Betty is happy to have withdrawn her adoption

DENMARK APRIL 7. 2016 KL. 22:52

Betty is happy to have withdrawn its adoption

In a case reminiscent of Amy, was Ethiopian Betty adopted to Holland and the wreckage of his adoptive family. Today she 'peace of mind' after the adoption was revoked and she can again be with his Ethiopian family.

REUNITED. Betty Demoze and her Ethiopian mother seen here just after the court lifted her adoption, just as it is this day for Danish-adopted Amy. - Private Foto

Dorrit Saietz DORRIT SAIETZ

Journalist

After I met my family again and the adoption was cancelled, a lot of stuff was lifted from my shoulders

Betty Demoze, 17 years

Betty Demoze was seven years old when she was adopted by a Dutch family with her two-year-old sister.

But the adoption went wrong. She could not settle into her new family, and her adoptive parents punished her by beating and kicking her, scolding her and withholding her meals.

After two years, she got help from her teacher to get away from her adoptive parents. She has since lived with the teacher, who has been her foster mother.

At age 14, she travelled with her foster mother to Ethiopia, met her parents again and testified at the court in Addis Ababa, which repealed the adoption. It is now three years ago, and Betty Demoze, who will soon turn 18, has only good things to say about the decision she made then.

"It gave me peace of mind. Before my mind always went around in my head and I did not always know what I did. After I met my family again and the adoption was cancelled, it was as if a lot of stuff was lifted from my shoulders and I was so happy and content, "she says over the phone from the Netherlands, where she still lives and goes to school.

"People who knew me also noticed it and said that I had been so calm," she says.

Is still a Dutch citizen

Although adoption the adoption was cancelled in Ethiopia, Betty Demoze retained his Dutch passport and citizenship. She has chosen to stay in the Netherlands while she finishes her education, and the Dutch authorities have allowed her to stay with her foster mother without interfering.

"There is no one who has tried to stop me or hold me back in either the Netherlands or Ethiopia," she says.

She knows in short Amy's case and has seen the movie 'Mercy Mercy' on Masho whose adoption was also cancelled by today's decision.

"I do not understand why the Danish authorities refuse to let Amy and Masho come back to Ethiopia. This is something that makes everyone happy to get back to their own country, "she says.

Will go back and relearn the language

Betty Demoze has been visiting Ethiopia three times since and has enjoyed being with her family. This summer she is planning a longer stay of two months to become better at speaking the language, which she lost by adoption to the Netherlands.

"People here speak Dutch to me all day so I forgot to speak Amharic. But I want to learn my language again, I feel like Ethiopians. I will always come back to the Netherlands, because I also have friends and family here, and nobody asked me to choose or abandon my Dutch passport. But I do not feel Dutch other than on paper. "

Her future plan is to get educated in the social sector and to travel to Ethiopia and other countries in Africa and maybe Latin America. She would like to work with projects to ensure clean drinking water and schools for the children.

Miss Ethiopia more

For her, the biggest drawback she can point out is that she misses Ethiopia even more than before.

"Because I now know better what I miss. I know that my parents and friends are there. And that it is a safe country where people are friendly, where you can talk to everyone, and where the weather is nice - much better than in Holland, where it's cold and raining all day. Everything that I miss, and I have to live with, "said Betty Demoze.

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