LONDON, United Kingdom — The past few decades have seen an upsurge in the phenomenon of “paper orphaning.” Children are taken illicitly from their birthparents and are falsely presented as orphans by means of fraudulent documentation, rendering the children “legally” adoptable to satisfy the demand for intercountry adoptions. This demand, mainly from couples in developed countries wanting to adopt from the Global South, combined with the adoption fees associated, results in recruiters in sending nations using illicit means to generate a sufficient supply of “adoptable” children, or illegal orphans. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, illegal intercountry adoption is a human rights issue as the act violates several human rights and has “devastating consequences on the lives and rights of victims.” Intercountry adoption processes must at all times consider the best interests of the child. The Borgen Project spoke to Professor David Smolin, director of Cumberland School of Law’s Center for Children, Law and Ethics on the topic of illegal intercountry adoptions.

False Promises and Financial Incentives

Through coercive tactics such as deception, bribery or even abduction, wily recruiters obtain children from impoverished, vulnerable families and sometimes even pregnant women, a research article by Griffith University law lecturer Kathryn E. van Doore discusses. These recruiters promise better opportunities for the children, such as a good education, and tell parents that they can see them during the holidays. There are further incentives such as financial or other rewards. Many parents, therefore, do not give consent freely but under psychological pressure and/or deception. Sometimes, recruiters take children by force and, in some cases, parents actually pay to relinquish their child.

These children are then legally “adoptable” through the falsification of identities and papers, including falsified birth certificates and death certificates of the parents, and they become “paper orphans.” These incidents have occurred in Nepal, Cambodia, Uganda and Ghana, among others, says Van Doore on a Griffiths University news page.

Paper Orphaning and Poverty

While exact number of cases is unknown, human rights groups believe at least 20,000 babies were taken between the 1960s and 1990s.

Between the 1960s and 1990s in Chile, human rights groups believe that upwards of 20,000 babies were taken from mostly low-income mothers and adopted out to unsuspecting parents in foreign countries.

The practice amounted to an elaborate human-trafficking operation that involved a network of midwives, doctors, social workers, nuns, priests and judges, many of whom got rich off the scheme while fulfilling a key goal of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s regime to make Chile an economic success.

The practice came to light in 2014, when an investigative news agency called CIPER wrote about some cases involving a priest and a doctor. That’s also when the stolen babies, now adults, started learning that they weren’t voluntarily given up like they always believed.

Since 2014, nonprofits say they’ve helped reunite at least 650 people who were taken from their Chilean mothers and adopted to families in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Peru and Australia.

Dr. Aurangasri Hinriksson receiving the Order of the Golden Falcon at the President’s House in view of National Day of Iceland 

During most of my adult life I was interested in international affairs, violation of human rights and the harm caused by  racial and religious prejudices

All adopted children have the right to find their biological parents, but the parents do not have the same right as they have signed a document giving up 
that right

In my opinion, a mass DNA analysis of the mothers  who gave away their babies for adoption, is the only way to locate some of the adoptees´ 
biological parents

Over the years I have formed a network of  searchers and informers in various parts of Sri Lanka

I also got inolved in raising funds to build a music school in Isafirdi using my eastern cultural knowledge and also managed to raise funds to buy a life-saving boat for the Accident Prevention Society. In appreciation of the above charitable activities, I was awarded immediate citizenship. Today my son and I are dual citizens

Some of the cases that I investigated, demonstrated that newborns were stolen from hospital from unsuspecting mothers and whisked away to Colombo and kept in safe houses run by the above said lawyer in Kotahena and in Punchi Borella, till such time they were ready to be adopted by a prospective adoptee parent from Europe

Adoptions these days are very few and mainly from the Czech Republic and last year there were none. The Icelandic Adoption Society became a registered legal binding institution during the years 1999 to 2000. The Society follows strict rules and regulations set out by the 1993 Hague Convention on intercountry adoptions

Nowadays, when I find a mother, I use different tactics. I tell her something like that she has won the lottery because her son or daughter living abroad is looking for her and the best period of her life has dawned etc. I say that her lucky stars are shining before I determine whether I have found the correct person or not 

 

In early 1980s, Dr. Aurangasri Hinriksson decided to settle down in Isafirdi, Iceland with her husband and little son. Her interests to serve the community were such that she not only taught English and Mathematics to her community, but even went to the extent of reuniting adopted children from Sri Lanka with their families. Back in the ‘80s, Sri Lanka was infamous for its baby farms and baby smuggling rackets. According to Dr. Hinriksson, during the 1985/86 period, Sri Lanka not only had baby farms, but there had been active child abductors, child agents and sellers who fell into the illegal child trade. On June 17, Dr. Hinriksson was bestowed with the Order of the Golden Falcon, the highest honour awarded by the Icelandic government to appreciate individuals who have done an exemplary service to society. In a candid interview with the Daily Mirror, Dr. Hinriksson shed light on how 
Sri Lankan babies were smuggled to countries such as Iceland, her experiences dealing with baby rackets and reuniting these children with their families and living the greater part of her life in one of the happiest countries in the world. Excerpts :

Q : Tell us about yourself and how it has been to live in a country like Iceland?

When Ian and Darryl decided to adopt a child, they could never have known they would pick up a new set of grandparents along the way.

The Doncaster-based couple were initially nervous when they learned that Aspen, the child they had been matched with, would have an ongoing relationship with her birth grandparents. They worried that the mandated two visits a year could quickly spiral out of control and that boundaries would dissolve.

Thankfully, their fears turned out to be unfounded. Today, Aspen is a happy, playful three-year-old girl who has a beautiful, loving relationship with her two dads as well as her two grandmothers, Karen and Carol – a lesbian couple. All four play a vital role in Aspen’s life, and Ian and Darryl couldn’t be happier that their daughter has extra loving grandparents to fuss over her.

“Both me and Darryl were really nervous about it,” Ian tells PinkNews. “We did talk about it and said, is this the thing that’s going to stop us adopting Aspen?”

Despite their concerns, Ian and Darryl decided to push ahead with the adoption. The first time they met Karen and Carol they knew they had struck gold.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 672 of 2023 In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 16799 of 2022 With CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR STAY) NO. 2 of 2023 In R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 672 of 2023 ========================================================== REGISTRAR, BIRTH AND DEATH REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT Versus NITESHBHAI NARSHIBHAI MANGROLA ========================================================== Appearance: MR KAUSHAL D PANDYA(2905) for the Appellant(s) No. 1 for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI Date : 27/06/2023 ORAL ORDER (PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA)

“Professional and free support for all adopted people”

“A restorative approach centered on the needs of the person”

Communicated

Prithika Yashini has moved to Madras High Court seeking help to fight discrimination faced by transgender in child adoption. In 2021, Prithika approached the Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA), expressing her interest to adopt a child.

India's first transgender police officer, Prithika Yashini, approached the Madras High Court after her application for adopting a child was rejected last year on September 22. This was the second time she approached the high court after her application was turned down.

Prithika Yashini acquired the job of a sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu after fighting an extensive legal battle. This paved the way for more transgender women to join the police force in the country.

In 2021, Prithika approached the Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA) online, expressing her interest in adopting a child. But her application was rejected.

Prithika, currently working as an Assistant Immigration Officer, mentioned in her petition that the rejection of her application is against the fundamental rights provided to a citizen. This is illegal and discriminatory, she added.

Margaret Tuite

Margaret Tuite has joined the Keeping Children Safe’s Independent Review Committee in a personal capacity.

Margaret was the European Commission coordinator for rights of the child from 1 November 2011 until 31 August 2018 in the unit responsible for fundamental rights policy in DG Justice and Consumers.

David Bryant and Anna Elish from the United States adopted the girl from Basundhara Childcare home in Cuttack after the completion of all the requisite formalities. Cuttack Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani handed over the baby to her foster parents.

An orphaned four-year-old divyang baby girl in Cuttack got a new lease of life after an American couple adopted her on Friday.

As per reports, David Bryant and Anna Elish from the United States adopted the girl from Basundhara Childcare home in Cuttack after the completion of all the requisite formalities. Cuttack Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani handed over the baby to her foster parents.

It is worthwhile to mention here that both Anna and David already have three biological daughters and this girl from Cuttack will be the fourth addition to their family.

Speaking on the adoption, Anna said, “We love her and are too excited to get her back to America. We are grateful to everybody here who allowed us to adopt her. We feel so honoured. We will continue to teach her about India and its culture.”

We are pleased to confirm the participation of well-known researchers, authors and activists, including Audrey et Arthur Kermalvezen, Géraldine Mathieu, Michelle Cottier, David Smolin, Maud de Boer- Buquicchio; Karabo Ozah, Elizabeth Pangalangan, Olga Khazova, Nicolas Vulliemoz and many more.

Objectives: This event aims to hold  a proactive interdisciplinary dialogue between stakeholders (children who are now adults as a result of ART, professionals, parents who have recourse to ART, politicians, academia) that will meet to discuss children’s rights and the new ART techniques; to highlight good practices as well as the abuses that allow or compromise the respect of the rights of the children concerning both their identity and their family life; to deepen the scientific and legal knowledge in this field; to give concrete tools to the professionals who work with these children and their families.

Target audience: This conference is intended for political decision-makers and professionals working with and for children and young people (social workers, psychologists, teachers, doctors, mediators, lawyers, and any other professional concerned with children's issues), as well as representatives of the academic and scientific community.

Contact: colloque-enfance-hests@hevs.ch

Additional information at 13th International Conference | HES-SO Valais-Wallis (hevs.ch)