Draft Law to Improve Family Support in Adoption (Adoption Aid Act)

On 13 September 2019, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth initiated the participation of countries and associations in the draft bill for the Adoption Aid Act.

The Adoption Aid Act is intended to implement the Coalition Agreement by modernizing the adoption system and improving the structures of adoption brokerage. The bill is based on the findings of the Adoption research and expertise process, which were won during the last legislative period.

The aim of the draft is to promote the success of adoptions and thus to ensure the well-being of the children. This includes professional support by specialized professionals before, during and after adoption. For this purpose, a legal entitlement to follow-up assistance should be introduced for all those involved in an adoption, and compulsory counseling should be introduced before submitting notarial certifications for stepchild adoption options.

Open treatment of adoption should be encouraged

Kenya bans child adoption by foreigners

Today 12:12 pm (1 hour ago)

A special Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by Deputy President William Ruto also directed the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to formulate a new policy document to regulate the adoption of children by foreign nationals in Kenya/PSCU

NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 12 – The Cabinet has announced an immediate ban on adoption of children by foreign nationals.

A special Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by Deputy President William Ruto also directed the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to formulate a new policy document to regulate the adoption of children by foreign nationals in Kenya.

Google Drive link:https://drive.google.com/open?id=11MxgQ-WwKEAgw-MhlFYMLWVeoBtn2QXQ

When Abhinash was one and a half years old, he had been kidnapped by an unidentified person while playing right outside his own house. This was on the 18th of February, 1999.

Yesterday, 20 years after that unfateful day, he met his birth parents for the first time. Abhinash is now 22-years-old and had been adopted by an US-based couple.

Speaking to The Hindu about the reunion with his birth parents, Abinash said:

I’m happy they are doing well. I was overwhelmed when I saw them for the first time...I enjoyed the food cooked by my birth mother. She cooks really well.

Avinash and his family

In Summary

This is the second time in five years the Cabinet has issued a high-level directive against taking Kenyan children for adoption abroad, after imposing an indefinite moratorium in 2014.

At the time, the practice had attracted international attention with the United Nations and the American government flagging Kenya as a source and transit hub for child trafficking.

Fears were rife that some of the children were ending up in the hands of organ harvesting syndicates while others were sexually exploited, neglected or abandoned in family break-ups.

The government has banned the adoption of Kenyan children by foreign nationals with immediate effect.

Sharron and Mark are waiting for an American baby: "As far as we are concerned, the call comes quickly"

DRONTEN - Sharron (31) and Mark (34) Eikelboom will soon prepare a bag if they have to take the plane to the United States unexpectedly. Their profile has been on an American adoption website for a month now and a phone call can come any time.

"If the mother has chosen us while she is still pregnant, we can plan our trip. If she has given birth and if she chooses us as adoptive parents, we must travel within 72 hours and stay in America for a month to await the papers of our little one. Only then can we return to Dronten. "

Waiting for phone call

Mark is working and Sharron tells their story in their brand new home in the youngest district of Dronten. It is strange, so waiting for a phone call that can come any time but can also take months, she notes. "Just live on, people tell us. We do that, but it is sometimes difficult, "says Sharron.

Institutionalized children against their will- Youth offices under pressure?

Movie by Detlef Schwarzer

Nationwide, 40 389 children were taken out of families in 2018, more than ever before. The majority without concrete suspicion of violence. Do the youth welfare offices react in response to the dramatic cases of recent years?

"ZDFzoom" explores the question of why youth welfare offices are increasingly resorting to the utmost remedy, the removal of children from families, and what dramatic consequences this can have.

"ZDFzoom" author Detlef Schwarzer was given insight into hundreds of letters desperate parents who fight in some lengthy litigation for the return of their children. The letters were received by the family policy spokesman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group; Marcus Weinberg sees great need for action on the part of politicians: "Many parents feel humiliated and compelled in family court or youth office procedures." Every single misjudgment, every single misjudged child is our job to review the system. "

It was an ecstatic reunion at a hotel in Sholinganallur when Nageshwar Rao and Abirami hugged their 22-year-old son Avinash, who was kidnapped in 1999 and later adopted by a U.S.-based couple.

“I’m happy they are doing well. I was overwhelmed when I saw them for the first time,” Mr. Avinash said speaking to The Hindu. “I enjoyed the food cooked by my birth mother. She cooks really well,” Mr. Avinash added.

“I owe a lot to the couple who adopted him and wish to meet them. He does not know Tamil. Our advocate S. Mohanavadivelan and his daughter have been translating,” Mr. Nageshwar said.

However, this is the result of arduous efforts since February 18, 1999, when Avinash, who was one and half years old, was kidnapped by an unidentified person while playing outside his house. He was sold to the Malayasian Social Service (MSS). He stayed there for a year before being adopted by the U.S. based couple.

“When police complaints got no proper response, we filed a habeas corpus case in the Madras High Court and after the CBI started investigating the cases against MSS, we found out that Avinash was in the U.S. In 2008, I sent a letter to the American couple but we were not able to contact him,” Mr. Mohanavadivelan recalled. The family decided to wait till he turned 18. “In 2015, he sent me a mail asking if I was still in touch with his parents and expressed his desire to meet them,” he added. Since then, they have been in touch.

Avinash was adopted by U.S.-based family

It was an ecstatic reunion at a hotel in Sholinganallur when Nageshwar Rao and Abirami hugged their 22-year-old son Avinash, who was kidnapped in 1999 and later adopted by a U.S.-based couple.

“I’m happy they are doing well. I was overwhelmed when I saw them for the first time,” Mr. Avinash said speaking to The Hindu. “I enjoyed the food cooked by my birth mother. She cooks really well,” Mr. Avinash added.

“I owe a lot to the couple who adopted him and wish to meet them. He does not know Tamil. Our advocate S. Mohanavadivelan and his daughter have been translating,” Mr. Nageshwar said.

However, this is the result of arduous efforts since February 18, 1999, when Avinash, who was one and half years old, was kidnapped by an unidentified person while playing outside his house. He was sold to the Malayasian Social Service (MSS). He stayed there for a year before being adopted by the U.S. based couple.

I’m happy to have seen him after so many years and sad that he will have to go back.

Chennai: For Nageshwar Rao and Sivagami life took a turn for the worse when their son Subhash was kidnapped from them when he was just about three years old. They were one of the many victims of the illegal adoption facilitated by Malaysian Social Services (MSS) an orphanage which for years has been involved in the illegal adoption of underprivileged children to other countries.

Twenty years later, the couple has finally reunited with their son, now named Avinash. “I feel happy and sad at the same time. I’m happy to have seen him after so many years and sad that he will have to go back.”, father Rao says of their bitter-sweet reunion. Avinash was kidnapped by an auto-driver from their home in Pulianthope and sold to MSS, which in turn made big money giving the boy in adoption to a couple in the USA.

Recalling that unfortunate night Rao says, “our world collapsed when we realised he was gone. We searched for him everywhere.” The family then ran from pillar to post having filed a complaint with the Commissioner and Inspector General and finally, the case was taken over by the CBI.

“Even though the CBI traced his whereabouts, it was only in 2017 that we were put in touch with him”, says Rao.