Mother Karen stands up for adoption: 'We already hear that adopted children address their parents about it'

The temporary ban on adoption abroad by Minister Sander Dekker of Legal Protection fell to the roof of the adoptive mother of Robin (4) and Tom (0) from the United States.

With other adoptive parents and a number of Dutch people who were adopted in the past, she started a petition to revoke that ban. It has already been drawn more than 10,000 times - and the counter is running.

Too great risks

"Those who have permission in principle can complete the adoption procedure, but how that will work out in practice is unclear," says Gregory. She fears that employment agencies will drop out because the financial risk will become too great. “Then knowledge and skills are lost. We trust Dekker has a solution for that. ”

Gregory and her supporters started their action out of enthusiasm. They want to share their positive adoption stories for fear that negative sentiment will dominate. A committee led by former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra concluded that there had been child trafficking, corruption and fraud.

It should not be forgotten that the initiative for adoption is never done from a bad motive.

Karen Gregory, Initiator of petition against temporary adoption ban

Because he does not dare to put his hand in the fire that this is no longer an issue, Dekker decided to stop some 450 ongoing adoption files. "We are already hearing from parents who are approached by their adopted children," says Gregory. “They get questions from friends at school. Whether they have also been stolen sometimes. That is very sad. The parents must then explain that nothing untoward has happened. ”

Gregory et al argue that evidence for new abuses is lacking. Rather the opposite is the case. “Of the more than thirty offices in the Netherlands, there are only four left. Many former adoption countries have already dropped out because of insufficient transparency. Such as Brazil and South Korea. ”

Want children

The Oosterbeekse and her husband had a desire to have children that could not be fulfilled naturally. “We did not want egg donation or surrogacy. Elsewhere in the world there are already children who could use the love of their parents. ”

Also their Robin and Tom. "In the US there are many children whose biological parents are unable to provide a stable family life for a variety of reasons."

Permanent contact

The fact that Robin and Tom's parents could choose the Oosterbeek adoptive family themselves and that permanent mutual contact is possible, was reason for Gregory and her partner to fulfill their adoption wishes in the US. “We wanted to prevent the boys from having to look for them later. We also hope to travel to Philadelphia with the oldest, so that he can meet his family. ”

This does not alter the fact that Gregory also grants a better perspective to children from other countries. “What has gone wrong in the past must be brought to the bottom of the matter. It should not be forgotten that the initiative for adoption is never done from a bad motive. In my network I know adoptees from China and Indonesia who say: my file is not correct either, but I am very happy with my adoption. ”