Asha (name changed), is a slight thin woman, who a few would mistake for being 23-year-old. A

brisk affair with a family friend, however, prompted Asha to give birth to a healthy baby girl in midNovember. The new mother is now embroiled in a police investigation aer her child was sold to a

couple for Rs 30,000.

Sources said Asha’s mother, Sudha (named changed) objected to the child being born because it

had been conceived out of wedlock. This unyielding point of view allegedly prompted Sudha to

Fiom informs Minister Dekker about the importance of information and guidance before and after adoption

Justice and Security Minister Sander Dekker paid a working visit to Fiom on 2 December. The minister and policy staff were received by Ellen Giepmans (director-director of Fiom) and Sandra de Vries (manager Relationship affairs program at Fiom) with Bossche Bollen of which 1 in 5 had a pink filling. This referred to the launch of our campaign that 1 in 5 women inadvertently becomes pregnant.

In addition, we have provided an explanation of the importance of information and guidance before and after adoption, as well as surrogacy and donor conception. We look back on a good conversation in which we once again experience that we can be proud of the work that we do.

Dutch:

Op 2 december is minister Sander Dekker van Justitie en Veiligheid op werkbezoek geweest bij Fiom. De minister en de beleidsmedewerkers zijn ontvangen door Ellen Giepmans (directeur-bestuurder van Fiom) en Sandra de Vries (manager programma Verwantschapsvragen bij Fiom) met Bossche Bollen waarvan 1 op de 5 een roze vulling had. Dit verwees naar de lancering van onze campagne dat 1 op de 5 vrouwen onbedoeld zwanger wordt.

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: ACT

Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2019 at 2:05 PM

Subject: File National Archive

To:

The stories shocked and horrified the world: babies left malnourished in their cribs, sickly children starved to the bone, toddlers beaten and humiliated.

At the violent conclusion of the Romanian Revolution in 1989, an estimated 170,000 children were living in state-run institutions across the country. By 2001 — the year the country placed a moratorium on international adoptions — the number had dropped to 60,000.

It was in Romania that the Bucharest Early Intervention Project was born — an extensive, involved study comparing the outcomes of institutionalized children who were placed in foster homes by researchers early on in their lives to children who remained in institutional care.

For almost two decades, a University of Maryland professor and his two colleagues have followed the participating children. And, thanks to a recently awarded $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the team is preparing to check in with the kids for the seventh time, now that they’re 21.

“We want to know where these kids are now and how are they dealing with becoming adults,” said Nathan Fox, a professor in this university’s human development and quantitative methodology department. “Do they have jobs, have they gone to school, are they using drugs, are they married? No one knows the effects of institutionalization on all those different domains of development.”

Mother told police that she had been told the child had died

The Halasuru police registered an FIR against doctors and staff of a private hospital for allegedly giving a 17-day-old baby girl for adoption illegally without the consent of her mother. The police were able to track down the couple that had ‘adopted’ the baby and will be booking a case against them, too.

The mother, a post-graduate in computer application, approached the police on Saturday seeking their help. “She said that her mother told her the baby had died, after which she was subsequently discharged from the hospital. We questioned the hospital staff, tracked down the baby and reunited her with the mother,” said a senior police officer.

The incident was brought to the notice of the NGO Parihar, where a counsellor helped the mother file a complaint with the police seeking legal action. According to the police, the mother is 23 years old and unmarried. She was admitted to a private hospital in Cambridge Layout on November 13 for the delivery. However, the grandmother was upset and feared that the family would be ostracised. “She went behind her daughter’s back and told the doctors that they did not want the baby. We suspect she took money from the hospital to give up the child. The baby was then handed over to a childless couple for adoption without due process,” said a senior police officer.

“However, on Saturday, a hospital staff informed the woman that her baby was alive, after which she came to us,” said a police source.

Mother told police that she had been told the child had died

The Halasuru police registered an FIR against doctors and staff of a private hospital for allegedly giving a 17-day-old baby girl for adoption illegally without the consent of her mother. The police were able to track down the couple that had ‘adopted’ the baby and will be booking a case against them, too.

The mother, a post-graduate in computer application, approached the police on Saturday seeking their help. “She said that her mother told her the baby had died, after which she was subsequently discharged from the hospital. We questioned the hospital staff, tracked down the baby and reunited her with the mother,” said a senior police officer.

The incident was brought to the notice of the NGO Parihar, where a counsellor helped the mother file a complaint with the police seeking legal action. According to the police, the mother is 23 years old and unmarried. She was admitted to a private hospital in Cambridge Layout on November 13 for the delivery. However, the grandmother was upset and feared that the family would be ostracised. “She went behind her daughter’s back and told the doctors that they did not want the baby. We suspect she took money from the hospital to give up the child. The baby was then handed over to a childless couple for adoption without due process,” said a senior police officer.

“However, on Saturday, a hospital staff informed the woman that her baby was alive, after which she came to us,” said a police source.

Legal experts have said the Attorney General's advice to the Government that it is unconstitutional to give adopted people unrestricted access to their birth information is "incorrect".

Earlier this month, Katherine Zappone wrote to adoption rights stakeholders about the paused Adoption Information and Tracing Bill, advising them that it was the Attorney General's view that it is "constitutionally unacceptable to allow unrestricted access to birth information for adopted people".

However, a legal opinion signed by nine legal experts - including three specialising in Constitutional Law and the current special rapporteur on child protection Dr Conor O'Mahony - has been sent to Ms Zappone advising her that this view is "incorrect".

Under the legislation, Tusla will attempt to locate and contact both natural parents as soon as an adopted person requests access to their own early life and adoption files.

Where the natural parent does not consent to the release of the information, both parties will make their case before the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

YEREVAN. – The Investigative Committee of Armenia continues its activities to find out all the circumstances of cases of illegal adoption of children in the country.

One person has been charged with attempting to buy two children for adoption, the Investigative Committee informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

On November 18, the Investigative Committee accepted the criminal case initiated by the National Security Service on abuse of power and going beyond official power to attempted child trafficking.

According to the data obtained from the investigation, during 2016-2018, a number of employees of a medical center and state institutions in Armenia had convinced more than a dozen mothers-to-be to give up their children for adoption and consent to adoption in spite of their will.

It turned out that one of the people who attempted to adopt and buy children is a female resident of Yerevan, born in 1976. The 43-year-old woman had reached an agreement - with foreign citizens, in one case, and with Armenian citizens in the other - to launch - in exchange for €20,000 and $5,000, respectively - their adoption of healthy children in orphanages in Armenia, but she failed to accomplish her goal for reasons beyond her will.

International views on fraudulent adoptions, how do we respond to this?

In May of this year, an additional hearing was held on intercountry adoption from Ethiopia in the Commission for Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Parliament. This hearing came after the testimony of Thereza De Wannemaeker who questioned her adoption from Ethiopia in 2009. Various testimonies from Ethiopian adoptive children and their parents followed, after which Flemish Parliament member Lorin Parys (N-VA) requested an additional hearing in the Flemish Parliament to hear the people involved.

During the hearing, then Flemish Minister for Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), promised to set up an expert panel to conduct in-depth research into past adoptions and to formulate policy recommendations. The former Flemish Government assembled this panel in July. Recently Christof Bex and Miranda N. Aerts, both adopted and familiar with the theme, were added to the panel. This happened after 23 adopters in an open letter to the current Flemish Minister for Welfare, Wouter Beke (CD&V), had criticized the fact that none of the adopted persons co-led the investigation. Soon the panel will meet for the first time to define the content and to determine a concrete work approach.

Unfortunately, malpractice within adoption remains a reality, despite the efforts being made worldwide to prevent it. In March 2016, ISS1 published "Responding to Illegal Adoptions: a professional handbook". This international publication was the first attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of possible remedial and prevention measures. Stakeholders and experts from various countries participated in the handbook and highlighted action points from a legal, psychosocial, social and political framework. In summary, at the end of the handbook, David M Smolin² formulated four perspectives and four recommendations that we present below.

Four perspectives for looking at adoption fraud

How do we respond to international views on fraudulent adoptions?

In May of this year, an additional hearing took place on intercountry adoption from Ethiopia in the Committee on Welfare, Public Health and Family of the Flemish Parliament. This hearing came after the testimony of Thereza De Wannemaeker who questioned her adoption from Ethiopia in 2009. Several testimonies of Ethiopian adopted children and their parents followed, after which Flemish Member of Parliament Lorin Parys (N-VA) asked for an extra hearing in the Flemish Parliament to hear those involved.

During the hearing, the then Flemish Minister for Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), promised to create an expert panel to conduct in-depth research into past adoptions and to formulate policy recommendations. In July, the former Flemish Government composed this panel. Recently Christof Bex and Miranda N. Aerts, both adopted and familiar with the theme, were also added to the panel. This happened after 23 adoptees in an open letter to current Flemish minister of Welfare, Wouter Beke (CD&V), criticized the fact that none of the adoptees led the investigation. The panel will soon be meeting for the first time to define the content and determine a concrete work approach.

Unfortunately, malpractice within adoption remains a reality, despite efforts made worldwide to prevent it. In March 2016, the ISS1 published "Responding to Illegal Adoptions: a professional handbook". This international publication was the first attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of possible remedial and preventative measures. Stakeholders and experts from various countries contributed to the manual and highlighted action points from a legal, psychosocial, social and political framework. In summary, David M Smolin² formulated four perspectives and four recommendations that we present below at the end of the handbook.

Four perspectives to look at adoption fraud