International adoptions - a Swiss scandal

Between 1980 and 2000, around 14,000 children from destabilized countries such as Sri Lanka or Lebanon were adopted in Switzerland. While the adoptive parents believed that all was right, the Swiss authorities knew that many documents were wrong.

In fact, in many cases there was a real baby trade - children were stolen from mothers, documents were forged. The adoptions took place mainly through controversial placement organizations - also in Switzerland - which responded to the great demand for childless couples. And the Swiss authorities did nothing about it. In March 2019, “DOK” showed how such a baby trade with adopted children for Switzerland came about in Sri Lanka during the civil war of the 1980s - the babies of that time are still looking for their birth parents today. In this report, the Sri Lankan babies of that time today as adults demand an apology from the Swiss government - and access to their dossiers, some of which are still inaccessible to them today. The film “International Adoptions - A Swiss Scandal” shows that adoptions were also carried out in a questionable manner with many other countries, for example in Lebanon. An even more perfidious approach came into play there during the civil war: doctors took away their babies from women immediately after birth and had them registered as children of the adoptive parents - making it practically impossible to find the birth parents today. A young woman who came to Switzerland in this way nevertheless goes on a search - and finds out incredible things. Doctors took away their babies from women immediately after birth and had them registered as children of the adoptive parents - so it is now practically impossible to find the birth parents. A young woman who came to Switzerland in this way nevertheless goes on a search - and finds out incredible things. Doctors took away their babies from women immediately after birth and had them registered as children of the adoptive parents - so it is now practically impossible to find the birth parents. A young woman who came to Switzerland in this way nevertheless goes on a search - and finds out incredible things.