Adoption to Denmark must be investigated
The government, the Socialist Party and the Conservatives have agreed that both a historical review and an analysis of the future of adoption should be carried out.
The framework for a long-awaited impartial investigation of international adoptions to Denmark has now been put in place.
It will be a historical investigation of adoptions to Denmark from 70 countries in the period 1964-2016, where, among other things, the practices of the authorities will be examined.
This is stated in a political agreement reached on Wednesday between the government and the SF and the Conservatives.
A total of 22.8 million kroner has been allocated to carry out the impartial investigation. It is not clear when exactly it will be launched and when the work will be completed.
Three points in the agreement
An impartial study of adoption mediation to Denmark from all partner countries
Strengthened assistance for adult adoptees
An analysis of adoption in the future
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing
The study was originally politically decided in 2023, but it has been a lengthy process to agree on the framework for it.
A united opposition has repeatedly demanded that the investigation should also be able to place legal responsibility and not simply be a historical discovery.
Minister of Social Affairs and Housing Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (S) has rejected this, and this is how the agreement has now ended.
- I am very pleased that we can now initiate an impartial investigation of the adoption mediation from all the countries and areas that Denmark has adopted from up to 2016. We owe that to the adoptees, says Sophie Hæstorp Andersen in a press release.
- At the same time, we are making massive efforts - both here in Denmark and in four sending countries - to provide help, support and advice to adult adoptees, so that they can gain much better insight into their own history than today.
This is done by allocating 15 million kroner from 2026 to 2029 to an offer for internationally adopted people. Here they can receive free and impartial legal advice about their adoption case.
Several years of unrest
The international adoption sector in Denmark has been in crisis for several years.
It started in the fall of 2023, when the Danish Social Appeals Board became aware of information indicating that Danish International Adoptions' (DIA) collaboration with the South African organization Impilo was not in accordance with Danish regulations.
In early 2024, DIA closed after accusations of circumventing Danish and international adoption regulations. Since then, it has not been possible to be put on the waiting list to adopt from abroad.
The agreement also establishes a working group that must present its proposal for what the future adoption system in Denmark could look like by the summer of 2026. After that, a political position must be taken on the working group's proposal.
- Recent years' events in the area of adoption have made it abundantly clear that we need a robust system that puts children first, says Sophie Hæstorp Andersen.