Former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, the far-right Republican who was found by a House-commissioned investigation to have planned and participated in domestic terrorism, is in a small town in Poland with more than 60 Ukrainian children, trying to facilitate their adoption in America.

Shea has said his group helped rescue 62 children and their two adult caregivers from an orphanage in Mariupol, the city in southeastern Ukraine that has been bombarded by Russian forces.

But international agencies say, with the chaos and confusion of war, now is not an appropriate time for international adoptions from Ukraine. And Shea’s presence, and the lack of information surrounding the American group he’s with, has raised concerns among some residents of Kazimierz Dolny, the small Polish town where the children are staying at a hotel-guesthouse.

“I asked him many times, ‘What are you going to do with these children?’ and he told me that it’s not my business,'” Weronika Ziarnicka, an aide to the mayor of Kazimierz Dolny, said of Shea. “I got the feeling in my gut that something’s wrong with this guy; he didn’t want to tell me his last name.”

Shea, who rarely speaks to mainstream media, did not respond to requests for comment.

More than 14,000 girls and women went through the doors of mother and baby homes, Magdalene laundries and other institutions between 1922 and 1990.

Police in Northern Ireland are probing 29 allegations of criminal activity around mother and baby homes.

Officers have received reports from a number of people who were adopted from different named institutions and also from some who either worked there or were residents within these institutions.

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Summary: This is a response by Scottish mothers. We hope to corroborate evidence that the committee may receive from mothers of MAA who gave birth in England or Wales prior to 1976. We believe that a full public inquiry, such as that commissioned by the Australian Senate is necessary to assess the scale, nature and consequences of historic adoption practices in the UK. Our submission provides anecdotal evidence in response to key questions set by this JCHR inquiry, that is largely concordant with Australian findings. In short, we contend that the right to family life was not respected, nor was the right to freedom from degrading treatment.

This is a submission on behalf of Origins Scotland, which is affiliated with Origins International – an organisation which was founded in Australia in 1995 by Dian Wellfare. Origins International has branches in a number of countries including Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand. Origins Scotland was set up in 2010 by Marion McMillan, who has now stepped back due to ill health. A number of our mothers, including Marion, have collaborated with the Movement for an Adoption Apology(MAA) over the years since it’s formation, and have made contributions to associated activism in Scotland and at Westminster. It is surprising and disappointing that our mothers are not included in this JHRC inquiry. In addition, our members had babies taken for adoption in the 60’s, late 70’s and early 80’s, with a significant proportion in the later period after 1976.

Accounts of forced adoption practices are difficult to obtain and verify. Women who were traumatised, humiliated and shamed are often reluctant to speak, and very reluctant to be identified. Prior to the advent of internet forums and facebook groups, it was difficult for those affected by adoption to find one another. For many, first contact with another mother was the first occasion on which they realised that many of their troubling experiences were far from unique. Following a recent BBC documentary, mothers and adoptees have contacted Origins, and while not all of those wished to join a campaign, all showed a strong desire to share their experiences.

A full public inquiry, as ordered by the Senate in Australia, would be the only way to determine the scale, nature and consequences of the policies and practices which facilitated historic forced adoption. The Senate report resulted in the commissioning of formal research - Past adoption experiences National Research Study on the Service Response to Past Adoption Practices Pauline Kenny, Daryl Higgins, Carol Soloff and Reem Sweid

We decided it was right for us to make a submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry to support our Movement for Adoption Apology friends. Our submission will be anecdotal, rather than quantitative. However, we are very confident that our evidence will corroborate the submissions made by those in England and Wales, as it is largely concordant with the findings of the Australian research.

Catalogue by titles / Inter-country adoption from Romania - the big test

Documentation presentation

ISS/IRC Code PER-CH 02-012

Partner DCI code 7946

Title Inter-country adoption from Romania - the big test

Vaststelling begroting Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (V) voor het jaar 2008

31200 V 126 Lijst van vragen en antwoorden

Vergaderjaar 2007-2008

Nr. 126 Vastgesteld 12 juni 2008

De vaste commissie voor Buitenlandse Zaken1 heeft een aantal vragen voorgelegd aan de ministers voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en van Buitenlandse Zaken over de brief van 1 april 2008 inzake de opvang en rechtspositie van weeskinderen (Kamerstuk 31 200 V, nr. 84).

For Morgan Terch, owner of Wilder Way Threads, business is more than just the bottom line. It’s gotta have heart. That’s why her shop, which sells vintage textiles, donates 25 percent of its proceeds to adoptive parents and families.

The story of Wilder Way began in 2020 when Terch and her husband and co-owner, Jeffrey, were on their own adoption journey. They were trying to bring their daughter, Eden, home from India and needed help to defray costs. Having both worked for a local adoption agency, they were aware of how difficult, and pricey, the process would be and knew they would need to get creative. Terch recalled a supplier in Turkey, whom she had bought pillow cases from for her home, and decided to reach back out to him. She purchased a small order, did a sale on her Instagram account, and sold all 40 items in an hour. Coincidentally, it turned out the man had been orphaned as a child, creating even more of a connection. From there, the seed of an idea blossomed into a plan and things seemed to fall into place. What if they could create a small business to help other people on the same path?

“I thought…let’s keep doing this,” says Terch. “I love looking at these textiles. I love that we’re supporting this man in Turkey…and his small business…that’s a win-win. And then we’re also helping make a way for us to provide a home for our future child.”

According to Terch, a typical adoption, international or domestic, can take years to finalize and cost upwards to $40,000. However, she goes on to highlight, it’s important to use a licensed, Hague-accredited service as it ensures that the proper, legal steps are taken.

“On one hand, that is probably a barrier that keeps a lot of people from adopting,” says Terch. “But, on the flip side, having worked in an adoption agency, I really see the benefit of [it] being expensive. The fees ensure that the adoption is done the right way.”

Penny Mackieson finally has the name that feels right to her, nearly 60 years after she was inadvertently swapped with another baby when the infants were placed for adoption.

After mustering the courage to contact the person that records indicated was her biological mother, the Melbourne woman spent two decades getting to know and love the woman and her family.

But gnawing doubts, spurred by the fact she resembled no one in the family, led her and her believed-to-be mother to take DNA tests, which revealed they were not related.

Adoption Information Services then connected with an elderly Greek woman – Mackieson’s real biological mother.

After a 15-minute court hearing before the Victorian county court on Tuesday, Mackieson’s 33-year search for the truth was finalised.

American adoptions of children in Ukraine are in limbo due to the war, stopping many American parents from being united with their Ukrainian children.

16-year-old Sasha is supposed to be adopted and with his family in America right now. Instead, he is stuck watching a war happen right outside of his window.

"From the moment that he stepped through the doors at the airport, I was like, that is my son. And it really didn’t take any more than that. We didn’t need language; we didn’t need to bond. He was my son. And that was the end of it," says his soon-to-be adoptive mother, Jennifer Ruff.

That is how Jennifer describes her relationship with Sasha, a 16-year-old orphan in Ukraine, who already calls her mom.

“He fit in with our family immediately. So he is very silly and goofy, he is athletic. He loves sports, especially soccer and volleyball, those are his favorites," says Jennifer.

Comic book artist Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom was in her 30s when she learned she was a “paper orphan”.

Born in South Korea, and taken to an orphanage before being adopted to a Swedish family at 2 years old, Sjöblom was removed from her mother because of her unmarried status. Poverty, disability, religion or simply being indigenous can be enough of a reason for the adoption industry to take children from their first families, she says.

As a “paper orphan”, Sjöblom was registered as an orphan even though her parents who were alive and known to authorities.

Illicit transnational adoption has deliberately erased the families and identities of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

Now, the comic book artist, illustrator and adoptees rights activist lives in T?maki Makaurau Auckland with her partner, children and cat.

The Bombay high court has directed the Dharavi division deputy collector to issue a caste certificate within two weeks to the adopted son of a single mother, assigning him the same caste as her.

A division bench of justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap passed an operative order on Tuesday allowing the petition filed by the 44-year-old doctor, a Borivali West resident. A detailed order is expected in due course.

In the petition, filed through advocate Pradeep Havnur, the woman said the process to adopt the boy was approved by the Bombay City Civil Court in October 2009.

The woman, who belongs to the Hindu Mahyavanshi (scheduled caste) community, then applied to the deputy collector in 2016 for a caste certificate for her son seeking the same caste. On September 3 that year, the deputy collector rejected her plea, saying her documents could not be accepted for assigning the same caste.

The District Caste Scrutiny Committee for Mumbai city rejected her appeal against the deputy collector’s order on November 30, 2017 citing absence of specific legal provisions covering adopted children. The woman then moved the high court.