One of the US's most wanted sex offenders has been arrested in France after 14 years. A few years ago, he was able to adopt two children from Vietnam under his assumed name. Now, he is also facing charges in France for the rape of minors.

"A sexual predator with an icy stare," is how Arizona media describes him. The United States has already officially requested the extradition of Michael Wiseman, a man in his forties who has multiple convictions for child sexual abuse.

Wiseman was arrested on November 1st in the town of Kilstett, in the French Alsace region, but the news only just broke. He will now face decades behind bars in the US. When he will be deported is not yet certain. As soon as possible, according to the US authorities.

Wiseman was first arrested in Arizona in February 2008 on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Police Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU). He was suspected at the time of raping minors under the age of 15. In November of that year, while under judicial supervision, he cut off his ankle monitor and fled the US. His name then appeared on Interpol's Most Wanted list for the first time.

Foster care is under pressure, even for babies in need: “One child had to wait two months in the hospital for a place.”

Currently, 164 babies aged 0 to 1 year are on the waiting list for foster care. The number of applications is increasing year after year. The number of babies placed outside their homes is also rising. "A baby often has to stay in the hospital for weeks because there's no suitable place anywhere."

Steven De Bock Domestic Reporter

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From 10 to 14 November 2025, the Working Group (WG) on Parentage / Surrogacy met for the fifth time. The meeting, held in hybrid format, had over 45 registered delegates and other experts, representing 24 HCCH Members and three Observers, in addition to members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.

Pursuant to its mandate, the WG continued its consideration of draft provisions for one new instrument on legal parentage generally, including legal parentage following an international surrogacy arrangement, and finalised its report for the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP).

The WG will present its Final Report on the Feasibility of a possible Convention on the Recognition of Judgments on Legal Parentage to CGAP in March 2026.

More information is available on the Parentage / Surrogacy Section of the HCCH website.

The VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) submitted a private member's bill on Wednesday that would allow a child to have a maximum of four parents, divided between a maximum of two households. However, multi-parenthood must be granted by a judge before the pregnancy.

According to Member of Parliament Ingrid Michon-Derkzen, this concerns situations in which two women have a child with a man, or two men have a child with a woman. Currently, two of those parents are officially the parents of the child.

According to the VVD, this causes problems in everyday life, for example, at school, in the hospital, or with inheritances. "With this bill, we will legally enshrine what has long been a reality in practice. Legislation lagged behind current practice. With this bill, we will rectify that," says Michon-Derkzen.

Only parents who enter into such a relationship after the law's passage can claim legal co-parenthood. It's not possible for people who already have one or more children in such a situation.

The House of Representatives has been discussing options for multi-parenthood since 2016, but no legislation has yet been passed. Former State Secretary Teun Struycken (NSC) advised against it, arguing it would be too expensive. According to him, there are approximately 150,000 such families in the Netherlands.

Identification of children 29.05.24.pdf

Verslag van de hoorzitting en gedachtewisseling namens de Commissie voor Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Gezin uitgebracht door Lorin Parys en Freya Van den Bossche over interlandelijke adoptie uit Ethiopië

Adoptie

Adoptiekinderen die kat de bel aanbonden blijven met wrang gevoel zitten bij onderzoek naar fraude

Na getuigenissen over fraude met adopties uit Ethiopië belooft minister van Welzijn Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) een onderzoek. Adinda Aelvoet en Priyani Libert blijven met een wrang gevoel achter. ‘Omdat het bijna verkiezingen zijn, schieten onze politici nu in gang. Toen wij anderhalf jaar geleden met ons adoptieverhaal naar buiten kwamen, gebeurde er niets.’Adinda Aelvoet ging in Sri Lanka op zoek naar haar biologische ouders.Bron Tim Dirven

Dit artikel is geschreven doorJan StevensGepubliceerd op 2 mei 2019, 11:00

Bewaren

Te lange wachtrijen en te duur: 'Adoptie uit het buitenland is een eindig verhaal'

05/01/16 om 09:59 - Bijgewerkt om 10:00

'Adoptie uit het buitenland is een eindig verhaal', zo schrijft gewezen minister Wivina Demeester in een opiniestuk in De standaard. 'Vandaag is het vele jaren wachten en de kostprijs is zeer hoog. Niet meer te verantwoorden eigenlijk.'

Te lange wachtrijen en te duur: 'Adoptie uit het buitenland is een eindig verhaal'

Wivina Demeester © BELGA

'Adoption from abroad is a finite story', writes former minister Wivina Demeester in an opinion piece in De Standaard. 'Today we have to wait many years and the cost is very high. Can't really be held accountable anymore.'

Wivina Demeester was chairman of the adoption organization Ray of Hope for ten years, traveled to various African and Asian countries and also visited international organizations such as Unicef, Plan International or Save the Children. She believes that adoption from abroad is a finite story.

Read also

'There is no such thing as the right to a child'

'Would I still advise today's parents to adopt intercountry? I do not think so.' Demeester has an adoptive daughter himself and mainly discusses the evolution of the adoption procedure.

Nieuws uit adoptieland

04/02/2013 Verslag bezoek delegatie Ministry of Womens, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA)

De kindjes van chocola

Posted by Kindjes Van Chocola Mon, February 04, 2013 18:09:51

Woensdag 9 januari kwamen 3 mensen van het MOWCYA uit Ethiopië aan op Zaventem. De delegatie levert adviezen van zowel de kind- als ouderdossiers m.b.t. adoptie af aan de rechter van de rechtbank van eerste aanleg.