DIPLOMA THESIS Title of the diploma thesis International adoptions to Austria and their connection with child trafficking Author Katrin Lankmayer desired academic degree Magistra (Mag.) Vienna, 2012 Study code according to the study sheet: A 057 390 Field of study according to the study sheet: Individual diploma course: International Development Supervisor: Univ.- Prof. Dr. Petra Dannecker, M.A. brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.ukprovided by OTHES

HYDERABAD: Legal red flags have prompted a district child welfare committee in Telangana tasked with deciding the future of 15 "rescued" children to drop its plan to organise a bonding exercise between them and the adoptive parents they were separated from six months ago, based on a probe into a trafficking ring.

The Medchal Malkajgiri Child Welfare Committee has decided that the kids, between seven months and four years old, will remain in govt shelters till they are put up for legal adoption. They will undergo medical examination within a month before being made "free for legal adoption" in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

TOI reported on Dec 7 about legal and behavioural experts questioning the bonding exercise that could potentially give the children back to the couples who allegedly paid Rs 5-8 lakh each to child traffickers in Delhi and Pune.

Acknowledging that the proposed bonding exercise would have set a bad precedent, a representative of the Medchal Malkajgiri district child protection office said, "Once declared free for adoption, anyone seeking to adopt can do so under CARA's regulations. Prospective adoptive parents must meet specific age criteria, have a stable marital relationship if adopting as a couple, demonstrate financial stability, good health, and the ability to provide a nurturing environment. Also, parents do not get to choose the child."

State child welfare committee director Nirmala Kanthi said allowing the bonding exercise could have complicated future cases, effectively validating illegal adoptions. "These children deserve a secure, legal family environment. Efforts are being expedited to ensure they find safe and permanent homes through legal means."

The decision to scrap the bonding exercise has upset the families that had adopted the allegedly trafficked kids.

Following his acquittal in February in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the UDF and then the Modem, the prosecution lodged an appeal.

Justice has not yet completely finished with François Bayrou, appointed Prime Minister this Friday by the President of the Republic, replacing Michel Barnier.

On February 5, the Paris Criminal Court acquitted the 73-year-old president of the Modem in the European parliamentary assistants case , "giving the benefit of the doubt ." Considering that he was guilty of acts that "undermined the values ​​of probity and exemplarity that he promotes ," the prosecution had requested a thirty-month suspended prison sentence , a 70,000 euro fine and a three-year suspended ineligibility sentence for complicity, by instigation, in the misappropriation of European public funds. The court therefore did not follow his lead.

Two other defendants – Stéphane Thérou and Pierre-Emmanuel Portheret – were also acquitted, while the eight others, including five former MEPs, were sentenced to suspended prison sentences of ten to eighteen months, fines of €10,000 to €50,000 and a two-year suspended ineligibility period. The UDF (now MoDem) was sentenced to a fine of €150,000, of which €100,000 was firm, and the MoDem to €350,000, of which €300,000 was firm.

Vidya Liselotte Sundberg’s albums will find tangible expression at a unique concert in Pune and Mumbai from next month on.

When they say the best songs come from a deep sense of pain and loss they could well be talking of Vidya Liselotte Sundberg. Born in Pune and adopted at three months by Swedish parents, she grew up in Gavle, Sweden. Her journey to becoming a jazz singer was one phase of her life. The next began when she set out to find her biological mother, equipped with something she was given at the age of 10 to 15 – a letter left for her by her biological mother before she relinquished her at an orphanage here.

Her adoptive parents had divorced, enhancing her vulnerability, but with the support of her Swedish partner and her son Vidya began her quest. It took many visits to India, herculean efforts, time and patience but at the age of 39 she finally traced her biological mother, filling all the blanks she had grappled with in her life. It also perhaps fortified her for the losses that lay ahead—of losing two mothers, both her biological and adoptive one, in the space of four years. This was when she turned completely to her music for answers—and they came rushing in taking the form of lyrics and songs that only a broken heart can feel and create. Today these songs have been strung together to form the basis of both her second and third albums—Papillon and Adi Shakti and will find tangible expression at a unique concert that Vidya has planned in Pune and Mumbai next month on, where she will weave in her life story within each number on stage.

Vidya went to London and started working on her album AdiShakti, inspired by the Adi Shakti mantra.

“Life has taken me on a rollercoaster. After some very fulfilling years with my biological mother I lost her. I returned to Gavle, where I had grown up. Covid struck and I started to spend more time with my music. I then learnt that my Swedish mother had cancer and my focus shifted to her. She died in 2022, one week after my second album—Papillon—was released. The very next day after her death this poem came up inside me, that I think I had been carrying for many years. It was Rumi’s—‘Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there…’,” recalls Vidya, who then went to London and started working on her album AdiShakti, inspired by the Adi Shakti mantra. The album was released in May this year.

The Egg

A story of extraction, exploitation and opportunity

A single cell.

A global business worth billions.

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The lower house of the Russian parliament on Thursday passed in the second and third readings a bill that bans foreigners from using Russian surrogate mothers.

In addition, a child born by a surrogate mother in Russia would automatically be given Russian citizenship. Couples where one of the spouses is a Russian citizen will still be able to use Russian surrogate mothers.

Paid surrogacy is legal in Russia, but the practice has been criticised by religious groups as commercializing the birth of children. read more

Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said that the decision to ban surrogacy in Russia was taken in order to protect Russian children. read more

About Us

Beginnings

Mrs. Saroj Sood got interested in adoptions after hearing about her own family adoption. This type of family arrangement disturbed her and she thought that why deprive him/her of his/her very own family when there are so many children in the orphanages waiting for a family? Mrs. Sood managed to convince a very close family friend who was the next one who wanted to adopt his brother and sister-in-law’s child who was yet to be born. She counselled them and succeeded in persuading them not to deprive a child of his/her very own family. They adopted a three-year-old girl from one of the ashrams in Lucknow. Another friend’s sister was based in Lucknow and helped them in completing the legal formalities. That was the informal beginning in the year 1963.

Then a friend and her husband wished to adopt an Indian child and in 1966 the wish turned into reality in New Delhi. Thus, this was the first Inter Country adoption. She continued to freelance along with the Missionaries of Charity and worked with helping families adopt children. In 1972, Mrs. Sood met the late Smt. Ashoka Gupta who encouraged to start an organization for this specialized work.

Thus, seven like-minded people registered “The Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption” on the 16th of December 1975. Our Founding members were Mrs. Ashoka Gupta – President, Dr. (Mrs) Chinam Gopinath – Vice President, Mrs. Saroj Sood – Secretary, Mr. Raveen Arora – Treasurer, Mr. Indu Bhushan De – Legal Adviser, Mrs. Dhun D. Adenwalla – Member, Mrs. Perin S. Aibara – Member.

As per reports, resident of Gandhi Nagar area, Rahul’s wife died leaving a four-year-old daughter Riya behind.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Police arrested a couple and rescued an abducted four-year-old girl after tracing their location in Byavara.

The child was abducted by the couple on Thursday and primary questioning from them suggested that they had abducted the child to adopt her, police officials said. As per reports, resident of Gandhi Nagar area, Rahul’s wife died leaving a four-year-old daughter Riya behind.

The child was taken care of by her grandparents who often used to leave her with their neighbours Pawan Verma and his wife Champa who were childless.

On Thursday, the child’s grandparents approached police and claimed that Riya was missing. They raised suspicion on Pawan and his wife for abducting the child as they often used to take her with them. Police called Pawan on his mobile phone but he claimed that he was in Indore with his wife.

The Karnataka High Court has held that in cases where a child is born as a result of an alleged rape, the biological mother can give the child up for adoption without the consent of the rape-accused biological father. The consent of the biological father in such circumstances is "both inconsequential and immaterial," the Court said.

The Court was hearing a Writ Petition seeking the quashment of the decision of the Sub Registrar rejecting the application for registration of the adoption deed on the ground that the application is incomplete as the biological father of the child to be adopted was not mentioned as an executing party. The issue before the Court was whether the consent of the biological father of a child born out of rape who is also the accused in the rape case is required, in addition to the consent already provided by the minor victim mother and her guardian, for the purpose of giving the child up for adoption.

A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar held, "[T]he consent of the rape-accused biological father of the child is both inconsequential and immaterial. The adoption of the subject child herein as per the Irrevocable Adoption Deed dated 11.11.2024 is in full compliance with the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015, the Rules, 2016, and the Regulations, 2017."

The lead Petitioner in the case was a Muslim minor, who is a victim of rape and the biological mother of the child. She was before the Court with her mother and a Muslim married couple, the prospective adoptive parents. The biological father of the child, who is the rape accused, is currently in judicial custody awaiting trial and was not impleaded as a party in the present petition.

The minor and her mother submitted that that they were in dire financial distress and unable to provide basic necessities or ensure the overall development of the child. The married couple, who have no children, expressed their willingness to adopt the child and consequently executed an Irrevocable Adoption Deed.

An 'unusually unpleasant and disgusting view of humanity', assesses expert.

"Nice little girl - not noticeably dark".

"This last one is ok because she is light".

That is the message in letters from the adoption agency AC Børnehjælp in the 1980s about children from Lebanon.