By Stefanie Bode, This article was adapted from the speech Stefanie gave at #FiLiA2021 during the UNsynced Panel.

The Latest Moves to Regulate “Surrogacy” on a Global Level

As feminists, we reject the idea that women can lease their bodies for a pregnancy; and that women can consent to the trafficking of their babies. No matter if this practice has the label of “altruistic” or “commercial” surrogacy.

It’s always harmful. It harms our health, it exploits our bodies; it’s dependent on global inequalities and makes them worse; it violates our dignity, our physical integrity and many others of our human rights. It is a form of slavery (of women and children), and obviously it’s violence against women and children. It makes babies into commodities. It’s very cruel and inhumane to women and babies to separate a baby from its mother.

So we want to stop the practice, worldwide. And this is also what the Declaration on Women’s Sex Based Rights is saying. Everything else is whitewashing of a highly abusive practice.

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To mark Commonwealth Day on March 14th, we are delighted to announce that CFAB is one of the founders of a new Commonwealth Children's Interest Group to protect the many children of Commonwealth families who cross international borders.

As today (14th March) marks Commonwealth Day, we are proud to announce that CFAB is one of the founders of a new Commonwealth Children’s Interest Group. Both our CEO Carolyn Housman and Trustee David Jones are among the conveners of this group, with CFAB acting as Secretariat. The inaugural meeting of the group occurred on the 28th February, and we are pleased to inform you that we had interest from a wide range of Commonwealth organisations, including the Commonwealth Business Women’s Network (CBWN), Commonwealth Association for Health and Disability (COMHAD), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and Rotary International.

With a large percentage of the Commonwealth population aged under-18, it has never been more vital to form a unifying position in the Commonwealth to consider the needs of children and to protect the many children of Commonwealth families who cross international borders. The Commonwealth is uniquely placed to protect children, due to its diversity and shared inheritance of language, culture and law, but also its concern for those in situations which make them vulnerable. It serves as a catalyst for new forms of friendship, co-operation and common action. Given that all Commonwealth countries are signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this group is an important step forward in upholding those rights.

This new group will be working to bring forward children’s rights and protections on the international Commonwealth stage, focusing on advocating for policies to improve children’s safety and wellbeing. It seeks to collaborate both within the Commonwealth, including High Commissioners, and with international organisations, such as the International Social Service, UNICEF and Plan International.

CFAB is looking forward to assisting the group and work in collaboration with other experts in the field of child protection to improve the welfare and safety of children and families across the world.

So who are we really?

WE are the International Social Service, ISS for short.

Even if in certain countries we are called something else, it doesn’t matter!

WE do all we can to protect and support children and families separated by borders.

WE work to safeguard children placed in vulnerable situations or deprived of their families often for reasons they do not fully grasp such as economic and social migration, complex social family problems, neglect, child trafficking and abduction.

On Feb. 24, Russia launched an unprovoked attack against Ukraine. Overnight, millions of Ukrainian families were forced to flee, many of them children. Adding to the complexity of a large-scale forced migration, many were separated from husbands and fathers who were required to stay to fight off Russian forces.

It immediately became apparent to the Ukrainian government and child protection experts that this scenario presented unprecedented risks for child abduction, exploitation and trafficking.

Adoption in a Time of Crisis: We Should Be Concerned

Maureen Flatley and Susan Jacobs.

As soon as Russia attacked, Ukrainian officials sought to protect children and families at risk of separation and abuse. Though they permitted the completion of a few pending intercountry adoptions, the government issued strong statements barring any new adoptions until the conflict was over. Respected child protection organizations including the National Council for Adoption, UNICEF, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Save the Children, and International Social Service issued statements agreeing that intercountry adoptions should not proceed now, except in unique cases.

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From: Against Child Trafficking

Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 at 12:38

Subject: Re: planning overleg werkgroep beleid invloed

To: George Schuddebeurs

TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN, DEFINED BY INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICES

In the June 10 Extra, the Voice of America news release about “illegal adoption rings” was discussed. As it happens, the words “illegal adoption rings” never appears in the UNICEF report. The closest the report comes is using “variety of criminal offences,” most of which are alleged to be the work of “recruiters.” Because “trafficking” is such a loaded word, a look at the ILPEC paper (ILPEC is the Latin American Institute for Education and Communication, which represents International Social Services (ISS) in Guatemala) is needed. The ILPEC report says: “Trafficking of children in Guatemala refers to the excessive number of children who leave Guatemala through international adoption, without efficient control, transparency, regulation over prices, and a clear knowledge of the child’s origin.” ILPEC goes on to provide a list of U.S. adoption agencies, with this allegation: “The following list of agencies was taken from Internet (sic) and it is important to observe the supply of children, in this case within the United States, as if they were manufactured according to the public demand [emphasis added].”

Thirty-three agencies are listed, including such well-known names as The Gladney Center, Holt International Children’s Services, Los Ninos International Adoption Center, PLAN International Adoption Services, and Wide Horizons for Children, just to mention a handful. The information seems as if it may have originated in International Concerns for Children’s Report on Intercountry Adoption, given the format and information provided. In the June 12 Extra, a comparison of the definition ILPEC uses for trafficking and what actually takes place in Guatemala will be provided.

Archives of "EXTRA"

William L. Pierce, President and Executive Director for the U.S.A. Committee of IAVAAN, June 12, 2002

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From: ACT

Date: Wed 18. May 2022 at 08:18

Subject: Fwd: : Re: : Defamation/ Clarification

To: ContactExpertisecentrumILA , Sandra de Vries ,

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