A while ago, the world's second largest Adoption Mediator celebrated the Swedish Adoption Center (AC) for 50 years. AC

In conjunction with the jubilee, gave an anniversary script and in the script found in addition to several interviews and a kind of timeline

who describes AC's history a number of old photographs such as a picture of the Queen who visited AC in 1984

but also a group picture from an AC conference that took place in Skövde in 1997 in connection with AC forming one

special department for adopted who was named Forum for adopted.

Television viewers have been used to Paul de Leeuw chasing laughter over the back of others for years , but in private this is less appreciated. His son has now addressed him about this. The BNNVARA star confesses this in his column in the AD. The Lion was arguing with his son for a day and a half. “ Not a nice word is said anymore. Suddenly the word comes out: he is not happy. That has to do with me. He says he's done with some of the jokes I make. “

De Leeuw's drive to score is not appreciated by his son. " Why? Because it is always at his expense. I still defend that it is not true at all. And that I also see him laughing at my jokes. Yes, he likes them if they are not at his expense. But the jokes I make about him and what others laugh about make him unhappy . ”

De Leeuw first took the criticism of his son personally. " It's quiet at the table and the first thing I think is: more people who don't like me anymore ."

“ I soon realize that I don't want him to be unhappy about things I say. And I promise to pay attention and hold back . ”

Although it is difficult as a blatant, De Leeuw has managed to date 'not to joke at the expense of the children'.

Journalists Cindy Huijgen and Ruth van der Kolk were babies in the same Chinese children's home and were adopted by Dutch parents. They write to each other about how their fairytale image changed from adoption: "The story I was told is now unsettled."

Journalists Cindy Huijgen (29) and Ruth van der Kolk (27) were born in China and ended up in the same children's home as babies. In the 1990s they both ended up in the Netherlands via adoption. Years later, the women go in search of their roots separately. The romantic image that they would have been rescued from a hopeless situation does not last. An exchange of letters.

CINDY HUIJGEN: 'MY LIFE IN CHINA HAD NOT BEEN HOPELESS'

Cindy Huijgen was adopted from China in 1993 and grew up in a village close to Rotterdam. Since 2019 she has lived in Beijing, where she works as a correspondent for De Telegraaf, among others .

Hi Ruth,

DebateA touch of corruption when the State Treasury on behalf of the government investigates international adoption activities, write Maria Fredriksson and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, themselves adopted from Korea.

On behalf of the Government, the State Treasury has written the report “The organization of international adoption activities (2021: 1). It is based, among other things, on interviews with representatives of relevant actors, such as intermediaries and associations for adoptees, as well as four unnamed adopted persons who have not been members of any interest group. They were contacted through the adoption organization Adoptionscentrum.

Questioned selection

The statements of the four adoptees are similar to those of the adoption agencies, which is why the State Treasury was asked who these four adoptees were. It turned out to be the Adoption Center's current chairman, vice chairman (also adoptive parent), an administrator for the association's activities "Travel and roots", and a former chairman. The choice of these four is justified by the fact that "it is important for the credibility and legitimacy of an investigation to shed light on different perceptions that exist within the discourse."

These adoptees cannot be considered to add any perspectives that have not already been presented via other interviewees other than that, unlike some of the other adoptees, they are clearly in favor of continued adoption mediation. Furthermore, it is serious that the State Treasury seems to consider that a legitimate fight for ethical adoptions and redress is about perceptions and perspectives and that they pose victims of illegal adoptions against opinions from four adoptees who are so strongly linked to Sweden's largest adoption agency.

VIJAYAWADA: The state Women Development and Child Welfare Committee has welcomed the amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 that the Union Cabinet approved Wednesday. Post the changes, the adoption process in the country is expected to speed up as district magistrates have been empowered to issue adoption orders and monitor implementation of the law.

“The involvement of civil and district courts in issuing the adoption orders delays the overall process. The courts, which are already burdened by the heavy load of civil cases, struggle to prioritise the adoption-related procedures,” Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW) director Krithika Shukla told TNIE.

At present, there are 288 children waiting to be adopted in Andhra Pradesh. While Visakhapatnam tops the table in terms of children waiting for adoption (57), West Godavari (three) is at the bottom of the list. As many as 3,241 prospective adoptive parents have registered from the state, and some of them have been in the queue since 2016.

“Of the 288 children, many were rescued and some were abandoned by their biological parents. They are being taken care of at Shishu Kendras till their adoption,” said WDCW additional director Vijayalakshmi. “The prospective parents have completed all formalities and are willing to adopt children from across India,” she added.

Other proposed amendments to the law require stricter recruitment norms in the child welfare committees. “The Centre has asked for stricter norms for CWC recruitments. Andhra Pradesh has a robust appointment policy in place since 2017,” Shukla added.

The government has failed to combat adoption abuses, but the same government can also organize safe adoption, argues René Hoksbergen.

After the publication of the report of the Joustra committee, there was immediately a lot of attention in the media and also in the Volkskrant for international adoption. It was to be expected that adoptive parents and some adoptees would resist an adoption stop.

The committee's recommendations: acknowledge that the government has failed to combat adoption abuses and suspend all adoptions for the time being, are after all painful for those involved. Serious abuses in intercountry adoption had been known for decades . Only the lawsuits of a few adult adoptees forced the government to set up the Joustra commission of inquiry.

Of course, immediate reactions followed that an adoption stop would be at the expense of foreign children . After all, they are now living well with their adoptive parents. Parents who indeed often devote themselves with love and attention to these children in need. And that's how intercountry adoption started around 1970, with idealism and the involvement of possible adoptive parents. They themselves often already had children. The taboo on adoption had virtually disappeared in the meantime. By the way, the world became more and more open due to the increasing air traffic and the rise of television . Poverty and misery entered the living room almost every day through the CRT . The need for aid to the Third World was widely accepted.

Abuses

Bea Garnier-Merz offers members of the Bundeswehr and their families advice and support in social matters. But when the lights go out in your office, your social commitment doesn't fall by the wayside. Because then the employee of the social service of the Bundeswehr in Koblenz gets involved in the association “Help a child eV” registered association ”. This association offers help with adoptions abroad.

Still a little tired from the exhausting journey, Bea Garnier-Merz and her colleague Angela Gönemann review the past few days. The two employees of the social services of the Bundeswehr covered around 17,000 kilometers by air in a short time. The reason: They brought ten children between the ages of three and seven from Haiti to Germany to hand over to new adoptive parents. Both women are involved in the adoption agency “Help a child eV”registered association"

Despite the corona pandemic, the flight to Haiti could be carried out. Without further ado, the association chartered an aircraft with pilots and flight attendants. The machine was on the road for almost three days. Started in Brussels, spent the night in Guadeloupe, then on to Port-au- Prince. A three-hour stay and then back again. Cost: around 100,000 euros. The new parents paid a large part. The remaining amount has been donated for this purpose. “It is an enormous effort, but when we look into the happy faces of the children when we hand them over to the new mums and dads, then that makes up for everything,” says Garnier-Merz.

There was a lot going on on the return flight: excitement and anticipation for what lies ahead.

Many of the children have never seen a plane in their lives, let alone sat in one ",

Nicole (44) and Babette (29) had one more meeting to go with the Child Care and Protection Board before they could possibly receive approval for an adoption. Due to the adoption ban, they are now in uncertainty.

“There is never a guarantee that it will go ahead, but that it will not happen for this reason, we never expected,” said Babette.

The women do not want their last name to be mentioned for privacy reasons.

ADOPTION STOP

After a damning report by the Joustra Committee on intercountry adoption in the Netherlands, Minister Dekker suspended all intercountry adoptions last week. The committee speaks of 'structurally serious abuses ' in the Dutch adoption system. According to the report, the system is 'susceptible to fraud'.

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INFORMATIE DOSSIER

Samenwerkende Vergunninghouders Adoptie ten behoeve van het Algemeen Overleg

Februari 2021

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In the 1970s, Hans Walenkamp and his wife Ina adopted three children from Colombia, Korea and Suriname. The harsh report on the role of the government in adoption abuses hurts him. "We couldn't have acted better at that time."

It did not come out of the blue. As early as the 1980s, he heard the first discord about adoption, and the image he and his wife had when they embraced their first child in 1971 turned out to be incorrect. Still, the report saddens Hans Walenkamp. “As an adoptive parent, I feel pushed into a corner by the conclusions of the Joustra committee. The advice makes it appear as if I am part of a criminal circuit. ”

Walenkamp (78) also finds the thought that he may have indirectly contributed to abuses. This week it became clear again that foreign adoptions have been forged papers, information has been erased and adopted children often cannot trace their roots. The rock-hard report on the role of the government in these kinds of problems led to a halt in international adoptions.

“My wife and I have talked about it a lot. But I have to say that we haven't felt guilty for a moment. We looked around the adoptions of our three children very carefully and enlisted the help of a bona fide government-approved broker. We have made decisions with a lot of good will, ethical awareness and care. We could not have acted better at that time. ”

'Even if you only save one'