Investigations have revealed widespread fraud and abuse in South Korea’s international adoption program

Erin Huppert, who was adopted from South Korea as an infant, wasn’t much interested in learning more about her pre-adoption history. But the St. Paul resident is reconsidering that now.

“I have never had any interest in finding anything out about my biological family or trying to contact them in any way,” Huppert said. “I had always held the opinion that they made the decisions they needed to make at the time, and that my family was my American adopted family. And it really only has been in light of the stories over the last couple of months that I’m now reevaluating everything.”

Those stories are from an Associated Press investigation released last year looking into fraudulent adoption practices that facilitated the adoption of thousands of Korean children into families around the world in the years following the Korean War.

After a nearly three-year investigation, a South Korean commission in late March found that the government bears responsibility for facilitating a program with widespread fraud and abuse — enabled by private agencies — that violated children’s human rights.

It is possible to acknowledge that transnational adoption occurs in a world marked by inequality, while at the same time insisting that it can be in the best interests of the child if it is done ethically. Denmark should reopen international adoption

The Danish government's decision to stop international adoption as of January 2024 is a fatal mistake that risks harming orphans who are now left to an uncertain future. Instead of putting the best interests of children at the center, the debate has been about criticizing the mistakes of the past, while today's orphans are overlooked.

Author Maja Lee Langvad , who herself is an adoptee and was recently interviewed by this newspaper in connection with her acceptance of the Montana Literary Prize, wants a permanent end to international adoption, which she believes is an extension of colonial structures. Langvad makes an important point about the price many adoptees have paid to become part of a new country and a new family. But recognizing structural injustice does not mean that international adoption is inherently wrong. Many adoptions have occurred out of genuine need – children who were abandoned, without care or the opportunity to stay in their family of origin – just as many adoptive parents do not act out of a colonial mindset, but out of a desire to give a child love and security. And for many like myself, adoption has been a path to life, opportunity and the support of a family.

Of course, adoptions must be ethically sound, and as an adoptee, I recognize the need for an impartial legal investigation of transnational adoptions to Denmark. Serious mistakes and cases of fraud must be avoided. But stopping transnational adoptions indefinitely fails the children who are currently in orphanages without the prospect of a stable family. My own adoption has been life-changing, and it is deeply concerning that Denmark is now closing its doors to children in the same situation.

International adoption has long been a political hot potato and divided the waters among adoptees. But why do we almost only hear about criticism and negative stories? There are over 20,000 adoptees in Denmark, and hardly everyone believes that adoption is fundamentally wrong or driven by evil intentions. 

On Thursday, April 25, there will be an opportunity to experience an experienced aid worker in Brovsat.

At a senior gathering at Brovst Baptist Church, Jessie Rosenmeier from Aalborg will talk about her long life as a relief worker in several different places around the world. She will do so at 2 p.m. in the Baptist church.

Jessie Rosenmeier has sometimes been compared to Mother Teresa, whom she also met as a young woman in India.

The focus has always been on street children and children without parents in India, but also in other places around the world.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that buying babies and presenting them as adopted is illegal. It has commented that they should be treated humanely, but cannot be justified legally.

We cannot legitimize illegality with our special powers.

They took a two-day-old baby.. Where is the humanity in this?

Supreme Court comments on the illegal purchase of children in the name of adoption

The next hearing has been postponed to May 7.

On July 21, 2022, the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity (IAAME) suspended the intercountry adoption accreditation of Promise Kids A Future, Inc. for failing to maintain substantial compliance with accreditation standards.

During this suspension, Promise Kids A Future, Inc. must cease to provide all adoption services in connection with intercountry adoption cases.  Promise Kids A Future, Inc. is not required to transfer their cases to another accredited or approved adoption service provider.  If you have an open case with Promise Kids A Future, Inc., please contact them directly to find out how the suspension will affect your case.  We also encourage families to review the information published by IAAME about selecting a primary provider/adoption service provider and the accreditation/approval requirements. 

The Department of State does not review or approve case or record transfer plans and has a limited role in their execution.  The Department does, however, communicate with competent adoption authorities about the accreditation status of agencies and persons and case transfer plans, as needed.

Affected families may wish to review information about Case Transfer Responsibilities on the Department of State’s website and information about If Your Agency is No Longer Accredited/Approved on the USCIS website. 

We also encourage families with outstanding post-adoption reports to contact their adoption service provider for guidance on how to proceed.  Information about post-adoption reporting requirements is available on the country-specific information pages on the Department of State’s website.  Requirements vary by country with respect to frequency of submission, information to be included, and methods of submission.

Based on its multi-layered work at individual casework and research levels as well as through its capacity building, technical assistance and evidence-based advocacy initiatives, ISS wishes to draw the ACERWC’s attention to the following issues that put children’s rights at risk in the African continent and beyond:

National child protection systems continue to require further strengthening through concrete capacity building initiatives and the development of technical resources that allow for harmonised, multisectoral and efficient approaches among child protection professionals. Through its work in Morocco, in collaboration with UNICEF Morocco and the Ministry of Solidarity, ISS is engaged in advancing the protection of children in vulnerable situations, whether they remain in their family environment or are placed in the child protection system through robust gatekeeping mechanisms, quality family-based alternative care options and family reintegration. However, ISS observes steadily decreasing budgets in child protection and prevailing obstacles to achieving sustainable change for children and families through effective prevention services and schemes. ISS work in Ivory Coast is an example of how to try to address root causes of child abandonment (2024 Study), advance on introducing specialised foster care and develop community-based solutions for families and children with disabilities.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Yul-rip = People who were adopted overseas from Korea from the 1960s to the 1990s have called on the 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) to further uncover the truth about human rights violations in the past overseas adoption process.

Overseas adoptees and domestic and international organizations that applied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for truth-finding held a press conference in front of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 10th and announced, "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission must convey the conclusion of its investigation into the remaining 311 people and whether the truth has been revealed within its term."

In addition, they argued that "when determining the truth, the lack of adoption documents and background information for the adoptee is itself evidence and a result of human rights violations," and that "the decision must be made by taking into consideration the special nature of the adoptee's human rights violations."

They added that all 367 adoptees who applied for truth-finding should be able to receive the results of the investigation and a response to the truth-finding inquiry, and that if a decision on human rights violations and truth-finding is not made before the conclusion of the 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation, a 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be established to continue the investigation.

Min Young-chang, head of the Korean Adoptees' Solidarity, urged, "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission should actively approach the truth," and "If they cannot approach it on their own, they should request it from the National Assembly."

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Unicef ??embarrassed after accusations Belgian director

The director of Unicef ??in Belgium, Bernard Sintobin, resigns temporarily after just one week because he may have been involved in child trafficking and adoption fraud. According to Belgian media, a judicial investigation is being conducted into an adoption agency from Wallonia where Sintobin was a director.

The 67-year-old Bernard Sintobin was appointed last Monday at the Belgian division of Unicef, the children's rights organization of the United Nations. He would combine the position with his job as a business manager at a publishing house.

The federal public prosecutor confirms to Belgian media that research is being done on the adoption agency Hacer Puente. The agency was co-founded in the 1980s by Sintobin. He had just adopted three children from Guatemala and wanted to help other prospective parents with the administration needed to adopt a child from that country.

Counterfeit papers

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