with her and isn't told where he is.

After their unmarried mothers left, children sometimes spent years in the Paula Foundation transition home. There, toddlers literally became ill from the lack of attention.

This article was written byPetra VissersPublished on June 8, 2020, 7:13 AM

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"I would like to draw your attention to the minor Emmy," writes Frans Josso, psychologist at the Paula Foundation, in chicken-wristed handwriting on blue lined paper. It is the winter of 1968 in Oosterbeek, three days after Sinterklaas. Outside, it is freezing, and a bitter wind blows across the green estate where the home for unmarried mothers stands.

It starts with a relatively innocent question. Three years ago, a cousin of Liesbeth Struijcken (56) asked on Facebook whether their last name is now spelled with an 'ij' or a 'y'. What difference does it make, she thinks. But she still decides to dive into the trunk in the basement containing all her adoption papers. Surely the correct spelling of their last name is in there, she reasons.

Once in her basement, she feels dizzy as she realizes she'd never really looked at the pile of papers before her. Struijcken is adopted; she discovered this by accident at age nine, during a vaccination at school and a name she hadn't known was read aloud. It turned out that the name she hadn't known was hers.

For the first time, she now sees two documents in the basement that she had always overlooked: one in which the Breda Child Protection Council informs her parents that they can have their adopted daughter's personal record rewritten, omitting all information relating to her adoption. The second letter confirms that her information has indeed been destroyed, with the authorization of the Minister of the Interior.

Struijcken is stunned. “I felt utterly betrayed. That identity card is much more than a simple card. It symbolizes that entire adoption history. Your identity card tells you who you are. That's true. Not for me.” Until 1994, the Dutch government kept information about its residents on identity cards; now all that data is stored in the Personal Records Database. 

Personal identity cards of adopted children were permitted to be destroyed after a 1970 ruling by the Council of State. At the request of adoptive parents, the Council ruled that adopted children were entitled to a new personal identity card, on which their biological parents were no longer listed.

A still from "The Woman, The Orphan, and The Tiger" (2010), Jane Jin Kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung

Conference info

Co-organizers: Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University & Center for Korean Studies, University of Tübingen

Date: 7-8 May, 2026

Background: After decades of research output, it is well established that transnational adoptees—i.e., individuals who are placed for adoption outside their country of birth—exhibit an increased risk of various negative mental health outcomes. Even so, there is a lack of suggestions for preventive measures or treatment interventions targeting the transnational adoptee population in the literature.

Objective: To explore experiences, opinions, and needs among adult transnational adoptees in Sweden concerning healthcare in general and mental healthcare in particular.

Methods: Sixty-six adult transnational adoptees residing in Sweden, born in 15 different non-European countries, were recruited for individual in-depth interviews about their experiences and opinions regarding psychosocial support and healthcare. The interview data were analyzed employing a codebook thematic analysis approach.

Results: Three overarching themes were identified: (a) barriers to adequate treatment, (b) helpful resources in dealing with health-related issues, and (c) health-related needs and suggestions for the development of adequate support. Identified barriers include a lack of insight into and interest in adoptee health, colorblindness and unwillingness to address racism, expectations of gratitude, steep financial costs, lack of support from adoptive parents, and mistrust of support structures that involve adoptive parents or adoption organizations. Participants also describe helpful resources, such as the community of fellow transnational adoptees. Health-related needs and suggestions include more well-defined and easily accessible structures of support, improved knowledge and competence, a broader psychotherapeutic repertoire that better addresses adoption-related themes, improved support in situations that can be particularly stressful for adoptees (such as during pregnancy and as new parents), routine follow-up during childhood and adolescence, and education targeting adoptive parents. The need for greater attention to the well-being of children of transnational adoptees is also highlighted.

Implications: Based on these findings, a number of recommendations can be made. For example, knowledge about adoptee health should be strengthened, and psychotherapeutic competence in addressing issues related to racism should become a priority. After over 20 years of discussion, one or more national research and knowledge hubs on transnational adoption should be created. Moreover, economic resources should be made available to support transnational adoptees in accessing adequate treatment.

“The hidden history of Romania’s international adoptions is a wound that never healed, for the children sent abroad, the families left behind, and the country that let it happen,” Romanian feature debutant Laurentiu Garofeanu explains to BDE the necessity of his Lost and Found: Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market. “[It] is a personal investigation, a human story unfolding in real time, with emotional stakes that cross borders.”

For Jessi, who was adopted almost 30 years ago, what starts as a search for identity becomes “a confrontation with the post-revolution marketplace, a post-communist system that sold thousands of children for international adoption,” the notes for the film project underline. Back in Romania and filmed over seven years, she uncovers “unbelievable truths, contradictory records, meets evasive officials, and finds the sister she never knew existed.” All the while, Garofeanu accompanies her on “a vérité journey into memory, loss, and resilience.”  

“I’ve spent two decades telling stories people thought would never be told, from London and New York to the Black Sea and entire Balkan region,” director/producer Garofeanu further underlines his credentials in telling this vital story. “I know how to win trust in places where trust is rare. In Lost and Found, that means sitting with birth mothers in their living rooms and across from people who swore they’d never speak on camera.”

“The production is small but relentless: experienced researchers, filming across two continents, multiple countries, and a network of trusted collaborators in Romania, Canada, Belgium and Spain. Our editor turns chaos into clarity. Our cinematographers capture intimacy without intrusion,” he adds.

Garofeanu promises to deliver a visceral cinematic experience to reflect the urgency of the subject he depicts. “Imagine the intimacy of a home movie colliding with the raw momentum of a personal investigation,” he says. “The film moves between two visual worlds: the grainy, discreet footage from small cameras that lets us disappear into the moment, and the composed, high-quality images that give the search for truth its cinematic value.”

PACIFIC NORTHWEST, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, March 11, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Molly Dee Wells is pleased to introduce her debut book, The Girl in the Shoebox, a story that explores themes of identity, connection, and the complexities of international adoption.

The Girl in the Shoebox follows the journey of a young woman seeking answers about her adoption in the 1980s. What begins as a quest for clarity turns into an exploration of human connection, mental health, and the struggle to belong. Set in the Pacific Northwest and spanning generations, the story pulls together the lives of five individuals whose paths intersect as they search for meaning and understanding.

When asked about her inspiration for writing the book, Wells shared, “I’ve always loved writing. Even as a child, I carried around a notebook and a book wherever I went. As a former special education paraprofessional, I’ve always been drawn to stories that explore identity and belonging. This story has been waiting to be told, and I wanted to capture the emotions of discovering one’s roots and the connections that shape us.”

Indeed, the book is about the unlikely power of friendships and the transformative rewards of taking risks. Two women form an unexpected bond as they work together to unravel a mystery, uncovering truths that change their lives forever.

The Girl in the Shoebox is now available for purchase on Amazon.

About Molly Dee Wells
Molly Dee Wells lives in the Pacific Northwest with her spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats. Adopted from India and raised in the USA, she earned a degree in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality in 2004. When not exploring the outdoors, Molly enjoys reading Mystery, YA, Historical Fiction, and Biographies. She’s always up for a conversation about her love for tacos and Doctor Who.

Richard Bard
Gnome Book Writing
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NEW DELHI: Noting that the present adoption law is too cumbersome and frustrating for adoptive parents, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said the procedure needed to be streamlined and simplified to encourage childless couples to take the legal route to adopt rather than doing it illegally.
 

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan, which was hearing a case on the menace of child trafficking in the country, said people take illegal routes to adopt children as the adoption process takes years. It said not having children is a social stigma and such parents "want a child badly but the process is cumbersome".

The total number of adoptions crossed 4,500 in 2025-26 as of March 31, the highest in 11 years.

Average waiting period for adopting kids is 3.5 years

However, for many prospective adoptive parents (PAPs), the process of adopting a child continues to be a challenge with an average of 3.5 years waiting period for those seeking infants and young children. The Central Adoption Resource Authority (Cara) dashboard shows there are over 36,616 PAPs across various categories registered to adopt while the number of children available for adoption is merely 2,756.

"The present adoption process is taking too long. Parents want a child badly but the process is cumbersome and frustrating for them," SC said.

It added the existing flaw in the system was reflected in a case that was decided by it a day before, in which four parents from Telangana had adopted children, but not as per the procedure laid down by law, and police thereafter took away custody. The court allowed the plea of the four adoptive parents and restored custody of the children - aged between a few months and three years - to them by invoking its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution.

The man assaulted his minor granddaughter who came to care for his ailing wife, resulting in her pregnancy. He then gave the child she bore up for adoption

A shocking and distressing incident has emerged from Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand. A 70-year-old man has been accused of raping his minor granddaughter, who was brought along by his daughter after her marriage. The crime came to light when the girl’s stepmother reported the ordeal to the authorities.

According to reports, the girl had initially come to care for her ailing step-grandmother, but the grandfather harboured sinister intentions towards her. Over time, he sexually assaulted her, resulting in pregnancy. The situation worsened when the victim gave birth to a child, whom the accused then gave up for adoption.

The victim, terrified by threats from her step-grandfather, remained silent for a long period. However, she eventually confided in her stepmother, who then informed the family.