On Wednesday 22 January, Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) received an interim report from the committee that investigates adoptions abroad.

The investigative committee was appointed by the Støre government on 20 June 2023, and will find out whether Norwegian authorities have had good enough control over foreign adoptions, and whether there have been illegal or unethical conditions in connection with foreign adoptions to Norway. The committee must now deliver an interim report which, among other things, contains preliminary findings on adoptions from Colombia and Ecuador. The committee will deliver its final report in December 2025.

See the committee's mandate.Committee leader Camilla Bernt, professor of jurisprudence at the University of Bergen, will present the interim report.After the presentation, there is an opportunity for an interview with the Minister for Children and Families and the head of the selection committee.Time: Wednesday 22 January at 10:00–11:00. Registration from 09.30. Bring your press card and valid ID.City: The auditorium in R5, Akersgata 59.Registration: Press wishing to cover the meeting can register before 12.00 Tuesday 21 January to media@bfd.dep.no.The event will be filmed by the Danish Security and Service Organization (DSS) and can be followed directly on this page.For questions from the press, contact communications advisor Amalie Knudsen by email: Amalie-fosse.knudsen@bfd.dep.no or phone number: +47 926 66 262.

Perhaps those children, who are now adults and often have children of their own and have built a (perhaps good) life, do not want to be "reunited" with people they do not know at all. This also applies to adopted children. Some do everything they can to find their biological parents, others decline them festively. And sometimes that biological family does not want to be "found" either.

The Adoption Committee criticizes both the Norwegian authorities and the Adoption Forum association for adoptions from Ecuador and Colombia.

For one year, the adoption committee has been investigating foreign adoptions to Norway.

The committee's task is to determine whether Norwegian authorities have had sufficient control over international adoptions and to uncover whether illegal adoptions to Norway have occurred.

– We take what we have found seriously, said committee leader Camilla Bernt when she handed over the report to Minister of Children and Family Affairs Kjersti Toppe (Sp).

A gynaecologist from Heraklion and a colleague from Chania, were arrested on Monday, January 20, as part of an investigation into an illegal adoption ring uncovered last August.

This comes after Australian parents were unable to bring their newborns home after a well-known fertility clinic in Crete, which uses surrogacy, was raided by police due to claims of human trafficking and fraud.

Nine newborns – including a number of Australian babies – were detained by the Greek government in a high-security neonatal ward in Crete’s Chania Hospital after the Mediterranean Fertility Institute was raided by federal police on accusations of human trafficking and fraud.

Through the utilisation of DNA testing for identification, the babies were eventually returned to their biological parents.

The Heraklion-based doctor supposedly linked to the scandal was arrested while working and discreetly transferred to Chania for questioning. There, he was initially brought before the prosecutor and then the investigating judge.

Adoption plans for couples or single people over 60 are thus halted.

An earlier version of the story stated that adoptions have been suspended from a number of countries, following several revelations. It is true that Bufdir recommended a temporary halt to all foreign adoptions pending the completion of the Investigation Committee 's work, as they believed that the risk of illegality was real. The Ministry of Children and Family Affairs chose not to follow the recommendation from Bufdir. Bufdir has since rejected most applications for renewed mediation permits, so that in practice there has been a halt to adoptions from a number of countries.

There has been a lot of debate about adoption from abroad.

Now, one of the three organizations that has been conducting adoption has decided to cease operations.

This is stated in a letter sent out by "Children of the World" to its applicants. The organization has received money from the authorities in 2025, pending clarification on whether they can continue with adoptions in the future, but:

The use of DNA tests, banned in France, sheds light on long-hidden abuses committed with impunity over several decades: illegal adoptions, false birth certificates, etc. "Libé" has collected the testimony of children adopted in murky conditions and of a mother forced to abandon her.

In the playground, she would cheerfully answer: "My skin color is because I go to Spain all summer. The sun loves me." The explanation suited her, she is so dark and matte, and her parents are as fair as wheat. But the year she turned 10, she overheard her grandfather mention her "adoption." The ground beneath her feet cracked. The information steeped in her stomach for a long time without a word - her mother "freezes" at any attempt to discuss it, her father hardly better. Today, at 56, Blandine still doesn't know the precise circumstances of her birth. Especially since legally... she was not adopted. According to the civil registry, she was born to the Vignolles couple on November 1, 1968, "exactly as if my adoptive mother had given birth to me." No trace of abandonment or birth under X. The copy of her full birth certificate reveals nothing. "I was white as a baby, my mixed-race origins only became visible later. Without that, I might never have known anything."

When her parents die, she rummages through their documents and finds a cardboard folder stuck in the house construction plans. On this letterhead, typewritten: "The baby you asked for and I promised you

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: ACT

Date: Sun 5. Jul 2020 at 17:57

Subject: Nomination of DCI / Benoit van Keirsblick CRC committee

To: newyorkUN@diplobel.fed.be

Didier Reynders © Marzia Cosenza / European Commission

Day before yesterday · 2 MIN

ING Bank under scrutiny in money laundering case of former EU Commissioner Didier Reynders

Simon Van Dorpe

Contributions

As I walked into my son’s elementary school holding bags of treats for his class, another mother passed by and while smiling asked, “Oh, wow, how many children do you have?”

It’s a simple question for most, but for someone like me—someone who wears the badge of “Birth Mother”—it was triggering. I was taken back as my 4-year-old daughter blurted out, “She has three, but my sister doesn’t live with us. She gave her away.”

Okay, those may not have been her exact words, but it’s how I felt at that moment. There I was, the PTA President, fumbling for a response while gently nudging my daughter along. I quickly replied that my husband and I have two children and moved on, never looking back to see the other mother’s reaction. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Does it ever get easier?” Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the day.

As I walked into my son’s elementary school holding bags of treats for his class, another mother passed by and while smiling asked, “Oh, wow, how many children do you have?”

It’s a simple question for most, but for someone like me—someone who wears the badge of “Birth Mother”—it was triggering. I was taken back as my 4-year-old daughter blurted out, “She has three, but my sister doesn’t live with us. She gave her away.”

Strategic evaluation of the IRC | International Reference Centre for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE To the attention of the Secretary General - Geneva

Introduction Created with the aim of defending children's rights and advancing reforms and public policies on delicate situations (adoption, placement of children outside their family of origin, children born of surrogate mothers, etc.), the IRC (International Reference Centre on the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family) offers a range of services and tools that make it a key player today and very much appreciated (this evaluation confirms it) by professionals in the field of protection and the authorities concerned throughout the world. In recent years, the IRC has focused on providing its basic services (monthly bulletin, inquiry service, country files) while developing specialized services (circulars, expert opinions in international fora), partnerships (with the United Nations, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, international child protection networks), technical assistance missions (Cambodia, Malta, Sweden, Mexico...), specialized publications and online training (MOOC). There are dozens of actions and they are praised for their quality. This record is all the more honourable given that the IRC team, based mainly in Geneva, is small (less than 10 people and occasional external experts). Today, the IRC is at a crossroad, and not only because of the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on its activities. The last evaluation of its activities was several years ago. Resources are decreasing, as are the contributions of the partner Central Authorities in a context of drastically decreasing international adoption. Part of the IRC team has recently left, and the recruitment of a new director must be done quickly while the team still in place is facing some difficulties in their work. Its positioning is delicate: hailed for the quality of its work and the relevance of its services, the IRC sometimes seems to be caught between the desire for independence and strategic autonomy and the desire to satisfy, above all, the main contributing central authorities. The only way to avoid being used is to seek financial independence by multiplying the number of tools and services for which fees are charged and by broadening the target audience. Moreover, its expertise in intercountry adoption is no longer to be demonstrated, but it seems to have locked it into this speciality, to the detriment of other fields related to the protection of children deprived of their family, and of other professionals who would nevertheless be quite happy to benefit from tools of equivalent quality on subjects related to adoption. In this context, the ISS General Secretariat has therefore commissioned an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the IRC, through the analysis of its current activities and work perspectives, with a view to reinforcing its added value for ISS, the authorities and entities benefiting from its services. The specific objectives of this evaluation were to:  Assess the current functions and activities of the IRC  Research and publication (on CLH 1993) including the bulletin  Country sheets/reports for the CRC/general inquiries  Technical support in the field (projects financed by UNICEF, governments, etc.) for projects to accompany and structure the central authorities in charge of adoption and alternative care 3  Explore with central authorities and other relevant actors the desirability and feasibility of developing similar or complementary activities on new themes, including training needs for ISS social workers:  Tracing  1996 Hague Convention (in whole or in part)  2007 Hague Convention  Any other relevant opportunity • Explore with different actors the opportunity and relevance of strengthening advocacy, with regard to the original mission of the IRC and the possible contributions to ISS in general • Assess the impact of the IRC's work on central authorities and propose ways to further strengthen the relevance and added value of these services • If time permits; study the opportunities for strengthening the use of technology in the service of the IRC (content layout, communication, brand image, tools and methods, strengthening interactivity, etc.). As part of this evaluation, 26 grantees were interviewed or responded to the questionnaire, specifically:  5 IRC team members and the ISS Secretary General  7 Central Authorities of receiving countries (Adoption)  4 Central Authorities of countries of origin (Adoption)  2 experts actively contributing to the activities of the IRC  7 members of the International Social Service network. Through a detailed questionnaire (see appendix), offered in English and French, and telephone interviews, it was possible to determine certain trends that would allow for an objective diagnosis of the IRC's activities and to formulate recommendations in 4 main areas:  the positioning of the IRC and the needs of beneficiaries with regard to it (Chapter 1)  the tools and services offered by the IRC (Chapter 2)  work prospects and topics of interest (Chapter 3)  the general management and the desired profile of the future IRC Leadership NB: Due to time constraints, the part of the evaluation devoted to the opportunities for strengthening the use of technology at the service of IRC (presentation of content, communication, branding, tools and methods, strengthening of interactivity, etc.) could not be completed and will have to be the subject of in-depth work within IRC itself and/or of external support