Adopting children from abroad will be possible again, if local childcare is not an option

Adoption of children from abroad is possible again. A new mediation organization to be set up must ensure that corruption, child trafficking and fraud are eradicated. Moreover, it is always necessary to first look for suitable reception in the country of origin.

Franc Weerwind, Minister for Legal Protection, writes this in a letter to the House. As long as care in one's own environment is not possible, adoption to the Netherlands will remain an option if this is beneficial to the child. Weerwind has decided this after discussions with those involved. The minister is going to flesh out the system even more specifically.

After the damning report of the Joustra Commission, an investigation into abuses in adoptions from 1967 to 1998, all intercountry adoptions were suspended in February 2021. The committee doubted whether an alternative system was possible. Now that a new, centralized system is being set up, experts are wondering: how will the government ensure that abuses are eradicated?