A gynaecologist from Heraklion and a colleague from Chania, were arrested on Monday, January 20, as part of an investigation into an illegal adoption ring uncovered last August.

This comes after Australian parents were unable to bring their newborns home after a well-known fertility clinic in Crete, which uses surrogacy, was raided by police due to claims of human trafficking and fraud.

Nine newborns – including a number of Australian babies – were detained by the Greek government in a high-security neonatal ward in Crete’s Chania Hospital after the Mediterranean Fertility Institute was raided by federal police on accusations of human trafficking and fraud.

Through the utilisation of DNA testing for identification, the babies were eventually returned to their biological parents.

The Heraklion-based doctor supposedly linked to the scandal was arrested while working and discreetly transferred to Chania for questioning. There, he was initially brought before the prosecutor and then the investigating judge.

Perhaps those children, who are now adults and often have children of their own and have built a (perhaps good) life, do not want to be "reunited" with people they do not know at all. This also applies to adopted children. Some do everything they can to find their biological parents, others decline them festively. And sometimes that biological family does not want to be "found" either.

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It has been newly revealed that at least 31 children admitted to the Brothers Welfare Center between 1976 and 1989 were adopted overseas.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held its 96th committee meeting today (the 21st) and decided to “find the truth” about 10 cases, including the Brothers Welfare Center human rights violations.

The TRC announced that it confirmed the existence of 31 children and 17 biological mothers among the Brothers Welfare Center inmates who were adopted overseas.

The results of the investigation also revealed that the “Confirmation of Support Obligor Notice,” which should have been conducted to find guardians before requesting adoption of children admitted to the facility, was ineffective. The notice

was conducted at a district office in Seoul, unrelated to the place where the children were found, while the children had already been transferred to an adoption agency and were in the process of being adopted overseas.

The TRC recommended that the government issue an official apology, restore the victims’ honor, restore identities and family relationships lost during the forced detention process, and identify missing persons.

At today’s meeting, it was decided that the truth of the Samcheong Education incident would be further investigated, and 70 additional human rights violations were confirmed. Accordingly, the number of victims whose truth has been investigated in relation to the Samcheong Education has increased to 634.
 

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Moon Ye-seul (moonster@kbs.co.kr)

Children's book author Jennifer Wolfthal and her husband, Joseph Wolfthal were jailed for severe abuse of their adopted kids

A Florida-based children’s book author and her husband have been sentenced to 10 years in prison after they pled guilty to abusing their three adopted children.

The author of “A Real Friend" Jennifer Wolfthal and her husband, Joseph Wolfthal, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, were charged with child abused and neglect.

Eight people who were adopted from Sri Lanka between 1983 and 1990 are appealing their case against the Dutch government. The court previously ruled that there were irregularities in these adoptions, but that the State is not liable.

The eight disagree. They refer to, among other things, the report of the Joustra committee from 2021. It states that the State was aware of structural abuses, but did not take responsibility and failed to meet obligations.

The eight Dutch people were all adopted through Stichting Flash. This agency, which was closed down in 2010, has been linked to abuses surrounding adoption on several occasions in the past. The government should have seen the signs of fraud and baby trafficking and the errors in files and should have intervened, their lawyer told the ANP news agency.

He clarifies what the errors are. Four of them were supposed to be half of a twin, but this turned out to be incorrect after DNA tests. Names, dates of birth and details of biological parents were also incorrect. As a result, the adoptees have incorrect details in their passports or do not know where their biological family is, says the lawyer.

The court previously ruled that these errors "are not so serious that the State should have recognized them." But the adoptees want the court to determine that the State is liable. Then they can get help in finding family members, changing their name or date of birth and the costs they incur in doing so. Such a ruling would provide satisfaction and recognition, the lawyer explains.

https://apnews.com/article/pregnancy-child-welfare-lawsuit-vermont-2fb1e1b3f89883ecb86b090ac22bf54c?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1Qaiidhy3y4Rtu52zqmvMaVGx01GIJWmY1DWW_tD4hxlkwZfyv3X1NHSs_aem_DCRRzYiO57LRlfbnE9WEZQ#qclzvlokxhn21uazkl9xekxqbydmcnj

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Vermont’s child welfare agency relied on baseless allegations about a pregnant woman’s mental health to secretly investigate her and win custody of her daughter before the baby was born, according to a lawsuit that alleges the state routinely targets and tracks pregnant women deemed unsuitable for parenthood.

The ACLU of Vermont and Pregnancy Justice, a national advocacy group, on Wednesday sued the Vermont Department for Children and Families, a counseling center and the hospital where the woman gave birth in February 2022. The lawsuit seeks both an end to what it calls an illegal surveillance program and unspecified monetary damages for the woman, who is identified only by her initials, A.V.

According to the complaint, the director of a homeless shelter where A.V. briefly stayed in January 2022 told the child welfare agency that she appeared to have untreated paranoia, dissociative behaviors and PTSD. The state opened an investigation and later spoke to the woman’s counselor, midwife and a hospital social worker, despite having no jurisdiction over fetuses and all without her knowledge.

Merely Submitting Adoption Plea Wouldn't Confer Any Rights To Unilaterally Take Child's Custody Without Following Procedure: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has observed that merely submitting an application seeking adoption of a child would not confer any rights on the parties concerned to take custody of the child unilaterally without "scrupulously" following the due procedure.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman noted that the procedures contemplated under the relevant statutes have to be scrupulously followed and the committee constituted must assess the couple, including their mindset, capacity, family setup etc.

“Mere submission of an application seeking an adoption would not confer any right to take custody of a child unilaterally and declare the said child as an adopted daughter. Pertinently, the High Court cannot deliberate on these issues, since it involves the 'best interest of the child'. The assessment of the couple seeking adoption, their capacity, mind set, family setup, circumstances, all to be examined scrupulously by the committee constituted for the purpose of making such assessment. Therefore, the procedures as contemplated under the relevant statutes are to be scrupulously followed for the purpose of adoption of a child,” the court noted.

The bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a couple seeking the custody of a 1 ½-year-old child. The couple informed the court that they had been married for 20 years and since they had not been blessed with a child, they submitted an application seeking adoption in the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The Office of Children’s Issues (CI) and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa confirmed the following with the Ethiopian Federal First Instance Court (FFIC):

1. U.S. citizens of Ethiopian origin may be able to complete intercountry adoptions from Ethiopia. U.S. citizens who cannot satisfy the FFIC that they are of Ethiopian origin are still subject to Ethiopia’s 2018 adoption ban (see CI’s 2018 Adoption Notice.)
2. If the FFIC determines that a U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parent (PAP) can adopt:
            a.The case is no longer subject to the Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) process
            b.PAPs who adopt from a public or private orphanage must obtain a best interest determination (BID) letter, while PAPs who adopt a child that is not in an orphanage do not need to obtain a BID letter.

Updated Process For Ethiopian Adoptions

The FFIC will determine on a case-by-case basis whether it considers PAPs to be of Ethiopian origin (diaspora adoptions). The FFIC has not provided definitive criteria it will use to determine which prospective adoptive parents are considered to be of Ethiopian origin, but did indicate that PAPs must be able to demonstrate strong ties to Ethiopia, such as being born in Ethiopia or previously holding Ethiopian citizenship. PAPs will need to provide evidence to the FFIC when applying for an adoption order, such as an Ethiopian birth certificate, Ethiopian passport, or an Ethiopian Origin ID Card (also known as a Diaspora Card or Yellow Card).

Prior to 2018, adoptions from Ethiopia were subject to the Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) process.  Under PAIR, USCIS reviewed the child’s eligibility to immigrate before PAPs adopted the child. The FFIC has indicated that this process is not necessary for diaspora adoptions, and accordingly, the PAIR process is no longer applicable to adoptions by PAPs who have been confirmed by the FFIC to be of Ethiopian origin. PAPs of Ethiopian origin may file Form I-600 petitions with USCIS or in-country with Embassy Addis Ababa (note: you must have a valid Form I-600A to file in-country; see our website for more information).

As I walked into my son’s elementary school holding bags of treats for his class, another mother passed by and while smiling asked, “Oh, wow, how many children do you have?”

It’s a simple question for most, but for someone like me—someone who wears the badge of “Birth Mother”—it was triggering. I was taken back as my 4-year-old daughter blurted out, “She has three, but my sister doesn’t live with us. She gave her away.”

Okay, those may not have been her exact words, but it’s how I felt at that moment. There I was, the PTA President, fumbling for a response while gently nudging my daughter along. I quickly replied that my husband and I have two children and moved on, never looking back to see the other mother’s reaction. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Does it ever get easier?” Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the day.

As I walked into my son’s elementary school holding bags of treats for his class, another mother passed by and while smiling asked, “Oh, wow, how many children do you have?”

It’s a simple question for most, but for someone like me—someone who wears the badge of “Birth Mother”—it was triggering. I was taken back as my 4-year-old daughter blurted out, “She has three, but my sister doesn’t live with us. She gave her away.”