Associate Professor Sonja Van Wichelen, sociologist and leader of the Biohumanity FutureFix research project in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences made the call in a paper published in the latest issue of Law and Society Review.

In the paper, Associate Professor Van Wichelen argues that the world of international adoption today is undergoing profound changes and that legal systems and processes have been unable to catch up.

Over a period of five years, Associate Professor Van Wichelen conducted fieldwork in the United States and the Netherlands, where she visited a number of adoption agencies and conducted in-depth interviews and ethnographic research.

One key aspect of her research was an examination of the impact of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which was established in 1993 and sets out the international principles that govern intercountry adoption.

"The Convention does have an important role to play in ensuring the protection of the child and combating illegal and unethical adoptions," Associate Professor Van Wichelen said.

PUNE: The state has reported 32 deaths from 32 adoption agencies, data for three years from 2016-19 submitted by the

Women and Child Development Department show. As many as 776 deaths were reported in the country. The highest, 124 deaths, were from Uttar Pradesh. The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has sought detailed explanations on the cause of deaths. Last month, responding to a question in Lok Sabha (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Lok-Sabha), women and child development (WCD) minister Smriti Irani put out the data which said the highest number of deaths of children have been in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bihar), Maharashtra (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/maharashtra) and Telengana.

The cause of death, facilities provided at these agencies and the various issues plaguing these agencies will be taken up after the agencies provide a detailed report, officials from CARA said. Action has been initiated in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Telangana) where they have got the state machinery to shut down these agencies and even fine some for poor maintenance. A detailed report will be sought for Maharashtra. The state has 63 adoption agencies, the highest in the country. “We have had to close down two agencies in Uttar Pradesh and in Telengana we had to fine them for non-maintenance. Action against others will follow,’’ officials said. CARA officials said the state agencies must monitor the agencies in their jurisdiction and report to them. The government has made registration of all agencies compulsory. Over 8,000 adoption agencies are registered with the respective authorities for monitoring.

Senior officials from the WCD department said the government was all set to bring in amendments in the Juvenile Justice Act in the last Lok Sabha session. When amended it will make the district magistrate the competent officer for approving adoptions instead of the civil courts. The ministry says it will prevent long delays in courts and expedite adoption. “We will be reintroducing the amendment in the upcoming session and plan to bring in an amendment to the JJ Act for making the district magistrate and collector as the competent officer for approving adoptions, instead of courts,’’ they said. With the civil courts already burdened with huge number of pending cases, matters such as adoption keep getting delayed. On the other hand, district magistrates or district collectors have access to all departments will find it easier to seek documents or verify facts on the ground faster.

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) -

For Gina Schneider, a global gamble paid off in every way she could have imagined.

“It’s just a question mark, I couldn’t answer it,” she said.

At a young age, she was adopted from the country of Romania. She grew up with the only parent she knew – Doctor Stephen Schneider and his wife Linda.

Both of whom were convicted nearly a decade ago, when prosecutors accused them of running a ‘pill mill’ operation. They’re both serving sentences for illegally prescribing opioids to patients.

In a first, Amboli police register case of a child being sold under the guise of an illegal deed of adoption

The Amboli police recently registered a case of unlawful adoption after arresting the accused on June 26. Durgamiti Saha, 38, had allegedly sold her baby girl born at Cooper Hospital in Juhu on January 8 to 42-year-old Kirpal Singh. Against the Central Adoption and Registration Agency's (CARA) rules of adoption, Singh and Saha had filed a deed of adoption at the Andheri Metropolitan Court on January 22 with monetary compensation to the mother.

Two days after the child's birth, Saha's neighbour had alerted an NGO about the deal for Rs 1,50,000. Despite being warned by the NGO against doing so, Saha allegedly settled for a sum of Rs 20,000 and in February, handed her daughter over to Singh who took the infant to his wife in Punjab.

Also Read: Two minor girls sold off by parents for Rs 1,500 each; probe ordered

The matter was then brought to the notice of the Child Welfare Committee which filed a case with the Amboli police. The CWC took custody of the child after Singh's arrest on June 26. The seven-month-old is currently kept at Vatsalya Trust, an orphanage in Kanjurmarg, where she will stay until a legal conclusion in the case is drawn.

Before speaking on ‘Understanding Abortion’, Sushmita Sen gave her views on motherhood, not finding the right man at the right time, and Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: Former Miss Universe and actor Sushmita Sen adopted a girl when she was 24, thus becoming an example for thousands of single Indian women who wanted to become mothers. The 43-year-old mother-of-two was recently in the city attending a programme by Young Ficci Ladies Organisation. Before she started her talk on ‘Understanding Abortion’, she gave her views on motherhood, not finding the right man at the right time, and Hyderabad. “Hydrabad is my Janmastan,” she began, adding, “I was born here. Coming here always feels like coming home. I have a room here in Filmnagar that’s named Sush,” said the gorgeous actor who was wearing a pale yellow dress.

Explaining the beauty of adoption, she said: “A biological mother and her child are connected through an umbilical chord, but a mother and her adopted child are connected by a higher power.” However, the journey was fraught with struggles. She said: “The process of adoption in our country is very complicated. Documents, orientation and many such things make it very difficult for people to adopt. I appeal to authorities to make adoption less tedious. I fought a legal battle of 10 years to be able to adopt my second daughter, Alisa, because Indian laws don’t allow adoption of another girl after a girl. I challenged this along with like-minded people and changed the law.”

When asked what made her make such an unconventional decision at the peak of her movie career, the actor says, “The decision to adopt a child was a culmination of a lot of things. Being crowned Miss Universe when I was 18 years old opened up my world. Before that, I was a regular girl worrying about college admissions. Winning the title also took to various orphanages around the world, and that is when I felt a strong connection with children. Sometimes, children from the orphanages would ask me to take them home, and that made me think. I started wondering what the use of all my fame was if I could not give one of those children a home?”

Disagreeing that adoption was the highest form of altruism, Sushmita said, “Adoption was not an act for charity for me. It stabilised a lot of things in my life. It was an act of self preservation. However, I am proud of the fact that I stuck to my true calling at the peak of my career. I wanted to be a mother, but I was not particular about giving birth.”

Shareable Link to Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J5V9vSWVCWSKzAxCKr1u6I0UIYZlR9xz

Shareable Link to the official file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J5V9vSWVCWSKzAxCKr1u6I0UIYZlR9xz

The Government of Romania, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Labour and Social Justice, and the UNICEF in Romania Office signed today a new partnership for the benefit of Romanian and world children.

The document lays down the cooperation objectives that the two parties will pursue until 2022. Among others, one objective is to jointly promote children’s rights in Europe and in the world, through the exchange of best practices and expertise that Romania has developed over the past 30 years. A relevant example to this effect is the recent International Conference “Children's participation in EU decision and policy making”, held in Bucharest on the 6th and 7th of May, under Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

“Romania is firmly committed to advancing and protecting children's rights and, over the years, has made significant progress in this direction. The Romanian laws, but also the Governmental policies on children’s rights, comply with the international agreements, primarily with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (in 2019, we celebrate 30 years from its adoption), and with the standards of the European Union and Council of Europe.

In this context, I wish to emphasize the excellent cooperation that the Government and UNICEF started in 1991 and continued on multiple levels to date. UNICEF has significantly contributed to Romania’s progress in the matter of children's rights”, said Teodor Mele?canu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the occasion of signing the new partnership agreement.

UNICEF will continue to support the Government of Romania to implement education, health and social protection policies, with a view to ensuring fair access to quality services for all Romanian children, in particular to the vulnerable ones. To achieve this objective, UNICEF and its partners - central and local government, NGOs and children - are developing and testing models focused on reducing vulnerabilities and promoting social inclusion of the most disadvantaged groups of children.

SERA Romania Foundation wants to create a recovery center for children with disabilities in Calarasi

In the ordinary meeting of the Calarasi County Council, which will take place on Thursday, June 28, the draft decisions regarding the approval of the Calarasi County association with the SERA Romania Foundation and the General Directorate for Social Assistance and Social Protection will be submitted to the County Council. investment objective "Recovery center for the child with disabilities Calarasi". In our county, there are identified 237 minors with autism spectrum disorder, of whom 70 are in Calarasi municipality, and 49 minors with Down Syndrome, of which ten are in Calarasi municipality.

In promoting the best interests of the child, the society's efforts must be directed towards supporting and assuming responsibilities towards it in order to increase the quality of life, aiming to ensure that all services, in any of the areas of interest, comply with the standards for its harmonious development.

Disability is part of the human condition. Anyone can reach a disability situation resulting from the interaction of health conditions with the environment in which the person lives, develops and works. Disability is a complex phenomenon, multidimensional and dynamic, at present the focus is on removing the barriers of attitude and environment, which impedes the full and effective participation of people with disabilities in society, on a level playing field with others.

SERA Romania Foundation, through the registered address to the Calarasi County Council under no. 8970 from May 22, 2018, communicated a proposal for an association agreement between Calarasi County with SERA Romania Foundation and with the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection in Calarasi for achieving the investment objective "Recovery Center for the child with Calarasi disabilities". Through this Agreement, the SERA Foundation commits itself to bear the expenses generated by the construction of the headquarters, as well as its endowments in proportion of 85%, and the Calarasi County Council has a share of 15% of the entire value of the investment.

Head of JK Rowling's children's charity steps down amid allegations of 'bullying and intimidation' by ex-employees

Georgette Mulheir has now left her role as Lumos's £160,000-a-year CEO

She was described as 'a bully' and part of 'egomaniacal senior management'

Rowling set up the charity after she read a newspaper article about children in orphanages in the Czech Republic being put in caged beds

By ALEX WARD FOR THE DAILY MAIL