History Fiom

Fiom stands for freedom of choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy and the right to parentage information. The current Fiom organization originated from many predecessors and has existed since 1930.

2014

Due to the substantial cutbacks and the transition in healthcare, Fiom is developing as a specialist on unwanted pregnancy and parentage questions. Fiom is committed to the right of freedom of choice for pregnant women and the right to parentage information.

Online support, such as on unwanted pregnancy and abortion processing, is becoming more important because the offline help has decreased. External funding is being sought to continue to provide offline help. The amendment by Voortman below was adopted in December 2013 with broad support from the Lower House.

“ This amendment serves as an additional impetus to provide information to teens about pregnancy and to support the decision on whether to continue the pregnancy through neutral decision-making discussions. This amendment therefore regulates a targeted increase of EUR 1,000,000 for this target group and this task, without linking it to one specific institution. In consultation with the institutions that carry out the aforementioned tasks, further criteria will be drawn up for the use of these resources in such a way that more parties can make use of these resources. "

The amendment was prompted by the fact that the Fiom assistance in the field of neutral decision-making for girls and women who are unwantedly pregnant has been phased out with the adoption of the 2013 budget of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. This coincides with the transition to decentralized implementation of the tasks in this area. Fiom's task assignment has therefore changed from a social assistance institution to a knowledge center with services. The transition to decentralized implementation, where expertise still has to be built up and the phasing out of Fiom's assistance options, means that assistance for this specific target group is (temporarily) no longer guaranteed. The consequences of the 2013 discount are tangible for Fiom clients and intermediaries. Problems remain when looking at the effects of decentralization, which makes it difficult for regional partners to take over or maintain the national Fiome expertise. As a result, unwanted pregnant women still report themselves on a daily basis who cannot be helped anywhere else in making a choice.

Fiom wants to ensure good help and information in the Netherlands and to work connecting and facilitating with regional partners, so that they can provide the necessary help and information with the support provided by Fiom.

The challenge now is to organize a nationwide network of qualified aid workers with the Fiom quality mark.

The Netherlands Association of Abortion Doctors and the National General Practitioners Association endorse the amendment in letters to State Secretary Van Rijn and the permanent parliamentary committee of VWS. They indicate that it is essential for them to be able to refer to a body that works on an expert basis from a neutral vision. Fiom is emphatically based on the right to freedom of choice and helps women to make a choice that suits them and which will determine the rest of their lives. This can help them to make an informed decision about whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Fiom has built up a long-standing expert reputation in this field and has worked with many institutions in various regions in the Netherlands.

2013

A turning point for Fiom. In connection with a changed assignment from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Fiom is going to make the switch from aid organization to knowledge organization with services.

Over the past 80 years, Fiom has built up a wealth of knowledge in the field of unintended pregnancy and parentage questions. Fiom will share this knowledge and make it more accessible to (potential) clients, organizations and institutions in the social sector, politics and governments. Further digitization will be an important part of this. Fiom remains a national organization with a limited range of assistance. Fiom is going back from a 5 to 2 million subsidy and has to lay off 65 of its 100 employees. Fiom offices will be closed and only a few employees will still work on site.

2012

Major changes are taking place in Fiom's areas of attention, partly as a result of medical and international developments. The shift in the viability limit in preterm births raises questions and discussion regarding the abortion limit. Options such as surrogacy and sperm and egg donation generate public debate. The number of adopted children is decreasing. The adopted children who come to the Netherlands often have a physical and / or mental disability, are with several children from a family, and are often a bit older. Due to these developments, the demand for help and support from the target groups at Fiom is changing.

Fiom will receive a substantial subsidy discount for the following year from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. An action is started and 5000 people sign the petition 'Fiom aid must continue'. The petition will be presented to the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee of VWS on 23 October. To no avail.

2010

Fiom establishes its DNA database in collaboration with the Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen. Donors and donor children can have their DNA profile stored here. With the implementation of this DNA database, there is a chance of a match between donor and donor child. This DNA database is unique in the world and several countries are interested in following this example.

2009

There is an increasing demand for digital assistance. Fiom therefore starts with online help via e-mail and chat. The digital help allows Fiom to reach its target groups throughout the country.

2008

Halfway through the year, the ruling party ChristenUnie approaches Fiom with the request to submit a number of projects for teenage mothers, in addition to the current activity plan. The party wants to invest in better prevention and more assistance to teenage mothers. Thanks to extra funding, Fiom is developing the website tienermoeders.nl and infoportaaltienermoeders.nl.

On June 12, the Fiom, in collaboration with young mother centers Donna, Steady, JEM & Kids and JSO, is organizing the conference Teenage Mothers 'A place of their own and a different approach.' The methodology description for working with young mothers and guidelines for setting up centers are published.

2007

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is busy in dialogue with the field to shift the emphasis in the healthcare system. The aim of this is to make the content of the care offer sustainable for the future. Fiom sets up its organization to play a role as a specialized partner. In consultation with municipalities, Fiom can ensure that use is made of its specialist knowledge in those municipalities in accordance with the facilities available in those municipalities.

2006

Fiom has contributed its experience and expertise to partnerships for domestic and sexual violence. Fiom has been instructed by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to phase out its assistance on this subject and to transfer it to regional institutions. The aim is to complete its activities in the field of domestic violence by 2007.

2005

Fiom has been around for 75 years. The anniversary conference is entitled "Unintentional pregnancy: from taboo to openness ?!"

Fiom is involved in the evaluation of the Termination of Pregnancy Act. The interests of the mother and the unborn child have been given a proper place in the current law. Fiom is now finding a point for improvement to also start the consultation period after a conversation by persons other than just the doctor.

2004

The Artificial Fertilization Donor Data Act comes into effect. Anonymous donation of sperm and eggs via the clinics is no longer allowed. In addition to the already well-known seekers - adoptees, children of unmarried mothers and of divorced parents - also donor children come forward with search questions and with identity problems. Historically, the mothers of these seekers were the Fiom's clients of a generation ago.

2003

The prevention project 'unintentional pregnancy in refugees and asylum seekers' is concluded with a scenario. The scenario was drawn up on the basis of meetings by some 185 employees from the Medical Shelter, Nidos Foundation and the Dutch Council for Refugees. Fiom expertise, built up over decades of assistance to Dutch unintended pregnant women and unmarried mothers, is now being used for this problem among refugees and asylum seekers.

2001

High-profile documentaries by Netwerk and NCRV hit the audience like a bomb. In a short time, many women who became pregnant due to incest in the past. For several years now, Fiom has been working incidentally (and in collaboration with other organizations) with this request for help and is now starting the first group emergency response. Strong reactions from proponents and opponents point to the need to care for the individual victims and to break the silence about pregnancy due to incest.

Amendment to the Adoption Act makes it possible for same-sex couples to adopt a child. The broadening of the possibilities for one target group, the unwittingly childless couples, has consequences for the other, the mothers (married couples) who are considering distance for adoption. Fiom must coordinate its policy and practice accordingly.

1999

As of January 1, Stichting Ambulante Fiom will merge with ISS, division Netherlands.

The number of requests for advice, mediation and help with searches for relatives is rising sharply. The constant attention in the media means that seekers know - more than before - that it is possible and allowed to look for a blood relative. An unintended side effect of this is that people who do not want to look for their biological father or mother come under a different pressure: searching seems to have to. Conversation groups and open evenings contribute to help for seekers and to influence the mentality of the environment.

1998

Two consecutive internal reorganisations and cutbacks by the national government mean an attack on Fiom. The number of desks should be reduced to nine.

The Netherlands ratifies the Hague Adoption Convention. This Convention specifies the circumstances in which it is permissible to adopt children and creates conditions for the implementation of intercountry adoption.

Amendment of the Offspring Act. Many matters are regulated in the new Ancestry Act, some of which have consequences for Fiom's target groups. From now on, the legislator makes a distinction between the terms 'biological father', 'donor' and 'procreator'. The fatherhood that arises through marriage can now - besides the man - also be denied by the woman and the child. Legal motherhood is also regulated by law. This law allows an unmarried heterosexual couple to adopt and one person adoption.

1995

Fiom is celebrating its 65th anniversary. Separate expert meetings of adoptees, distance mothers and adoptive parents take place in the preliminary phase. The results will be presented during the jubilee conference “Adoption Triangle Interactive”.

At this congress, for the first time in the Netherlands, a meeting will take place in the public space of the three 'parties' that together form the adoption triangle. In addition to the existing organizations of adoptees from abroad, Möbius will be set up for adoptees of Dutch parents as a result of this conference. Although they are the oldest group, they have been the most invisible so far literally and figuratively. Ten years later, in addition to the Distance Mother Foundation, there will be at least twelve organizations for adoptees and six for adoptees and their adoptive parents together.

1994

In summary proceedings, Fiom has to appear in court because the Stichting Afstammingskinderen wants to force Fiom to provide their biological children with the complete files of distance mothers for inspection, without preconditions. Fiom recognizes the right to pedigree information, but at the same time respects the privacy of the mother and therefore wants to limit access to pedigree data. The judge agrees with Fiom. Fiom is of the opinion that, in addition to formally recorded pedigree data, the remote mother should be able to determine for herself whether she wants to have everything written about her read to her child.

There is a lot of attention in the press. In an article in Vrij Nederland, distance mothers point to their right to privacy. They point to the often whole and half untruths in the files, often subjectively described from the prevailing views of decades ago. The issue is one of the reasons for the establishment of the Distance Mother Foundation, which will often be in the public eye in the following years.

1990

The umbrella organization Fiom has been discontinued and the new National Association has just been established. The importance of its own history is highly valued: Hueting and Neij are commissioned to conduct historical research. Their publication 'Unmarried mother care in the Netherlands' is still one of the most important sources. Noordenbos' commissioned photo exhibition shows the differences and similarities in the work over sixty years.

As of January 1, the National Association will be converted into the Ambulante Fiom Foundation. There are 16 agencies that are involved in requests for help regarding: *) single parenthood; *) unexpected pregnancy; *) adoption and post-adoption questions; *) incest and sexual violence; *) step and co-parenting.

As a nationally operating institution for executive work, Fiom is always looking for collaboration. The boards of Fiom and the LVAAV (National Association of Single Arab Women), for example, conclude a cooperation contract for a period of two years. And a number of agencies initiate or participate in partnerships for help after sexual violence. An agency receives a large subsidy in the context of the UN 'Year of the Family. The subsidy is used to make teaching letters about "other forms of cohabitation."

1989

The LVAF understands the State Secretary's' request 'and states in her policy memorandum:' Given her knowledge and experience with the issues surrounding sexuality / reproduction and parent-child relationship and given her vision on power relations and the tradition of standing up for the oppressed woman, the LVAF wants to focus on psychosocial assistance to victims of sexual violence and incest and to mothers of incet victims. '

In addition to the guidance by the subsidizing government, it is of course the changes in society that force Fiom to reorient its range of assistance. The development of birth technology and the phenomenon of surrogacy bring other people seeking help to the Fiom offices. In the sometimes Babylonian confusion of tongues, Fiom tries to remain faithful to his own principles but to adjust them where necessary.

She wants to stand up for the right of women to self-determination and also advocates for safeguarding the rights of the child. In this regard, Fiom is providing unsolicited advice to the government, relevant ministries and parliamentary parties and advocates the discontinuation of anonymous sperm donation.

1985 - 1988

National funding requires a nationwide structure for Fiom. There will be one national organization for the execution of the work. State Secretary Dees of WVC is of the opinion 'that a facility such as the Fiom bureaus - while retaining current tasks and functions - can also play an important role in the field of women's assistance, such as assistance in cases of incest problems, provision for female abuse and assistance in divorce problems. play'. WVC wants Fiom to orientate itself on new developments in society and to set priorities when defining the target group. Budget extension is available for that. In 1988 a staff officer for women's assistance is appointed at the National Office.

The existing legal entities, the offices and homes, will be merged into the National Ambulatory Fiom Association, the LVAF. The intention is that the National Office will function for both the homes and the offices. This cannot be carried out due to cutbacks. This means that the organizational relationship between Fiom offices and homes falls apart.

1984

Termination of Pregnancy Act. Fiom social workers have until now been supported by the policies of their organization. From this year onwards they also operate within the margins of the law. A relief for many workers and clients.

1982

Decentralization of the Fiom ambulatory work. Subsidy must be provided by the municipality of residence. The survival of the Fiom desks is hanging by a thread. After political lobby, support from both left and right, Minister Brinkman promises to reverse decentralization. Only a year later, after a demonstration in Amsterdam and a parliamentary majority on a motion by Lankhorst, it is reported that the Fiom will again be financed nationally. The Fiom offices in the four major cities are subsidized by their local authorities.

1981

The National Bureau Fiom appoints two staff officers for Emancipation. This appointment was made possible in part by the subsidy to so-called pilot projects under the responsibility of the Directorate for Coordination of Emancipation Policy of the Government.

1980

Under the collective name 'Eigen Werk', the National Office publishes special papers and theses to allow employees to exchange experiences and develop joint expertise. The series will exist until 1990 and will continue for a few more years under the name 'method series'.

In the 1980s, BOM groups (Conscious Unmarried Mother) were organized at Fiom desks. Some lesbians want to become mothers but face discrimination at the clinics. Fiom strives for the equality of all who want to become pregnant via KID (Artificial Insemination with Donor Seed). There are group activities for social assistance mothers and holiday projects for single parent families.

1979

For Fiom, the 'Year of the Child' means the start of activities that are specifically developed for children from one-parent families: crèches, children's talk groups and holiday camps.

1975 - 1980

The joining of forces of the three organizations provides a series of new activities. The activities are aimed, among other things, at abortion care and legislative changes; housing, especially for women 'fleeing home in crisis'; right to part-time work; breaking the taboo around giving up a child; parental authority in non-marital situations. Social workers, volunteers, board members and staff officers are committed to the target group. And (ex) clients can be found in the boards.

1975

The 'Year of the Woman' elicits the Mad Mina reaction: 'No year, a life for the woman.' The poster with that slogan can be found in many Fiom offices. The message for whom and why they want to fight is clear. Many Fiom workers are active in the Women's Movement and work together with their clients in various 'strikes-against' and 'actions-for'.

1971 - 1975

Merger process between the three umbrella organizations FIOM, COM (Central for Unmarried Mother Care, an earlier merger of Catholic and General Association) and HPS (Hendrik Pierson Foundation) These have been years of heated discussions. The executives have long been in favor of collaboration and - in keeping with the zeitgeist - have their way of making it known. An occupancy of the building where the boards of COM; HPS and FIOM meet. A telegram in which the joint offices make their voices heard is delivered too early, causing the occupation to fizzle out. From 1975, the institutions continue to merge under the name Fiom, the Dutch association of organizations for pregnancy and single parenting.

Emancipation in the broad sense of the word is the starting point for the work of the Fiom, with the emphasis on the emancipation of the single-parent family and the emancipation of women. The target group is determined: 1) people - married or not - who have questions / problems about pregnancy; 2) single parents with their children; 3) Children of single parents. The goal that Fiom pursues for this group is: * advocacy and assistance; * prevention of the aforementioned problems; * improvement of the social position; * coordinate the work of the members of the Fiom. As a result of the merger, 24 offices plus additional consultation addresses, 14 homes and 24 (supervised) housing projects will continue under one flag.

1969 - 1979

Action points of groups such as Dolle Mina, MVM, Wij Vrouwen Eisen and Stay of my Lijf are recognized by workers and clients. In many places, there is collaboration with local action groups and social workers and board members use their weight to implement changes and improvements in clients' living conditions.

1971

The Divorce Act is passed. Fiom's range of assistance will be broadened to include assistance with pregnancy and single parenthood (unmarried mothers / fathers; parents whose partner has died; divorced parents). In addition to information, advice and assistance to individuals and groups, Fiom also wants to: 'promote the interests of the target groups together with them and strive for a change of mentality with regard to the single-parent family.'

A government subsidy scheme for social services for unmarried mothers and their children replaces the temporary scheme that had existed since 1961. The ministry pays the subsidy into the bank account of twenty independent foundations - per address National Office of FIOM The special institutions that do not specifically focus on unmarried maternal care go their separate ways.

1970

The publication 'Load, carrying capacity. Abortion provocatus in the context of assistance to unmarried pregnant women 'is expressly presented by FIOM to its own members and to everyone involved in the abortion problem in the Netherlands and says' assistance with regard to the abortion problem is a normal part of its range of tasks. ' to see.

The starting point is the woman's right to self-determination with regard to whether or not the fruit will continue to exist and the conviction that the thinking of others (i.e. a social worker) is required in order to arrive at a well-considered decision. This clear position supports the executive workers. It will take another fourteen years of study, action and political lobbying for the Abortion Act to end working on the fringes of what is legally permissible.

1969

The Magazine for Social Work publishes a report of the study day on the social position of unmarried mothers in the Netherlands, organized by FIOM. H. Milikowski's paper entitled 'Tolerate or accept? Accept unconditionally ”, heralds a change. The view that unmarried motherhood should be classified as social pathology is losing ground. It is increasingly argued that the special problem of the unmarried mother arises from the position in which she is placed by society and not as a result of her personal morbid or immoral behavior. The similarities in the problems of unmarried mothers and other single mothers are mentioned.

1968

FIOM has grown into a federation of stature. Members are 3 national umbrella organizations; 39 desks plus 22 consultation hours for outpatient assistance; 27 homes and 8 special institutions (such as the Protection of Jewish Girls, the Salvation Army, the Advocacy of Unmarried Mothers). There is a three-way division by philosophy: Protestant, Catholic and general. Collaboration between administrations and executive forces leads to the establishment of the first non-confessional bureau: the General Foundation for Non-wedded Mother Care in Breda.

The government subsidizes 60% of all work; the Provincial government 20% and the remaining 20% ??comes from municipal subsidies and private donations.

1967

The seminar is called 'With standards at work', in which 180 people, mainly workers from agencies and homes, participate. The involvement of practitioners has a major influence on the adoption of the report 'Standards for external and internal unmarried maternal care'.

The scope of unmarried maternal care is wide. Of the never married women with an illegitimate child, 76% have contact with unmarried mother care.

1966

The Roman Catholic Associations of Girls in the Netherlands reports in the contact magazine that they will stop helping unmarried mothers, because the work "must be done scientifically by professionals."

In its national magazine, the Hendrik Pierson Association gives the floor to the sociologist Winkler Prins about the influence of the environment on unmarried mothers: 'People are immediately prepared to step into the breach for the unmarried mother. At the same time, however, people demand the necessary gratitude. She is sometimes expected to take the education of her child even more seriously than married mothers, but at the same time they are expected to do less. The most important thing, however, should be that not the decisions we would like to make for the unmarried mother, but should be her starting point for the help. '

The HPV board thanks for donations: more than four thousand guilders from 83 members, and explicitly states that this money will not be used to cover the operating deficit.

1965

Social Assistance Act. Admission of a pregnant woman to a home is paid for under the General Assistance Act; previously the homes worked on municipal subsidy. Unmarried mothers can now receive benefits and are no longer dependent on parents. The Social Assistance Act greatly strengthens the possibility that pregnant women and unmarried mothers - even young - will stand on their own two feet.

1962

FIOM requests amendment of art. 129 Accounting Decree. This will become a fact four years later. The data of a relinquished child may be removed from her personal card at the request of the mother. This information will be kept in the Landelijk Schakelregister.

1961

The government provides subsidies on the basis of a Temporary Subsidy Scheme for Unmarried Mother Care. It provides opportunities to appoint paid professionals.

1957

FIOM General Assembly is devoted to the first experiences with the adoption law. Prof. Petit, chairman of the Central Adoption Council, states, "... we must be careful not to accept adoption as the normal pinnacle of foster parenthood." FIOM's secretary, Mr. Sark, makes a case for cooperation between official bodies and private initiatives such as FIOM, to '... give the mother help and assistance, so that the unmarried mother is able to take an interest in her child and keep up with her part in the upbringing to carry.'

There are more than 140 affiliated associations where mainly volunteers work.

1956

The Adoption Act. Initially, FIOM is still opposed to legislation. Later she agrees, but retains a certain reserve in word and deed.

1953

Foster Children Act. Uncontrolled placements will end. The state formulates requirements about the upbringing of foster children.

1951

Child Benefit Act. Unmarried mothers also receive child benefit.

1946

Children's Laws Review. The minor unmarried mother acquires a legally recognized family relationship with her child. Paid social workers are entering the many pre-existing local private facilities for outpatient assistance to unmarried mothers.

Unmarried pregnant women are equated with married persons: entitlement to benefits during pregnancy and childbirth.

1945

During and shortly after the Second World War, a large number of illegitimate (sometimes unwanted) children are born. In the annual report for 1944, a bureau reports: "Of the 45 illegitimate births, in 14 cases the originator was a German soldier." In 1947, the same bureau noted that of the 60 illegitimate births, 17 of the originator was an allied soldier. Many children are given up after birth. This is the direct reason for the pressure from organizations of foster parents on the government to revise the Foster Children Act.

1940

FIOM establishes the Commission for the Centralization of Child Distance. The aim of this committee is, among other things, to combat the 'unorganized' distance between children, better selection of foster parents and the prevention of distance “if no serious reasons can be indicated for this”.

1930

Foundation of the Federation of Institutions for the Unmarried Mother and her child. 25 institutions become members of FIOM. They subscribe to the objective: the federation acts between the government and the private associations "… in order to arrive at a settlement over the whole country of the subsidy of the institutions". There will be a government subsidy that makes it possible to set up a national office. The lawyers of this office handle cases that the local associations cannot handle themselves. This concerns, for example, the placement of English children with Dutch foster parents who hope to eventually adopt the child. FIOM is building up experience, in particular through the many requests from adopting parents. Based on that experience, FIOM

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