Burnley mum fails to prevent child's adoption

9:00pm Thursday 25th February 2010

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German surrogate twins: Government to relax adoption norms

New Delhi, Feb 25

The government Thursday told the Supreme Court that it is willing to waive some of the restrictions in adopting children born through surrogacy to help a German couple adopt their twin sons born to an Indian surrogate mother in 2008.

A bench of Justice A.K. Ganguly and Justice R.M. Lodha then asked the government to file an affidavit stating its intention to waive the stipulations to help German national Jan Balaaz and his wife. The twins have been in India since their birth due to immigration problems.

Appearing for Balaaz and his wife, advocate Kamini Jaiswal told the bench that Germany treats childbirth through surrogacy as illegal and has "flatly said that it will not do anything" to help the couple.

Dans les coulisses de l'adoption internationale. Visite d'une "usine à bébés" au Vietnam

South China Morning Post, Hong Kong. Reportage.

Des couples viennent du monde entier à Lang Son, au Vietnam, pour adopter des nourrissons. Sans savoir qu'ils ont été vendus par leur mère pour une bouchée de pain.

Dans une cahute crasseuse jouxtant l'entrée d'un orphelinat, à l'extrême nord du Vietnam, la mère de Hoang pose un regard inquiet — elle semble écartelée entre instinct et résignation - sur son premier bébé, tandis qu'on le lui prend pour le remettre à une femme qui me le propose pour 10 000 dollars [7 000 euros]. "Regardez-le, c'est un si joli petit garçon", me lance Tang Thî Cai, négociante en enfants de son métier, alors que le nourrisson de 2 mois agite les jambes et cligne des yeux. "Si vous le voulez, dépêchez-vous. Nous avons déjà lancé les formalités pour le confier à l'orphelinat, il n'y a pas de temps à perdre." Sentant mon hésitation pendant qu'elle s'affaire dans la pièce insalubre, Mmc Cai poursuit sa ritournelle commerciale. "Si vous préférez une fille, dites-le-moi Nous avons des femmes enceintes sur le point d'accoucher. Dès qu'une petite fille est disponible, nous pouvons vous téléphoner."

Dans les années 1990, le Vietnam est venu se ranger à la quatrième place mondiale en matière d'adoption internationale après la Chine, la Russie et la Corée du Sud. Au plus fort de la tendance, quelque 2 500 enfants étaient adoptés chaque année au Vietnam. Mais l'attrait de rétributions dépassant 10 000 dollars par enfant adopté dans un pays où le revenu annuel moyen ne dépasse guère un dixième de cette somme est à l'origine d'une myriade d'affaires de corruption. Celles-ci jettent le discrédit sur les programmes internationaux et sèment le doute sur des dizaines de milliers d'adoptions. En 2008, des enquêteurs américains ont découvert que de nombreux bébés prétendument abandonnés sur les marches d'hôpitaux et d'orphelinats avaient en réalité été vendus par leurs mères. Il est par ailleurs de notoriété publique que les autorités falsifient certains documents pour faciliter l'adoption de ces enfants par des couples étrangers. Les enquêteurs ont même mis le doigt sur plusieurs cas impliquant des familles qui n'avaient jamais eu l'intention de faire adopter leur enfant. Ils ont également recueilli les preuves de l'existence de "foyers de maternité" identiques à celui que dirige Mmc Cai, où les mères sont payées l'équivalent de onze mois de salaire par nourrisson remis.

25 FEBRUARY 2010 New name new focus Charity co-founded by J K Rowling reveals spellbinding new identity The Children’s High Level Group today unveils its new name and a new brand with a rallying call to put an end to the systematic institutionalisation of disadvantaged children across Central and Eastern Europe. The charity today re-launches as Lumos - named after the spell in J K Rowling's global sensation Harry Potter. In the books, Lumos causes a small beam of light to emit from the spell-caster's wand. With the change of name to Lumos comes a shift in focus: Lumos will no longer work in Romania – this work will be continued by the Asociatia Children’s High Level Group, whose Chair is Baroness Emma Nicholson. Lumos, chaired by J K Rowling, will continue its work in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Moldova, as well as expanding into other countries. J K Rowling says, "Twenty years ago, as Communist regimes across Europe toppled, harrowing images of Europe's hidden children began to emerge. Thousands upon thousands of children were living in vast, depressing institutions – malnourished and often maltreated, with little access to the outside world. Slowly governments have begun to transform care systems. Real and lasting change takes time, but today we are putting down a marker and calling for significantly more progress in the next twenty years to ensure that eventually no children are living in, or at risk of entering, such institutions." Dr Richard Alderslade, Chief Executive of Lumos, says: "While pockets of really good progress have been made since 1990, the scale of the challenge remains almost unimaginable. There are still more than 1 million children and young people living in institutions, not just in a handful of countries, but in most countries across Central and Eastern Europe. This means that we have to be realistic in our approach. Working with governments at a strategic level - to create country-wide reforms, not just one-off closures of particular institutions - takes time. It is not only a question of closing down the institutions, but also implementing new systems and creating alternative care settings as well as the not so insignificant task of changing mindsets." Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of these children are not orphans, but are disabled, from ethnic minorities or poor backgrounds. Institutionalisation damages children’s health and development and reduces their chances in life. Lumos is currently working on major reform programmes in the Czech Republic and Moldova. The charity has been assisting the Czech government to develop a National Action Plan for the reform of all its services for vulnerable children and families. It is now working in the county of Pardubice, helping the local authorities to transform all of their large residential institutions for children. In Moldova, the charity is supporting the government and local authorities to implement large-scale de-institutionalisation programmes as well as an initiative aimed at significantly reducing infant mortality. Lumos has also been providing advice and support to the European Commission in Brussels on the best way to use funding for reforming the child social protection system in Bulgaria. We are now setting up a major programme in the country to help accelerate and improve the process of de-institutionalisation.

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IAWG urges better adoption process

Last Updated : 2010-02-24 4:42 AM

THT Online

KATHMANDU: The ad hoc International Adoption Working Group (IAWG) on Wednesday urged the Government of Nepal to act swiftly to strengthen the adoption process.

Issuing a press statement by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu on behalf of the ad hoc IAWG, it recommended the implementation of all the 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption regulations, including implementing measures aimed at ensuring authenticity and accuracy of documents, promoting family preservation and, most importantly, safeguarding children’s well-being.

UPDATE: Poland - PEAR's Cautionary Statement on Adoption from Poland

PEAR's Cautionary Statement on Adoptions from Poland

Over the past four months PEAR has received numerous complaints and requests for assistance from families who are in the process of adopting from Poland or who have completed a recent adoption from Poland. The majority of these situations involved inaccurate, incomplete, or falsified medical and psychosocial histories of the children to be adopted. In each case, the families have chosen to either disrupt the adoption process in Poland or dissolve adoption once in the US.

One of PEAR's goals is to ensure that all families are provided the opportunity to make a wholly informed and educated decision to adopt. Part of this includes the accurate and full conveyance of a child's known or suspected medical and psychosocial history to the family prior to adoption, and this is one of the requirements listed under PEAR's Prospective Adoptive Parents Bill of Rights. The purpose of this requirement is two-fold, one preparing parents to best meet the needs of their children is always in the best interests of the child, and two, prevention of disruptions or dissolutions harmful both to the child and his/her potential family.

We understand that some of the motivation behind the innacurate and incomplete medical histories may be the good intentions of those involved in these adoptions to find homes for children with special needs. However, good intentions or not, these childrens and families are being placed in very risky and possibly harmful situations as a result.

Dalit couple foils adoption of offspring

OM ASTHA RAI

KATHMANDU, Feb 24: After desperate searches, a downtrodden Dalit family from Nuwakot district has retrieved its lost children, who were nearly adopted by an American couple.

Rajan Nepali, 27, who works as a manual laborer in Kathmandu to feed his family, had sent his children--son Kaushal, 7, and daughter Karuna, 3, -- to the Helpless Children Protection Home (HCPH) orphanage at Ranibari through one Basanta Raj Upreti, an acquaintence, in 2008.

“I was addicted to drugs because of which my wife Maya left me,” Rajan said. “After she left, I was unable to look after the children. I sent them to the orphanage, expecting that they would be taken care of for some time.” He was planning to take back his children once his wife returned to him.

DEFUNCT TUCSON-BASED COMPANY DENIED INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION

Fraud case vs. adoption agency ends

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Dale Quinn Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010 12:00 am | Comments

TNN, Feb 23, 2010, 09.19pm IST

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Govt to set up body to check illegal adoption

Tags:Jharkhand|illegal adoption

RANCHI: The government has decided to set up a State Adoption Resource Authority to put check on cases of illegal adoption that has plagued Jharkhand for the last 10 years.