New agreement on a joint effort in the area of adoption
A number of initiatives in the field of adoption aim to strengthen our knowledge of the past, provide increased support for adult adoptees, and analyze the possibilities for international adoption in the future.
Since the 1960s, children have come to Denmark through international adoption mediation. A number of reports and stories in the media have cast doubt on the basis for international adoption mediation back in time. Since then, much has changed in both Denmark and in many of the countries that have given up children. In 1997, the Hague Adoption Convention came into force in Denmark, and most recently in 2016, the Danish system for international adoption was fundamentally changed with stricter supervision. In recent years, however, it has proven difficult to implement adoption mediation under the current requirements, and there is currently no permanent solution for international adoption mediation to Denmark.
Therefore, the government, the Socialist People's Party and the Conservative People's Party have agreed on a number of important initiatives in the area of adoption, which together will contribute to more knowledge about the past, provide increased support for adult adoptees and also shed light on future options for adoption. The starting point for the agreement is consideration for the best interests of the child, regardless of age.
There is agreement on the following:
1: An impartial study of adoption mediation to Denmark from all partner countries
The impartial study will shed light on the Danish mediation system in the period 1964-2016 – including the role and practice of the authorities, the supervisory authorities and organisations – in the collaboration with foreign partners. The study will also shed light on economic aspects of the collaboration. It will cover adoption mediation from all 70 countries/areas from which Denmark has adopted during the period.
The SSA agreements for 2024 and 2025 have allocated a total of DKK 22.8 million to conduct an impartial study of adoption mediation.
2: Strengthened assistance for adult adoptees
Since the 1960s, children have come to Denmark through international adoption mediation. Some of the adoptees, who are now adults, need more support and advice.
The parties to the agreement have therefore agreed to set aside DKK 15 million in the period 2026-2029 for an offer for internationally adopted people that provides free and impartial legal advice regarding follow-up on the individual's adoption case.
At the same time, employees are being sent to Danish representations so that adoptees can receive help in four central issuing countries. Over a two-year period, the employees will be able to offer adoptees the opportunity for concrete and individual help in gaining insight into their adoption papers in the issuing country. The countries are South Korea, India, Vietnam and Lebanon. DKK 19.2 million has been allocated for this work.
Finally, 10.8 million DKK is allocated to strengthen psychological counseling for adult adoptees in Denmark, so that this PAS counseling (post adoption service) can be more tailored to the needs of the individual, and so that it becomes possible to establish discussion groups for adult adoptees. These funds were allocated with the SSA agreement for 2025, and it has now been agreed how they will be implemented.
3: An analysis of adoption in the future
Currently, there is no permanent solution for international adoption mediation in Denmark. The parties to the agreement have therefore agreed to establish a working group to analyze the adoption system and come up with proposals for a possible new approach.
The analysis will, among other things, shed light on the children's needs for international adoption, cooperation opportunities abroad and the needs of adoptees in a future system. The analysis will also need to uncover national adoption, including the challenge of too few adopters.
The analysis must be based on the very basic principles of:
- that a child should first and foremost be helped in the country where the child was born
- that help through adoption should be provided without financial gain in mind
- that the child's right to their own history is an important focal point
The working group will be anchored in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing and will be composed of people with both adoption expertise, historical and legal insight.
The SSA agreement for 2025 has allocated DKK 2.0 million for the analysis. The work will begin before the summer of 2025 and is expected to be completed before the summer of 2026, after which a political position will be taken on the working group's proposal for the future adoption system.
Minister of Social Affairs and Housing Sophie Hæstorp Andersen says:
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. At the same time, we are making a massive effort - 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 they do today. And we are initiating an analysis that will indicate what the future of adoption mediation in Denmark may look like. The events of recent years in the area of adoption have made it very clear that we need a robust system that puts the children first. Thank you to SF and K for the good cooperation and input into a large and joint effort in the area of adoption.
- Sophie Hæstorp Andersen
Ken Kristensen, social affairs spokesman for the Liberal Party, says:
I am pleased that together we have reached a solution where we can meet the special needs that this case requires. There is help and support available for those involved in a vulnerable case. It is important that we as a society also recognize this.
-Ken Kristensen
Rosa Eriksen, social affairs spokesperson for the Moderates, says:
You have the right to your own history, and of course we must learn from the past. That is why we in the Moderates are pleased that we can now start an impartial investigation and strengthen the right and accessibility to your own history for those who were previously adopted. Thank you to SF and K for a constructive collaboration.
- Rosa Eriksen
Charlotte Broman Mølbæk, social spokesperson for the Socialist People's Party, says:
The stories we hear about child trafficking and forgery of documents and identities are heartbreaking and incomprehensible. There are too many cases where we cannot say with certainty that the adoption has proceeded according to plan and within the rules of international conventions or Danish legislation. Therefore, we are pleased that there will be an impartial investigation of adoptions over time, which also sheds light on the role of state authorities in the system. At SF, we are of course also pleased that we are allocating money for legal advice on what to do if you want to proceed with your case. Just as we are very pleased that we are now getting staff out to four countries to help with the investigation of your own case. That we are also continuing the work of investigating future adoptions, and providing the opportunity to have psychological interviews. With this agreement, SF wants to help the adoptees to be clarified and gain as much insight into what their story is, as well as to get help to live with it.
- Charlotte Broman Mølbæk
Mette Abildgaard, family spokesperson for the Conservative People's Party, says:
For the Conservative People's Party, there are three crucial considerations that we achieve with this agreement. We will initiate the impartial investigation that has long been desired and talked about. We owe that to the adoptees, whose fate this is about. In addition, we will now give all adoptees a much better opportunity to gain insight into their own history and the opportunity for legal advice on how to proceed with their case in the courts if there have been mistakes and failures. Finally, we will begin the process that, learned from the past, will enable us to create a safe and secure future adoption system.
- Mette Abildgaard
Camilla Fabricius, social spokesperson for the Social Democrats, says:
This has been a long and difficult journey. Not least for the adoptees and their relatives, who have been left with unanswered questions and uncertainty about their own history for far too many years. That is why it is absolutely crucial that we now launch an impartial investigation and strengthen support for adult adoptees. This is about people. And it is about creating transparency, recognition and real help for those who have lived with the consequences. We owe it to them.
- Camilla Fabricius
Facts - international adoption mediation today
International adoption mediation in Denmark has historically been placed with a private player. This was maintained in the adoption system that came into effect in 2016. As a precursor to this system, the task of an adoption mediation organization was consolidated in January 2015 with Danish International Adoption (DIA).
On January 16, 2024, DIA's board of directors announced the decision to carry out a controlled liquidation of DIA's adoption mediation business, which, according to DIA, was due to difficulties in meeting the requirements currently imposed in connection with international adoption mediation.
On October 31, 2024, DIA ended its work as an adoption mediation organization.
On November 1, 2024, the Danish Social Appeals Board was temporarily assigned the task of providing assistance to those of DIA's applicants who were already on the waiting list on January 16, 2024, pursuant to the Adoption Act. The Danish Social Appeals Board can handle the task until January 1, 2027.
On 28 February 2025, the DIA archives were transferred to the Danish National Appeals Board as public archives. The archives are stored at the National Archives, where the Danish National Appeals Board can borrow the specific adoption cases from the National Archives and provide the adoptees with insight into their own adoption case.