Program

Freitag 12. May 2023

17:00 bis 18:30 Uhr, Block I : Eröffnung und Begrüßung, Vorstellen der Inhalt und Brainstorming zu den Erwartungen der Teilnehmer in Kleingruppen

18:30 -19:00 Uhr: small break

19:00 – 21:30 Uhr, Block II : Kennenlernen der Teilnehmer und Clustern der Themen für das Wochenende (verbunden mit gemeinsamem Arbeitsessen)

The Danish Appeals Board can help review your international adoption case if you suspect that something illegal has happened in the case.

You can read more about the Danish Appeals Authority's guidelines for handling adoption cases with suspected illegal circumstances here .

Contact the Danish Appeals Board

If you would like to see the documents (file inspection) in your adoption case, you must contact Danish International Adoption (DIA) if you were adopted through AC Børnehjælp, Glemte Børn, DanAdopt or DIA.

Go to the DIAS website

FutureLife Medical Group, one of the world’s leading providers of assisted reproduction, has acquired the Nij Group, a Dutch market leader in this field. This was noted by Hospodá?ské noviny (HN). The FutureLife Clinic is owned by the Hartenberg Holding investment fund, which is part of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s (ANO) trust fund. The price of the deal has not been disclosed, but it will be in the hundreds of millions, according to HN.

The Nij Group is the largest private assisted reproduction provider in the Netherlands, where it has a 10% market share, HN wrote. “It consists of three clinics: Geertgen, Linge and Barrahus,” said Jozef Janov, managing partner of Hartenberg Capital, which manages the holding’s holdings.

The FutureLife Group becomes part of a large European health group. In addition to clinics, Hartenberg Capital will also acquire Serpha’s online pharmacy for infertility drugs and Legropharma, a wholesaler.

“For us, this is the largest acquisition FutureLife has made,” added Genoa. According to him, Dutch clinics will generate sales of over half a billion kronor and EBITDA, i.e. earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will be 70 million kroner. The entire FutureLife group will then have a turnover of around 200 million euros, i.e. over five billion crowns. After the Spanish group IVI, FutureLife is number two on the European market.

After investing in the Netherlands, the FutureLife Group is already active in eight European countries. Own clinics in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Ireland, Romania, Finland and Estonia. There are a total of 42 clinics in these countries that perform 39,000 artificial insemination cycles each year. “Thanks to us, ten thousand children are born in Europe every year. After the acquisition of Dutch clinics, it will be almost twelve thousand, ”said Janov.

The observations were made by a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Yashwant Varma on February 13 while hearing a plea of a man whose adopted son suffers from severe mental retardation.

The Delhi High Court recently held that a foreigner cannot claim a vested right to be appointed the legal guardian of a person with disabilities or claim protection guaranteed under Part III of the constitution as are available to Indian citizens.

The observations were made by a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Yashwant Varma on February 13 while hearing the plea of a man whose adopted son suffers from severe mental retardation. The father had challenged the validity of certain rules and regulations prescribed National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Rules, 20001 and Board of the Trust Regulations, 2012 which “restrict the appointment of a guardian to a person who is an Indian citizen”.

The father alleged that Rule 17 as well as Regulation 12 are “ultra vires” the provisions of the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 19993 (National Trust Act) which is the parent Act. It was argued that if the parent act does not disable a non-citizen from applying to be appointed as a guardian of a person with disabilities, then the rules and regulations cannot do so which are delegation legislation in this case.

The father and his adopted son are US citizens who relocated to India, after the breakdown of marital relations between the man and his wife, pursuant to which they legally separated. The father claimed that he had been granted legal custody of his son and has been acting as his primary caregiver since the time of adoption. Both the father and the son relocated to India in 2009 and hold Overseas Citizenship of India cards. The father sought to be appointed as the guardian of his son under the National Trust Act and claimed that his application for guardianship is barred by the said provisions of the rules and regulations which prescribe “citizenship to be an essential qualification”.

Biological or not, having children is a wonderful blessing. However, matters of adoption have always invited unwanted questions in the past. Thankfully, the stigma has now lessened down and we have to thank celebrities for that. While Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have won hearts for their beautiful rainbow family, Indian celebrities aren't any far behind.

If there's one celebrity, whose name comes into mind when we talk of adoption, it has to be Bollywood ace choreographer Sandip Soparrkar. The Choreographer was just 40 when he adopted his first child, Arjun, for which, he had to face a long legal battle. Making him the first single father to adopt in India.

Recently he went on to adopt another child, Kabir in the year 2021. While Sandip Soparrkar decision to become a single parent was quite unheard of, the choreographer often mentioned that he never felt the need to second guess his decision, and it all felt natural to him. Now he's become first Indian for being single father of two kids. Sandip's decision definitely opened a lot of doors for people who wished to embrace single parenthood in the country.

About Sandip Soparrkar's Adoption, Madhavi Mhatre, Director, BalAnand, Worldchildren Welfare Trust India, says, "It has been a very positive experience and pleasure to have Sandip Soparkar adopt yet again from our children's home. We had the joy of placing his first son Arjun with him, when we were convinced of his dedication and commitment. We have seen Arjun grow up to what he is today and had no hesitation in processing the adoption a second time when Kabir was chosen. What makes Sandip special, is not the fact that he has adopted, but his complete acceptance of the Child he adopted.”

The world does not undergo any change because a child is adopted, but for every adopted child his/her world changes after adoption. Soparrkar has always chosen the path less chosen and adopting the second time is something even rarer. We hope that many people get inspired by his decision and take steps towards creating a family through adoption.

Jyotika and her two younger brothers lost their parents to AIDS at a very young age. Left with no one else to turn to, they turned to each other instead. Through some of the most challenging phases in their lives, they had each other’s backs and pushed through life together, with Jyotika taking most of the responsibility. All that changed when Jyotika turned 15. Just when they were beginning to reshape their lives, there was bad news again. Jyotika was diagnosed with HIV. As soon as she heard the news, fear crippled her. Not fear for her life, but for what her brothers would do without her. As the days passed and with no one else to care for her, she had no choice but to admit herself into a shelter home for HIV-infected children. She was heartbroken. Her brothers were her only family, her whole world. But she had to leave. Five years later, at the home, Jyotika is now well taken care of. She has finished her school education and is currently taking tailoring lessons. However, she still yearns for her brothers. “What must they be doing? I hope they’re studying well and not messing around,” she says. She tries to visit them once a year, but sometimes, even that cannot happen because they live far away and she doesn’t always have the money to travel. One of her brothers is living in a shelter home, while the other has been adopted by a family. Worried about her brother Arun, she says, “The last time I saw him, he had been smoking and drinking irresponsibly. I’m worried for him. Had I been with him I would have been able to advise him, and help him stay on the right track. Now I don’t know who his friends are and what sort of influence they’re having on him. I know he’s burdened about something, but he doesn’t share anything with anyone. It’s been so many years now that our bond is bruised. I wish I could spend time with him and he could open up to me.” Of her brother Abhishek she says, “He’s still so young. He calls me up every time and pleads with me to come to stay with him. My heart aches whenever I hear him say that. Every day I dream that one day, the three of us would be together again. We have spoken about it. But we need to study hard and work hard so that we can have our own house and live together just like when we were children.” There are many others like Jyotika. For instance, 18-year-old Padmaja who grew up in a big family of five children. They all live separately now. Although the older ones have gotten married or gone their own way, Padmaja is still in touch with her younger sister. They haven’t met in three years. Padmaja had saved up money to meet her two years ago, but the pandemic hit and there were travel restrictions. She says, “I haven’t been doing well in my studies. I know I have to and that’s my only way out. But every time I open my book, all these thoughts cross my mind and I lose my concentration. I’m just longing to see my sister and I feel very very lonely.” There are an estimated 30 million orphans in India today. There is no government data on how many of them are sibling groups. Of these orphans, around 4,000 children are adopted each year. The Child Adoption Resource Authority records that as of 2018 there were 183 sets of siblings among them. State policies have tried to keep these siblings together. According to the amended Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 which governs adoptions, “all efforts must be made to keep siblings in institutional or non-institutional care together, unless it is in the best interest of the child.” While civil society and public authorities are doing their best to make this happen, it isn’t always easy. Many factors continue to cause siblings to be separated. For instance, the lack of space and resources in shelter homes leaves them unable to accommodate more children. When it comes to adoption, most parents want to adopt only one child. Another reason for the separation is that male and female children cannot stay together in homes. So a lot of the boy-girl siblings are separated because of this. Special needs children are also often separated from their siblings, as adoptive parents only want to adopt the “healthy” child. Also, they usually want to adopt newborn babies and toddlers, so older siblings are left behind. When it comes to foster care, however, there are options like group foster care. For instance, all SOS villages across the country follow this system where siblings usually are allowed to grow up together in the same house, under their SOS parents. This is decided by the local Child Welfare Committee. But if it’s an older boy, he will be sent to a boy’s home. There are also some NGOs that have the boys home and girls home next to each other so that boy-girl siblings can still live close by. According to various studies, the death of parents or abuse and neglect from parents often leads to a deeper bond between siblings. In a lot of cases, the older children take up the responsibility of parenting the younger one and the younger ones solely depend on the older child. When that bond is broken, it can lead to severe emotional distress. And although siblings who are separated are allowed to meet each other, it is not always feasible. According to psychologist and counsellor Jemima Wesley, “it depends on the situation from which they are adopted or taken into alternative care. It depends on the attachment and bonding a child already has with his or her sibling. In many cases, although they are siblings, there is no strong bond. In such cases it won’t really impact the child. Again in the case of newborn babies or toddlers, it won’t really have a lasting impact.” Over the years the Child Adoption Resource Authority had been making all efforts to find prospective parents willing to adopt all siblings. But in 2018, union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi announced that children older than 5 could be separated from their siblings, provided they gave their consent. The government said it decided to do this because it could not find enough adoptive parents willing or able to adopt all siblings together, and hence it would be better for them to live separately with better facilities and care. According to a recent analysis the share of public spending on children’s welfare (‘education, nutrition, health, protection and other developments’) has been slashed by nearly half since 2014, from 4.5 to 2.5% of union budget estimates.

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Social Care Standards Authority CEO Matthew Vella says that efforts are underway to widen the group of countries from where Maltese could adopt children

The Social Care Standards Authority is currently negotiating with Nepalese authorities over a possible deal which would allow prospective Maltese parents to adopt from the country.

Social Care Standards Authority CEO Matthew Vella said this while addressing the National Adoption Conference on Friday.

Also addressing the conference was Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who insisted that every effort should be done to make it easier for prospective parents to be able to adopt.

“There’s no cutting corners when it comes to adoption. We must ensure that as policy makers we do the utmost to facilitate adoption of both Maltese and foreign children for parents looking to adopt,” he said.

Yesterday, after news broke that Malta’s court had given the go-ahead for the first adoption of a child by a same-sex couple, Malta’s Facebook exploded.

Many praised the move as a huge leap forward for Malta, while others rambled on about the doom and gloom this would bring about; flinging around the classic arguments the anti-adoption camp always do (something about it being “unnatural” and “not in the child’s best interest”).

But you know who doesn’t seem to care about all these online, all-caps arguments? Ben.

Meet Ben, the first child to be adopted by a same-sex couple in Malta. His father, Kris Grima, posted a touching introduction on Facebook, where he thanked everyone for the work they did leading to this beautiful moment, while subtly slamming the nay-sayers judging his family without even knowing anything about them.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a happier looking baby or one who rocks a white bucket-hat as well as Ben. So congrats to this new family, and in the words of Kris himself, may many more follow!

The Madras High Court upheld the 224-year-old jurisdiction; The five-judge bench, by a 3:2 majority, rules that the underlying jurisdiction cannot be superseded by the Family Courts Act 1984.

The Madras High Court upheld the 224-year-old jurisdiction; The five-judge bench, by a 3:2 majority, rules that the underlying jurisdiction cannot be superseded by the Family Courts Act 1984.

It is not often that the Madras High Court constitutes a five-judge bench. One such bench was set up this year to answer an important question of law – whether guardianship and child custody petitions should be filed only before family courts or even in the Madras High Court, with respect to its underlying parents. Can be filed by applying jurisdiction. Minor?

Justice PN Prakash, R. Mahadevan, M. Sundar, N. Anand Venkatesh and A.A. Nakkiran heard marathon arguments for months by a battery of lawyers, with a section arguing in favor of concurrent jurisdiction by the High Court as well as the Family Courts. and the other argued that after the enactment of the Family Courts Act, 1984 the jurisdiction of the High Court has ceased to exist.

Given the complex nature of the dispute due to parental jurisdiction that has been going on for more than 224 years, the five-judge bench’s ruling was not unanimous. Instead, it upheld the argument in favor of concurrent jurisdiction by a 3:2 majority and ruled that the High Court can exercise jurisdiction not only with respect to children residing within the city of Chennai but across the state.

In the landscape of initiatives aimed at better understanding the history of international adoption and the many irregularities that have affected it, the " Historical study on illicit practices in international adoption in France was published on February 6, 2023. Carried out by Yves Denéchère, professor at the University of Angers and recognized specialist in the history of international adoption, and Fabio Macedo, doctor of history, the study, rather than analyzing in detail the adoptive practice between such and such countries at such and such a period (as did the Netherlands and Switzerland for example), produces a unique compilation of the available sources. The body of the document thus consists of a review of academic literature including a rich bibliography, and an annotated guide to sources – archives, audiovisual sources, press – likely to document illicit practices. The conclusions offer “ avenues for reflection to launch in-depth research on the subject or more simply to guide the analyzes".

This enormous work of researching sources draws a fascinating history as to the way in which information relating to abuses and bad practices have, since the 1970s, flowed between the countries of origin and France. Communications from diplomatic representations are particularly enlightening in this respect, pointing out precisely and sometimes insistently the problems noted by the diplomats in charge of issuing visas. Explicit press articles concerning trafficking are also listed as early as 1976.

In their analysis, the authors conclude: " Since the 1980s at least, and in particular major court cases and publicized in Peru or Brazil, all the structured actors of international adoption were aware of illicit practices perpetrated in the adoption international. They could not therefore be unaware of the risks of offenses relating to international adoption ” (p.137). And to add:It would have been necessary to be blind and deaf to what was said, shared, written, published. This position is even less defensible coming from people or associations claiming experience and expertise in international adoption, a rigorous choice of their partners and in-depth knowledge of the contexts and procedures of the countries of origin in which they work. . In doing so, they bear an undeniable share of responsibility for certain deviations ” (p.140).

Coincidentally, I have just finished Véronique Piaser-Moyen's testimonial book " My daughter, I didn't know ". The author first recounts the story of the adoption of her daughter in Sri Lanka in 1984, describing in detail those very special moments when candidates for adoption become adoptive parents. The second part of the book is devoted to uncovering the widespread abuses when Sri Lanka practiced large-scale intercountry adoption. This book is of real interest if you want to understand the origins of the difficult questions that cross international adoption today. By following these parents step by step, we realize how difficult, if not impossible, it would have been to question an administrative act or an incongruous request when picking up the child. Language, emotional stress, the staging of local actors and a certain underlying violence make any initiative, any questioning of the system, illusory. This powerlessness becomes devastating upon discovery of the abuse, leading to feelings of betrayal and guilt that are very difficult to overcome. It is repeated when the "fight for the truth" which then begins also becomes a source of stress, threats and disappointment, especially since Mrs. Piaser-Moyen, after her adoption, is involved in helping other French families wishing to adopt in Sri Lanka.

Putting the historical study and intimate testimony into perspective then questions the statement quoted above regarding the blindness of the actors and their respective responsibilities. For the researchers, the information was there, but hardly anyone paid it the necessary attention. For the Piaser-Moyen parents “ They [the French State] knew and they told us nothing ” making them “ accomplices in an irreparable crime ” (p.329).