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Wikileaks - adoption fraud - Uganda

F) ADOPTION FRAUD

¶22. (U) Ugandan law restricts a foreign citizen's ability to adopt a

Ugandan child, and the adoption process is complicated. Ugandan law

requires that foreign adoptive parents be physically present in

Uganda and foster the child for three years before an adoption is

Organizations: Wikileaks

Countries: Uganda

Guidelines - EU is DIVIDED

From: TOMKIN Jean (RELEX-NEW YORK)
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:08 AM
To: GORSKA   Malgorzata (RELEX); ZARU Davide (RELEX); GEURTS Charles-Michel   (RELEX)
Cc: CURTIS Michael (ECHO); COMBES Isabelle (ECHO); GARAY   AMORES Juan (DEV); ZITO Anna (JLS); OLTEANU Dora (JLS); DE SADELEER Katja   (ELARG); GIAUFRET Emanuele (RELEX-NEW YORK); WIRKUS Tomasz (EMPL); TIMANS Rolf   (RELEX); VAN BELLINGHEN Marc (RELEX); DE PEYRON Kristin (RELEX);   KASSANGANA-JAKUBOWSKA Margareta (RELEX); BOIDIN Jean-Claude   (DEV)
Subject: RE: guidelines for the alternative care of children

Organizations: (UN) Guidelines on Children without Parental Care, European Commission

Ex-adoption agency director must repay theft victims

By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2009

Gamete offspring have 'right to know' biological parents

Gamete offspring have 'right to know' biological parents

By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun October 27, 2010

One Toronto man spent years searching for his sperm donor "biodad" and eventually learned he had 13 half siblings, an unusual civil trial heard Tuesday.

Barry Stevens, a 58-year-old Toronto filmmaker, found out when he was 18 that he was conceived through artificial insemination using donated sperm.

His mother revealed the truth after the death of Stevens' father, who didn't want his children to know.

Stevens spent years searching for his biological father, including 16 years of DNA detective work, before learning that the man who was his father was the husband of the female doctor who had done the artificial insemination of Stevens' mother.

Finding his father was a satisfying experience, lawyer Sean Hern told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair.

Stevens found he had 13 half siblings, whom he met, and may have several hundred half siblings, the lawyer said.

Stevens' documentary about his search, titled Bio-Dad, aired on CBC last year.

The happy-ending story was contained in Stevens' affidavit, which was read in court Tuesday by Hern, one of two lawyers representing Olivia Pratten, 28, who was born in B.C. and now is a Toronto journalist.

Pratten contends that those born through "gamete" donation of sperm and eggs should have the same rights to information about their biological parents as adopted children when they reach age 19.

She wants to have B.C.'s Adoption Act struck down as unconstitutional and replaced with legislation that will preserve the records of gamete donors -- which now only have to be kept for six years -- so they can be revealed to gamate offspring when they turn 19.

Although Pratten was raised by a mother and father, who are separated, she argues that it is important to her well-being and identity to know the ancestral background and medical history of her biological father.

"You can come from the most loving family and you still want this question answered," Hern argued in court.

Pratten's lawyers, including Joe Arvay, have filed in court affidavits of both sperm donor offspring and sperm donors. One donor's affidavit said he believes donors should have consensual contact with offspring seeking to fill in the blanks about family and medical history.

The court was told the sperm donor was paid up to $50 for each donation he made at the Vancouver fertility clinic run by Dr. Gerald Korn, now is in his 80s and retired. The man, who believes he may have dozens of offspring, has registered with the online donor sibling registry, the court was told.

nhall@vancouversun.com

Countries: Canada

Embettled adoption agency defends its role

Embattled adoption agency defends its role
25 October 2009 By Susan Mitchell

It has not been a good year for Sharon O’Driscoll. As chief executive of Helping Hands, which facilitates overseas adoptions from Vietnam, she has been at the centre of a media storm surrounding the issue of how adoptions from the country are arranged.

Last May, it emerged that a bilateral agreement covering adoptions between Vietnam and Ireland had not been renewed.

Without it, no legal adoptions can be processed in Vietnam. Minister for Children Barry Andrews refused to explain why the agreement had not been renewed, and was accused of leaving hundreds of prospective adoptive parents in limbo.

Then an unfavourable draft United Nations report which painted an unflattering picture of Helping Hands was leaked to the press. It emerged that the Adoption Board was also seeking clarification of the fees charged by Helping Hands for its services.

O’Driscoll has, in the main, shunned the media, but over the past week, appears to have reversed that strategy. She is now keen to shed some light on a number of the concerns raised, in particular media coverage of the draft UN report.

This described the information Helping Hands provides to the public as ‘‘at least somewhat misleading and consequently disturbing in its implications’’.

Parents who have adopted from Vietnam in recent years paid $11,100 (€7,400) to Helping Hands. Of that, $9,000 was paid as ‘‘humanitarian aid’’ to regional authorities in Vietnam.

O’Driscoll acknowledged that Helping Hands had not always lodged that humanitarian aid to identifiable bank accounts.

About €3 million has been paid out in total and sizeable sums - she was unable to disclose the precise amounts - were paid over in cash. Helping Hands did not receive audited accounts from the Vietnamese.

‘‘It’s just the way things are done," O’Driscoll said.

She added that Helping Hands had repeatedly expressed concerns about the lack of accountability for money paid out in Vietnam in humanitarian aid, and had raised the issue a number of times with the Adopt ion Board. ‘‘We made recommendations about this to the Adoption Board as far back as 2006.

We said greater accountability was needed and we continued to make that point," she said.

That said, she does not believe the money is going astray. ‘‘I go out there every eight weeks and I see the progress that is being made on the ground with the money," she said.

O’Driscoll said criticism of Helping Hands in the draft report from the UN International Social Service (ISS) solely pertained to a recent $1,000 increase in the fee levied for humanitarian aid. The report’s authors claimed Helping Hands had not clarified this increase.

‘‘The first we knew about this was when we read it in the papers," said O’Driscoll. ‘‘We had never even been contacted by them about it. We wrote to them and they sent us a set of questions, which we subsequently responded to."

A recent letter from the UN body confirmed there had been a mix-up over the initial questionnaire, which was sent to the wrong address, and that the recent response ‘‘clarified very well the main questions’’ it had. It said this would be reflected in its final report.

O’Driscoll said she had also responded to similar queries from the Adoption Board.

She feels aggrieved at the leaking of elements of the ISS report and details of correspondence between Helping Hands and the Adoption Board.

‘‘The draft ISS report was leaked inappropriately and was done to cause trouble, in my view. Stuff from the Adoption Board was mysteriously leaked. I’m assuming my most recent response will be leaked too," she said. ‘‘But it is very hurtful to the applicants and the children involved, many of whom are of school age. I have raised it with the department and the Adoption Board. What is the agenda?"

The amount paid in humanitarian aid by Irish parents is agreed in informal round table discussions with Vietnamese authorities, O’Driscoll said, adding that she believed the amount should be decided at government level.

The bilateral agreement that was agreed between the Irish and Vietnamese governments, and which expired in May, contained a clause stipulating that humanitarian aid be paid to the donor country. It failed to specify the amount, whereas bilateral agreements that the Vietnamese have with other countries specify the precise amount.

O’Driscoll said the amount charged to parents in Ireland was similar to the amount paid by parents in other countries who were also adopting from Vietnam. ‘‘There is a misconception about this," she said.

Other sources rejected that statement. In France, for example, parents pay half that amount for the processing of the application and the humanitarian fee combined.

O’Driscoll said all money paid to Helping Hands by adoptive parents was placed in a holding account. ‘‘We receive none of that money," she said.

‘‘The $9,000 is paid directly to regional authorities and the remaining $2,100 is used to cover medical checks, the processing of all documentation, translation and notarisation, and transport costs. We make the payments on the parents’ behalf. We don’t charge for the service. We are funded entirely b y the HSE."

Helping Hands has received funding of €1.6 million from the Health Service Executive since 2006.

O’Driscoll said there was ‘‘simply no chance’’ that an Irish parent would end up with a child who was put up for adoption in the circumstances that were outlined in a report in the Daily Mail last weekend.

The report read: ‘‘In a dingy shack, young women wait to give birth. Soon, for a few dollars, they will hand their newborn to desperate Irish couples."

O’Driscoll said Helping Hands existed to protect people from such a scenario. Such an adoption would never be registered in Ireland in the first place, according to O’Driscoll, as the adoption had to be referred through the Vietnamese Central Authority.

Under the previous bilateral agreement, every adoption had to be conducted through a mediation agency licensed by both central authorities, O’Driscoll said.

‘‘They have a very stringent process, as do we. I have always found them very diligent. The paperwork is examined and re-examined.

‘‘We also got them to introduce a database to ensure there is a clear trail of all the documentation. It gives added protection," she said.

‘‘We have no worries or concerns over the eligibility of any of the children we have facilitated adoptions for."

Barry Andrews has said he will consider the ISS report - which is expected to be published in mid-November - before deciding whether to renew the bilateral agreement with Vietnam.

The question beckons: if the minister is as concerned as he purports to be, why is his office trying to process 20 applications that had already been received by the Vietnamese before the bilateral agreement lapsed?

O’Driscoll was reluctant to be drawn on this. She evidently doesn’t want to offend the man who may hold the key to the survival of her organisation. ‘‘I don’t know," she said.

The Helping Hands saga has overshadowed other concerns that have been raised about the inter-country adoption process in Ireland.

They include the bureaucratic minefield people face when being assessed for adoption and the failure to ratify the Hague convention (aimed at improving the inter-country adoption process). Ireland committed to ratifying it in 1993 and we will be the last country in the European Union to do so.

O’Driscoll said Helping Hands had been inundated with calls from concerned adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents in recent months.

‘‘It is desperate for them. Many are up to are eight years in the system," she said.

‘‘I have seen the draft ISS report and there is nothing in that report we did not know before. I think the big thing that is being forgotten is that the Vietnamese commissioned the ISS and the Unicef report.

There were a huge number of domestic adoptions in Vietnam last year. Nobody is reporting that. There were 12,000 domestic adoptions and 3,000 intercountry adoptions - which is unlike any other donor country.

They are improving their processes all the time and they want to improve their processes. That is being lost."

Countries: Vietnam, Ireland

Organizations: Helping Hands, Ireland

Persons: Sharon O'Driscoll

ACT BRIEFING FOR CD/GV ON STATE OF PLAY: A EUROPEAN ADOPTION POLICY

Organizations: 2009 Conference: CHALLENGES IN ADOPTION PROCEDURES IN EUROPE - Strasbourg, Falsified Report DG JUST - Frattini Report, Lobby for a European Adoption Policy/cross-border adoption

Child trafficking ring busted

Oct 23, 2009

Child trafficking ring busted

BEIJING - POLICE in north China have busted a ring of baby traffickers suspected of pocketing up to 400,000 yuan (S$80,800) through the sale of 52 children, state media reported on Friday.

Police arrested 42 suspected ring members who allegedly trafficked 19 boys and 33 girls in northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces as well as eastern Shandong and the capital Beijing, Xinhua news agency said.

The case came to light after Zhao Dongsheng and his two sons confessed to police that they had bought 13 babies from two women living in Shanxi's Yingxian county in May, the report said.

Countries: China

‘Christen moet tegen nota Rouvoet ingaan’

‘Christen moet tegen nota Rouvoet ingaan’
Geplaatst: 24 oktober 2009 06:33, laatste wijziging: 23 oktober 2009 21:13
door onze redacteur Petra Noordhuis
VOGELENZANG - Christenen hebben de plicht om tegen de gezinsnota van minister Rouvoet in te gaan. Die oproep klonk vrijdag op een studiebijeenkomst van het rooms-katholieke Centrum voor de Sociale Leer van de Kerk.

4 reacties
3 waarderingen

Discussies over het gezin zijn vaak ideologisch gekleurd, constateert prof. dr. René Hoksbergen, emeritus hoogleraar adoptie. In de jaren zestig en zeventig werd de functie van het gezin gebagatelliseerd, volgens hem. ,,Een irritante ontwikkeling'', vond hij dat. Hij is blij dat minister André Rouvoet van Jeugd en Gezin erkent dat het gezin belangrijk is.
Vorig jaar bracht Rouvoet de nota 'De kracht van het gezin uit'. Het rooms-katholieke Centrum voor de Sociale Leer van de Kerk wijdde er vrijdag een studiebijeenkomst aan, waarop een kleine vijftig geïnteresseerden af kwamen: ouders, priesters en mensen die vanuit hun werk met het gezin te maken hebben.
Hoksbergen was een van de sprekers. Er bestaan volgens hem veel misverstanden over het gezin. Zo leeft het idee dat veel kinderen niet meer in een gezin opgroeien. ,,Terwijl zeven op de acht kinderen opgroeit bij beide biologische ouders.'' De ouders zijn meestal ook getrouwd met elkaar, zegt Hoksbergen. ,,Mensen die ongehuwd samenwonen, trouwen bijna altijd als er een kind komt.''
Carolien Tax, actief in het CDA en in de rooms-katholieke kerk en hoofdredacteur van jongerentijdschrift Omega , vindt het jammer dat het in de gezinsnota vooral over probleemhuishoudens gaat. ,,Er wordt gedaan alsof elk gezin een potentieel probleem is. Waar blijft de aandacht voor de kracht van het gezin?'' Rouvoet lijkt wel de minister van probleemhuishoudens, zegt ze gekscherend.
In de centra voor jeugd en gezin ziet ze weinig heil. Mensen willen volgens haar opvoedtips die bij hun geloofsovertuiging of levensbeschouwing aansluiten. ,,We moeten vechten voor het bijzonder onderwijs en met andere parochianen over de opvoeding praten'', vindt ze daarom. Het leren van andere, gelijkgezinde ouders kan nooit worden vervangen door de gezinscentra, volgens haar.
Minister Rouvoet definieert het gezin in zijn nota als 'elk leefverband van één of meer volwassenen die de verantwoordelijkheid dragen voor de opvoeding van de kinderen'. Tax heeft daarmee moeite. ,,Zo ongeveer alles valt eronder, ook samenwonenden, homostellen, zelfs een man die een harem heeft en twintig kinderen.'' Zij ziet het gezin met een vader en een moeder als het ideale gezin.
Contract
Ook prof. jhr. dr. Frans Alting von Geusau heeft moeite met de in de nota gebruikte definitie. Hij is emeritus hoogleraar 'internationaal recht' en 'westelijke samenwerking', maar is als spreker uitgenodigd omdat hij vader is van zes getrouwde kinderen. ,,Die allen niet voor het huwelijk hebben samengewoond'', voegt hij daaraan toe.
Het gezin als leefverband omschrijven, haalt het gezin onderuit, vindt hij. ,,De belofte van het leven is in Nederland gereduceerd tot een contract. Het huwelijk kan makkelijk worden beëindigd. Waarom moeten wij als christenen, die de dragers zijn van de beste boodschap over het huwelijk, daarin meegaan en concessies doen over de definitie van het gezin? Het huwelijk is een belofte aan elkaar en aan God. Liefde is geen romantische aangelegenheid, je hebt de essentiële plicht om bij elkaar te blijven. Voor het CDA is het de hoogste tijd om vanuit de C te spreken en niet vanuit concessies. Anders dragen we bij aan de verwarring die over dit onderwerp bestaat. Verloedering van de taal, is het begin van verloedering van de geest.''
Tot zijn spijt heeft hij nergens in de nota iets teruggevonden over de voorbereiding op het huwelijk en over de rol van de kerk. ,,Het gezin is een door God zelf gegeven opdracht. Als zo'n nota verschijnt, hebben we als christenen de plicht ertegen in te gaan.''
Net als Alting von Geusau dat heeft gedaan, combineert prof.dr. Leonard Besselink zijn hoogleraarschap met de opvoeding van zes kinderen. Nederland is niet gezinsvriendelijk, houdt hij de aanwezigen voor. Werk en gezin zijn moeilijk te combineren, door onder meer wachtlijsten bij de dure kinderopvang en te weinig mogelijkheden om flexibel te werken.
René Hoksbergen vindt daarom dat de gezinsnota wel een aanvulling kan gebruiken. Ouders moeten in de gelegenheid worden gesteld om de tijd te nemen voor hun kinderen. Het gezin is volgens hem de kern van de samenleving en verdient daarom blijvende aandacht van de overheid en van de ouders. ,,Je wilt je kinderen toch goed afleveren aan de samenleving?''

Countries: Netherlands

Persons: Rene Hoksbergen

Skin deep

When Nisha Grayson was in second grade, her school class in California, US, put up a performance. “Don’t come!" Nisha told her mom on the day of the event. Stephanie Grayson went anyway. When she walked into the classroom and a child shouted “Whose mommy are you?" Nisha just hunched up, blushed and kept silent.

“She didn’t want anyone to know I was her mom," Stephanie says.

“I’m tired of explaining to everyone why you’re white and I’m black," the seven-year-old told her mom after the performance.

Nisha, now a petite 26-year-old with a quick smile, was adopted from Goa by an all-white family at the age of six months and raised in “the white part of America", as her father Randy puts it. The couple never taught Nisha anything about her birth country or culture, though they did retain her name and abided by one request the birth mother had made: never to cut Nisha’s hair. She didn’t cut it until she went to college. Stephanie says she figured “everyone would love each other" and that would be enough for Nisha to adjust to her adopted life in the US.

It wasn’t, though. After spending a few weeks with Nisha and her friends in southern California, it’s evident that she’s surrounded by love, and always has been. She herself is a caring, kind woman, working with adults with disabilities at United Cerebral Palsy in San Diego. But there is a sorrow about her, an insecurity and vulnerability that lurks just beneath her dark chocolate brown skin.

Countries: India, United States of America

2010-termen pentru inchiderea caselor de copii din Maramures

Eveniment | 22 Octombrie 2009 - 20:55 | Numar vizualizari: 489

VIDEO Fundatia Hope & Home for Children (HHC) Romania a facut astazi un nou bilant al activitatii sale in Maramures iar una dintre concluziile pe care cei implicati le-au facut publice a fost aceea ca, pana anul viitor, se va pune lacat la toate cele trei centre de plasament care mai functioneaza acum in judet. Minorii institutionalizati acolo urmeaza sa fie impartiti in asa-numitele case de tip familial, cat mai aproape de localitatile din care provin. Maramuresul ar fi astfel primul judet din Romania in care mult-hulitele case de copiii sunt definitiv inchise.

HHC are un plan de bataie amplu la nivel national. Astfel, in urma unor negocieri cu Autoritatea Nationala pentru Protectia Copilului se intentioneaza desfiintarea tuturor centrelor de plasament pana in 2016, dupa cum a declarat directorul fundatiei, Stefan Darabus. Misiunea nu este una tocmai usoara avand in vedere ca, la ora actuala, vorbim de aproximativ 150 de astfel de institutii in Romania, cu peste 11.000 de copii aflati in grija statului.

La bilantul facut astazi de HCC Romania a luat parte si reprezentanta organizatiei internationale ARK Trust, Sue Fox, structura care este partena HHC UK si care a dezvoltat la nivelul Romaniei un program special destinat descentralizarii sistemului de protectie a copilului in judetele Maramures si Bacau. “Speram ca pana de Craciun toti copii aflati in centrele de la Ocna Sugatag si Delavrancea Baia Mare sa fie mutati in case de tip familial”, a punctat Sue Fox (vezi VIDEO1). Alaturi de ea la prezentarea proiectului a luat parte si Delia Pop, directorul de programe al HHC UK.

Directorul Stefan Darabus a explicat ca, in ce priveste cela de-a treia casa de copii care este inca in picioare, la Sighetu Marmatiei, lucrurile se vor derula ceva mai greu. “Daca pentru primele doua – Ocna si Delavrancea vom avea patru case de tip familial, pentru Sighet s-a luat in calcul nevoia de a amenaja cinci astfel de locuinte. Ieri (n.n. 22 octombrie) am avut o intalnire cu autoritatile judetene si cu reprezentantii Directiei Copilului, cu care am cazut de acord asupra unei colaborari in vederea inchiderii acestor centre. Speram ca pana la final de an sa avem si un protocol incheiat in acest sens”.

Reprezentantii HHC au aratat ca e nevoie ca Directia Generala de Asistenta Sociala si de Protectie a Copilului sa se implice mai mult in ceea ce inseamna preventia abandonului. “Mare parte din activitatea noastra s-a axat si pe reintegrarea in familii a copiilor. Directia poate sa faca mai multe pe prevenire. Suntem totodata frustrati de ritmul lent in care se intocmesc documentele – incepand cu intrarea la comisi si pana la ajungerea in instanta”, apunctat Darabus (vezi VIDEO2).

Pentru constructia viitoarelor case de tip familial din Maramures, unde urmeaza sa fie dusi copiii de la Sighet, dar si in cazul centrului de plasament Onesti din Bacau, vizat de asemenea pentru descentralizare, HHC se bazeaza si pe un sprijin financiar din partea Guvernului. Momentan, din cauza problemelor politice aparute la nivel central, oficialii de la Autoritatea Nationala de Protectie a Copilului au intarziat sa ia o decize in ce priveste cele doua proiecte de inchidere a centrelor. “Asteptam sa vedem ce se intampla”, a mai spus directorul HHC Romania.

Conform statisticilor intocmite la nivel de judet, anul trecut in Maramures mai erau institutionalizati 302 copii. Acum s-a ajuns la cifra de 208, din care o parte a fost deja inclusa in programul de reintegrare sociala, avand peste varsta majoratului, iar pentru alta parte se fac eforturi de introducere in mediul familial.

Trebuie spus ca activitatea HHC in Maramures nu a fost lipsita de critici de-a lungul vremii, unii dintre cei implicati in activitatile de descentralizare fiind acuzati ca s-au imbogatit pe seama proiectelor pentru orfani. Cifrele indica faptul ca, in urma eforturilor facute de aceasta fundatie, in judet au fost inchise mai mult de zece centre de plasament, fiind create in locul lor aproximativ 40 de case de tip familial.

Larisa Tivadar

Organizations: Hope & Homes for Children, Absolute Return for Kids (ARK)