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NEW DELHI: Amid challenges ranging from nearly 26,000 people waiting to adopt kids to only a limited number of children available in the most-sought-after 0-2 age group with adoption agencies, as many as 5,022 children were adopted between April 2025 and March 2026 - the highest in over a decade - as per data shared by Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) since 2015-16.
According to CARA, as many as 4,603 children were adopted domestically and inter-country adoptions accounted for 419 children.
 

The number of children adopted in 2024-25 stood at 4,515. Of all the children who are declared free for adoption and available in the adoption pool of Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) across India, 80% are in the special needs category.
 

The University Hospital of Burgos reported it a month ago after discovering that they provide two addresses in the north of the province and, in several cases, arrive accompanied by the same man.

A month ago, the University Hospital of Burgos (HUBU) reported to the National Police that, since the beginning of May, Brazilian women of Belgian and other northern European origin have been admitted to its Gynecology Department to give birth in the capital after their pregnancies were monitored in their countries of residence. The number of births following this pattern since then is around 30, according to official sources consulted by this newspaper.

The existence of a pattern is, in fact, the reason why the Burgos hospital—obligated to treat anyone who requests care regardless of their nationality or place of origin—reported the incident to the police. Initially, no one in the Gynecology and Obstetrics department considered it significant that a Brazilian woman had come to the HUBU Emergency Room in a very advanced stage of pregnancy. When asked for the usual documentation to open a medical record, she provided an address in Las Merindades and explained that she had come from Belgium, where her pregnancy was being monitored. She had arrived in Burgos almost to give birth, which is exactly what happened.

The same events began to repeat themselves more frequently, to the point that on Wednesday night there were three women with the same profile in labor at the HUBU (University Hospital of Burgos) at the same time. The frequency of women giving birth with Brazilian nationality is not striking in itself; what alerted the staff was that most of them provided two specific addresses in Las Merindades, one in Medina and the other in Villarcayo, when opening their medical records.

In addition, in an undetermined number of cases, they arrived at the hospital accompanied by the same man. The usual pattern was repeated: a Brazilian woman, 38, 39, or 40 weeks pregnant, whose pregnancy had been monitored in Belgium, came to Burgos for a final consultation before giving birth, or even directly to the delivery room, staying at one of the same two houses in Las Merindades mentioned by the other women from her country.

Understanding the UN for Adoptees

ICAV is deeply honoured to share this practical guide, developed through the generous pro bono support of the International Law Clinic of Panthéon-Assas in France.

The project began through the initiative of Professor Olivier de Frouville, former Chair and Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances, Co-Director of the Assas International Law Clinic, and Director of the Paris Human Rights Center / CRDH. He recognised the need for adoptees, advocates and civil society organisations to better understand how the United Nations human rights system can be used to address illicit and illegal intercountry adoption practices.

Under the supervision of Professor Olivier de Frouville and Professor Julia Grignon, a dedicated team from the International Law Clinic researched and prepared the guide’s legal content. Their work explains the structure of the United Nations human rights system, the rights and treaty mechanisms that may be relevant to illegal intercountry adoption, the application of transitional justice, and the practical pathways available to NGOs through ECOSOC, the Human Rights Council, Special Procedures and UN treaty bodies.

The guide was then developed into an accessible community resource through ICAV’s editorial design, visual communication and publication development. This included restructuring some of the material, improving the document flow and contents, and developing visual summaries as slides below to make complex legal and institutional information easier to understand and use.

The child and youth welfare system is facing criticism. Parents, especially mothers, feel at the mercy of arbitrary decisions by authorities when their children are taken into care. An Innsbruck lawyer and the head of a self-help group confirm this view. They also allege that the authorities are ignoring the child's welfare.

July 24, 2026, 6:04 a.m. (Update: July 24, 2026, 8:00 p.m.)

Split

Many women who have lost custody perceive the arguments of child and youth welfare services as arbitrary, derogatory, and biased. In an interview with ORF, Innsbruck lawyer Christian Ortner cites examples of how anything is used against mothers, regardless of what they do or fail to do.

"If the child cries when saying goodbye, it means the mother isn't good for the child. If it doesn't cry, it means the child doesn't have a strong bond with the mother." If a child is allowed to leave the house in winter without a thick jacket, social workers or experts interpret this as a lack of maternal parenting skills. If a toddler is allowed to slide headfirst down a slide onto a mattress, the mother is accused of lacking risk assessment.

Germany is discussing surrogacy. And the alternative: adoption. Currently, the number of adopted children is at its lowest level in 35 years. Why?

By Anastasia Tikhomirova and Kaja Klapsa

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Surrogacy is illegal in Germany. Yet worldwide, the practice has developed into a multi-billion dollar market. How did this happen?

The Calcutta High Court restored an elderly couple’s adoption seniority, ruling their delay was due to a child’s medical report confusion and not refusal to adopt.

The Calcutta High Court has restored a couple’s hope to become parents after they reportedly missed their chance to record consent for a special needs child with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) within the 48-hour prescribed deadline. The court ordered the couple, nearing the age limit for adopting a child in India, to be given priority by the authorities.

Justice Krishna Rao observed that the couple’s combined age was found, as on January 12, 2026, to be 108 years, below the maximum permissible limit of 110 years under adoption rules, and since their delay was not due to refusal to adopt, their Home Study Report (HSR) remained valid, and their seniority was protected.

“The petitioners are given liberty to immediately revalidate their HSR and immediately after revalidation, the respondents are directed to give the first preference of available child with the Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) to the petitioners by treating serial no. 1 in seniority, if the child is fit for adoption and to take appropriate steps to complete adoption process if the petitioners give their consent within 48 hours from referral,” the July 13 order noted.

Over the past sixty years, over a million ‘orphans’ were adopted by Western families from around the world. Now many are discovering their past was a lie. From the children who were stolen from their mothers during the Pinochet dictatorship, to Africa’s fake orphans, international adoption is at the heart of an unprecedented scandal. We join investigative journalists, activists and researchers in South Korea, Sweden, France, Chile, Germany, Holland and Switzerland.

How did this colossal, lucrative market manage to prosper? And why does it live on today?

[NOTE: International Adoptions: A Global Scandal available until August 17, 2026.]

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

Madhubani: A girl child residing at the Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA), Madhubani, was formally handed over to a couple from the United States for adoption after completing all legal formalities on Sunday. The handover took place in the presence of district magistrate Anand Sharma.

Speaking on the occasion, the DM described the adoption system as an important initiative aimed at ensuring the safe rehabilitation, proper care and a bright future for orphaned children. He emphasised that providing every child with family love, a secure environment and better life opportunities is a collective responsibility of society and the administration. “Adoption gives such children a loving family and paves the way for their holistic development,” he said.

The adoption process was carried out in strict compliance with the prevailing rules and legal provisions of the govt of India. Assistant director, District Child Protection Unit, Nitesh Kumar Pathak; senior deputy collector Jyoti Rani; child protection officer Ajay Kumar; coordinator, Specialised Adoption Agency, Bhavesh Kumar Jha, along with other officers and staff, were present on this occasion.