Basking Ridge, New Jersey (CNN)On a gorgeous spring afternoon, Aimee and Stephen Welch are playing with their five kids in their sun-drenched New Jersey backyard, taking a break from the grind of virtual schooling and working from home.

But their laughs on the swings and shrieks on the trampoline belie a deep sense of sadness -- because one person is missing. It's now been a year since they had their bags packed and hotels booked for a trip to China to adopt their sixth child, a 7-year-old named Penelope.

A weekslong delay turned into months as, by early March 2020, China suspended the country's foreign adoption program. One year later, they are still stuck in limbo.

"Every time I go into her room and just see her pink bed there, that no one has slept in and the drawers full of clothes that have probably been outgrown before they could ever be worn," Aimee Welch told CNN's Poppy Harlow, "it's just a heartbreaking reality."

According to the State Department, about 400 American families' adoptions of children in China were put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bombay High Court recently refused permission to a couple to take custody over a twoyear-old child on the strength of a "notarised adoption deed".

A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale ruled,

"We are of the opinion that by merely executing a notarized document purporting to be an

Adoption Deed, the petitioners cannot claim that they have a right to hold custody of the girlchild."

The petitioner, who claimed to be the child's adoptive parents, approached the High Court

Habtamu de Hoop from Easterein is the youngest member of the new House of Representatives at the age of 22. De Hoop, who comes into the Chamber for the PvdA, saves 46 years with the oldest member, PVV'er Harm Beertema , according to the NOS .

Habtamu de Hoop is not the youngest Member of Parliament ever. That honor belonged to Farshad Bashir, who was 20 when he entered the House of Representatives for the SP in 2008. Before that, Bashir was a member of the Leeuwarden municipal council for two years.

Gera ter Meulen, KennisBureau ter Meulen, for Foster Care and Adoption

The Joustra Committee's research has yielded much good. She states in her report that in the past the government failed to take timely measures to combat abuses, which Minister Dekker acknowledges and for which he apologized. He is also taking measures to give adoptees more support in the search for their origins and to improve their legal position. And there will be an expertise center. This is all very positive.

However, the Joustra Committee also concludes that intercountry adoption remains vulnerable to abuses and that the current system cannot therefore be maintained. Intercountry adoption should be suspended. Based on my expertise as a scientist specializing in adoption and foster care, I have read the report carefully and have several critical comments on this last conclusion.

Children's rights

First of all, the scientific literature on which the Committee relies appears to be very one-sided and important articles that provide a broader picture of adoption as a child protection measure have not been included. It almost seems that those who focus on adoption abuses will at some point become trapped in one side of a reality and lose sight of other points of view such as child protection.

Minister Ferd Grapperhaus of Justice and Security has set up a committee that will investigate the nature and extent of sadistic child abuse.

The full House of Representatives had asked for such an investigation in a motion. This in response to the Argos broadcast Glass shards and dark rituals on June 27, 2020. The research will be led by Jan Hendriks, professor of Forensic Orthopedagogic Diagnostics and Treatment at the University of Amsterdam.

On March 1, Argos reported that the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC), which was initially asked to carry out the research, had given back the order . The WODC saw no possibilities to conduct this research in a scientifically responsible manner.

Order

The task given by the minister to the committee chaired by Professor Hendriks is as follows: ' Collect the available information about the aforementioned phenomenon of organized sadistic abuse of minors by making use of as many sources as possible (including victims, therapists, scientific sources and experts in this particular field). On the basis of the findings, give advice to the investigation. In addition, based on the findings, give advice on setting up a reporting center. '

I have chosen to not disclose the identities of my sources, in order to protect them from possible retaliation. All of the people that I spoke to are child rights advocates working in Uganda.

Uganda, 2016. The East African country has just passed an amendment to the Children’s Act that prevents foreigners arriving in Uganda from removing children from Uganda through a ‘legal guardianship’ order. Previous to this amendment, a ‘legal guardianship’ order was granted to the adoptive parents through district courts, after which the adoptive parents were able to get a visa for the child and fly out of the country. This process allowed adoptive parents to bypass the legal requirements to live in Uganda for three years fostering the child under the supervision of the local Probation and Social Welfare Officer.

A legal loophole led to hundreds of children being taken out of Uganda between 2010 and 2016, after which they were adopted in the adoptive parents’ own countries.

‘Legal guardianship’ orders were never a part of the legal framework for adoption, so this ‘loophole’ led to many children being taken out of Uganda and adopted in the adoptive parents’ own countries. Between 2010 and 2016, hundreds of children were taken out of Uganda through this process.

During this period, one of my contacts was asked to review active cases of children being adopted by couples from two European countries through the ‘legal guardianship’ process. He explains: “I identified fraud, corruption and unethical practices in every single one of the 40 cases I reviewed.” Some of the issues that he identified included:

Stephanie Planckaert faces a few busy months. In addition to the recordings for the second season of Château Planckaert, she will also make the documentary series "Onverwacht" for the VRT together with daughter Iluna.

Stephanie is now making a striking appeal on Instagram Stories. “Giving your baby up for adoption must be one of the most difficult decisions I can imagine, but at the same time so brave and altruistic,” Stephanie Planckaert writes on Instagram.

Stephanie and Iluna would love to talk to anyone who has ever made that choice before their show. "In our one program" Onverwacht "we want to cover all aspects of young motherhood, so adoption can and should certainly not be missed," Eddy Planckaert's daughter continues on Instagram.

Whoever wants to testify can always contact Stephanie Planckaert via Instagram. “Where all messages are treated with the greatest respect and discretion,” Stephanie Planckaert emphasizes on Instagram.

.

Parliament has approved a contentious bill that will see adoption considered for children in state care who can't be reunited with their parents, despite concerns raised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island services.

Key points:

The bill passed Parliament on Tuesday despite several concerns raised

Protection groups fear it will lead to forced adoption of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Minister for Children Leanne Linard said "long term stable care" would be considered "only if there is no better available option"

As the hardship of surviving the impact of COVID-19 becomes an increasing struggle, some mothers are resorting to the desperate measure of abandoning or giving up their babies for adoption to survive.

JOHANNESBURG - The socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on South Africans continues to be felt, with many families having to make extraordinary sacrifices.

One of these is mothers who have had to give up their babies for adoption in order to alleviate the burden of abject poverty.

According to the International Labour Organisation, the pandemic has hit women’s labour market opportunities the hardest in at least 55 countries.

Eyewitness News spoke to a mother who was on the verge of giving up her child in a desperate bid to survive.

Key Areas of Focus: Intercountry Adoptee Rights

What They Do:

InterCountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV), previously known as ICASN (InterCountry Adoptee Support Network) began in 1998 in Sydney, Australia as a support network created by intercountry adoptees for intercountry adoptees, of any country of origin.

ICAV’s informal network has grown to include adoptees and adoptee led groups from around the world. Today, ICAV provides a platform for adoptees to connect in, share, educate, and advocate to the wider public about the issues they face – political, social and emotional, including the not so positive aspects of intercountry adoption.

ICAV is one of the major adult intercountry adoptee led platforms that brings together and encourages adoptees / groups to advocate for the needs and rights of intercountry adoptees.