By Han Boon-young

Twenty-seven years ago, in one of the famous prison letters to his wife, Kim Dae-jung brought up the issue of transnational adoption from Korea.

While contemplating the moral aspects of inter-country adoption in a time of economic growth and national prosperity, he was equally moved by the existential struggle of the adoptees returning to Korea and ashamed of the nation's reckless abandonment of its sons and daughters.

During the long years in opposition and exile from his own country, Kim and his wife had many opportunities to meet with individuals and representatives from communities around the world.

US lawmakers urge easier Guatemalan adoptions

(AFP) – 19 hours ago

WASHINGTON — US lawmakers have called on their government to ease red tape that has slowed the adoption of Guatemalan children since legal reforms were introduced to more strictly regulate the process.

In a letter, 52 legislators asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure Guatemalan measures aimed at curbing baby selling were "being carried out in a way that protects the interests of children, birth parents, and adoptive parents alike."

Signatories said that since the reforms passed adoptions have stagnated "forcing the children involved to remain in institutions or temporary care," with would-be parents bombarded with requests for information.

K&T stopt met bemiddeling VS

Deelbemiddeling VS

Op maandag 24 augustus heeft Stichting Kind en Toekomst zowel de heer Michael Goldstein als mevr. Tara Gutterman (ARC) geïnformeerd dat de stichting alle inspanningen om tot een contract met hen te komen voor reguliere procedures beëindigt.

Na vele jaren van onderhandelingen kon Stichting Kind en Toekomst alleen maar constateren dat de nodige transparantie en openheid in communicatie uitbleef waardoor gevoelige maar zeer belangrijke onderwerpen onvoldoende bespreekbaar bleven.

Voor het aangaan van een contract voor reguliere procedures wil en kan Stichting Kind en Toekomst de verantwoording daardoor niet dragen.

Blogs Closed-per Neplai Ministry

The Nepali Ministry has told adoptive families that they should not post pictures of their newly adopted children on their blogs. A a result, the blogs I posted in my last blog posting are now unavailable. However, one family is maintaining a separate blog just for those people waiting to adopt from Nepal. You can follow it at:

http://nepaladoptionrumors.blogspot.com

Himes, Johnson, Federici, Zeanah, et al (

Romanian Adoption Project), Growth and Sexual Maturation

In Romanian Orphanages. Journal of pediatrics and

Neurology, September, 2009

http://www.specialneedskidsinfo.com/Virginiapsychologists.html

marjah

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THE NORDIC APPROACH TO INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

is based on the rights of the child and higher ethical standards in intercountry adoption

The Nordic Adoption Council’s Conference 2009 on intercountry Adoption took place in Iceland from 3th to 6th of September. Present at the Conference were all of the NAC-members, who represent all but one of the Nordic organizations, i.e. the organizations from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark, accredited to work with intercountry adoptions plus parents organizations from some of the countries. The Conference agreed upon the following joint global venture in intercountry adoption context, based on the ambition to put children’s rights and higher ethics at the forefront of the agenda when it comes to practices and basic rules in intercountry adoption.

The background is well known: intercountry adoption is under increasing pressure due to the fact, that more and financially strong receiving countries have dramatically increased their number of approved families for adoption, while many of the traditional countries of origin have either put restrictions or barriers upon intercountry adoption or have closed up their intercountry adoption programmes completely due to better living conditions in the country, increased domestic adoption or - in worst case - excessive pressure from potential adoptive families resulting in scandals involving trafficking.

The Nordic organizations have – globally - the longest experience in mediating in intercountry adoption due to the fact, that intercountry adoption became a recognized social and legal phenomenon in the Nordic countries already some years after the Second World War. At the conference celebrated in Iceland, the Nordic Adoption Organizations – many of whom have celebrated 40 years’ anniversary - agreed on the following standpoints to secure intercountry adoption processes based on ethics and responsibility:

Money plays too big a role in adoption

Published on : 28 August 2009 - 3:15pm | By Maurice Laparlière

Filed under:

adoption

children

Google translation: Ping-Pong with a child's life Girl held in Germany, nobody's child Nicoleta Trif, whose daughter is held in a German family since three years, will not be brought back soon to her natural family in the village Giulvaz, Timis county. German authorities threw the cat in the yard of the Romanians and the Romanian authorities claim they can not bring the child back, because the German family refuses to repatriate. However, although the natural mother of the girl, Gabriela, was in Germany and has asked the little girl back even from Korina Biemuller-Meyer, a German citizen who illegally took the child to a farm in Germany since the age of 4 months. German and Romanian authorities have already promised in June that the child will be repatriated, but everything appears to be just a hoax to officials responsible for child's life. Five days after Jurnalul National reported this serious case of seizure of a Romanian child in a family of Bavaria, Susanne Kastner, vice president of German Federal Parliament, came on a private visit to Timisoara to document the fate of the girl... ===================================== PING-PONG CU VIA?A UNUI COPIL Feti?a sechestrat? în Germania, copilul nim?nui Mama adoptiv?, Korina Biemuller-Meyer, ?i feti?a românc? sechestrat? de ea Nicoleta Trif, feti?a sechestrat? la o familie din Germania de trei ani, nu va fi adus? prea curând înapoi la familia ei natural? din satul Giulv?z, jude?ul Timi?. Autorit??ile germane arunc? pisica în curtea celor române, iar autorit??ile române sus?in c? nu pot aduce copilul înapoi, pe motiv c? familia german? refuz? s? o repatrieze. de Mircea Opris 28/08/2009R?sfoie?te: 1 23938 vizite Imprim? E-mail Toate acestea, de?i mama natural? a feti?ei, Gabriela Gu??, a fost în Germania ?i ?i-a cerut feti?a înapoi chiar de la Korina Biemuller-Meyer, o cet??ean? german? care ?ine ilegal acest copil la o ferm? din Germania înc? de la vârsta de 4 luni. Autorit??ile germane ?i cele române au promis înc? din luna iunie c? feti?a va fi repatriat?, îns? totul se dovede?te a fi doar o p?c?leal? a demnitarilor responsabili pentru via?a minorei. La cinci zile dup? ce Jurnalul Na?ional a semnalat acest caz grav de sechestrare a unui copil român la o familie din Bavaria, Susanne Kastner, vicepre?edinte al Parlamentului federal german, a venit într-o vizit? privat? la Timi?oara pentru a se documenta despre soarta feti?ei. Astfel, la 5 iunie, atât vicepre?edinta Bundestagului, cât ?i pre?edintele CJ Timi?, Constantin Ostaficiuc, prefectul Mircea B?cal?, dar ?i directorul Direc?iei pentru Protec?ia Copilului Timi?, Rodica Negrea, au promis c? în cel mai scurt timp românii vor trimite un psiholog vorbitor de limba german? pentru a evalua copilul ?i pentru a-l readuce în România. De?i mama natural? î?i a?tepta copilul în iunie, Susanne Kastner a declarat c? ea s-a implicat personal pentru ca acest copil s? mai r?mân? o perioad? în Germania ?i s? nu fie adus imediat înapoi acas?, pentru a nu suferi un ?oc la adaptarea la condi?iile de acas?. La mai bine de dou? luni de atunci, lucrurile s-au schimbat radical, iar acum nici autorit??ile române ?i nici cele germane nu vor s? se implice rapid în repatrierea copilului, aruncând vina unii în ograda celorlal?i ?i închizând ochii la gravele înc?lc?ri ale legilor interna?ionale de protec?ie ?i drepturile copilului ?i de repatriere la cererea p?rin?ilor în ceea ce prive?te sechestrarea minorei Nicoleta Trif. NEM?II SE JUR? C? NU AU NICI O RESPONSABILITATE Autorit??ile bavareze din Bad Kissingen au fost luate prin surprindere de faptul c? reporterii Jurnalului Na?ional au revenit în Germania pentru l?muriri în acest caz. Aceasta dup? ce mai multe ziare germane au încercat s? vad? feti?a ?i s? ia leg?tura cu cea care o ?ine, Korina Biemuller-Meyer. Femeia refuz? îns? constant orice întrevedere cu presa ?i ?ine feti?a doar pe teritoriul fermei, proprietate privat? a familiei. Dup? mai multe bâlbâieli ?i telefoane între reprezentan?i ai Consiliului regional din Bad Kissingen ?i de la Protec?ia Copilului din aceea?i regiune, r?spunsul a fost unul incredibil. "Despre acest caz trebuie s? întreba?i la Consulatul român din München, pentru c? noi nu avem dreptul s? intervenim în acest caz ?i nici nu suntem implica?i în acest caz. Nici Departamentul de Protec?ie a Copilului din Bad Kissingen nu este implicat în acest caz, pentru c? nu este permis. Noi nu avem dreptul s? hot?râm nici dac? s? ?inem copilul în Germania. Doar Consulatul român din München", ne-a declarat telefonic dintr-un alt birou dr Anna Barbara Keck, consilier principal, prin vocea Gerhard Kauf, func?ionar în cadrul Consiliului Regional Bad Kissingen. Declara?ia este surprinz?toare, dup? ce mai mul?i func?ionari de la Departamentul de Protec?ie a Copilului din Bad Kissingen, în frunte cu Siegbert Goll, directorul de la Protec?ia Copilului, au cerut rela?ii în România, au depus m?rturie ?i au fost parte în controversatul proces privind posibila traficare a feti?ei din România în Germania.

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It took Heike Kramer and her husband 3.5 years and overcame many hurdles to adopt their first child from India. She is also involved in the Federal Association for Parents of Foreign Adopted Children.

Offenburg-Zunsweier. India - many people think of magnificent temples and Ayurveda cures, bright colors, exotic spices and the booming software industry. But very few people know the great need of many Indian children, especially the girls. Not so the Kramer couple from Zunsweier, they have two adopted daughters from the Asian country. TV show "14 years ago we saw a documentary about the fate of girls in India on TV," Heike Kramer remembers. Since then, the petite woman with a big heart has been helping needy girls in the former colonial state. "It was a gut decision back then, it was the feeling that we wanted to adopt a girl from India," explains Heike Kramer. For many people, adopting children from abroad is too much of a hassle. No hurdle was too high for Heike Kramer. The Kramers worked for three and a half years to finally be able to hug their daughter. "After all, they are not looking for children for parents, but parents for children," says Heike Kramer, explaining this difficult process. During this time, contact with the »Holy Cross« children's home in Delhi, India, began. At that time it was managed by a Heilig-Kreuz-Nurse from Hegne. This sister collected school fees for the girls in her children's home and thus made it possible for them to get an education. “A child in India can go to school for a whole month for as little as 5 euros,” explains Heike Kramer. This includes school fees, clothing, food, drink and travel expenses. »Girls who can read and do arithmetic have much better chances in India«, the trained pediatric nurse knows from her many years of commitment. "When Sister Hermann-Josef withdrew from Delhi in 2002, she asked me to continue the school fee project." Shortly afterwards, the sister died. In 1998, Heike Kramer met Norbert Scheiwe, who had founded the children's charity LUCY in Breisach and was able to personally use the money he had raised in India without any administrative costs. Together with Scheiwe, Heike Kramer then founded the Federal Association for Parents of Foreign Adopted Children. She still serves as treasurer on the board of this association. The association is a neutral information center for all questions relating to the adoption of foreign children. "There is a great need for information and many people often do not dare to ask the youth welfare office," says Heike Kramer. All of this is a matter of course for the 44-year-old: »I do it from the heart.« She spends countless hours voluntarily collecting money for girls in India. She has set up a donation account at the Volksbank in Offenburg (BLZ 664 90000, number 77 913 904, proof of sending is possible). Once a year, she brings the money that goes into this account by check to Norbert Scheiwe in Breisach, who then brings the sum himself or through another volunteer to the Holy Cross children's home in Delhi. “The flights to India are all paid for by the private individuals themselves. All the money arrives in full,” says Heike Kramer happily. Heike Kramer is just as proud of the new construction of the Holy Cross Children's Home in Delhi and shows a few souvenir photos of the construction. started in 2002 it could be inaugurated in 2008. Most of the money came from donations. “We have written to every parent of a Holy Cross child around the world asking for donations. A large sum came together.«

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