Last year 46 children were adopted in Flanders

In Flanders, 46 children were adopted last year, 27 of which were through so-called intercountry adoption. This is apparent from figures that Belga has requested from Kind en Gezin.

While nearly 30 children were adopted through domestic adoption in 2017, that number has fallen below 20 in recent years. Last year, nineteen children, including twins, were placed with eighteen adopters.

In 2021, 27 children were also placed with a family in Flanders through the mediation of an intercountry adoption service. It concerns children from nine countries of origin: the Philippines, Thailand, Chile, South Africa, Hungary, Portugal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Morocco.

The number of foreign adoptions has also been affected by the corona pandemic in recent years. For example, no air traffic was possible with a number of countries of origin and the adoption could not always be legally confirmed, because some foreign courts were closed, so that the actual adoption had to be postponed.

Future screening

From this year on, Flanders will screen every possible collaboration with countries for intercountry adoption. This screening must make it clear whether or not it is still possible to cooperate with a country of origin. “The ambition is an improved collaboration with, among other things, a focus on placements of children at the request of the countries of origin”, according to Kind en Gezin.

“At the end of last year, the Flemish Government laid down the guidelines for the future of intercountry adoption. Strengthening the partnerships with the countries of origin is an important spearhead in this respect," said Flemish Minister of the Family Wouter Beke (CD&V). “Flanders will carry out a risk analysis for each country of origin based on six criteria, after which it will finally decide whether or not to cooperate with the country in question. It is our absolute priority to further exclude the risk of malpractice and child trafficking, to avoid future traumas, and at the same time to continue to give children who need it, from countries of origin, the opportunity to find a suitable home in our country in the future.”