Claudia was 17 years old when the Armero avalanche swept away her family. Since then, she has been searching for her son, whom she claims to have seen on television days after the disaster.

The 40th anniversary of the Armero tragedy, following the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, serves as a reminder of one of the most devastating natural disasters Colombia has ever suffered . At 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13, 1985, the volcano engulfed the town of Armero in the department of Tolima. A massive avalanche, composed of 350 million cubic meters of mud and rock, buried approximately 25,000 people, plunging the country into profound grief.

Among the devastated families was that of Claudia Ramírez. She lived in Armero with her parents and her son, Andrés Felipe Cubides, who was not yet six years old. The tragedy took her loved ones. Her parents, her friends, her neighbors—all were buried under the mud.

Claudia, who is now a dentist, wife, teacher, but above all a mother who never gives up , was not in Armero that fateful night. She had said goodbye to her parents and Andrés Felipe two days earlier. At that time, she was very young and studying dentistry at San Martín University in Bogotá. Her son was living with his parents while she pursued her professional dreams.
 

The premonition of the Armero tragedy

Amsterdam: Are they finally going to happen, the Dutch state's apology to the mothers who gave up their children for adoption after the introduction of the Adoption Act in 1956? Will there also be an apology to the children they lost? The foundations that represent the interests of the mothers who gave up their children for adoption and those who gave them up for adoption have been invited by Arno Rutte, State Secretary for Justice and Security, to participate in discussions on the question: what form should this recognition take?

"This is a breakthrough," says Frans Haven, board member of the Verleden in Zicht (VIZ) foundation, which represents the interests of the 15,500 Dutch people who were relinquished and adopted after the introduction of the Adoption Act in 1956 and before the introduction of the Abortion Act in 1984. "We are very pleased with this step," says Ellen Venhuizen, chair of the De Nederlandse Afstandsmoeder (DNA) foundation.

To the great joy of Haven and Venhuizen, a date has finally been set: by March 31st of next year, the Dutch government will officially recognize the great suffering inflicted on birth mothers and adoptees. Haven, born in 1965, relinquished, and later adopted: "The Adoption Act has created victims. Adoptees feel detached their entire lives." Venhuizen, who gave birth to a daughter in 1974 whom she relinquished for adoption: "The social services at the time, the predecessor of Fiom, pushed for adoption. They said: 'You want to keep your child? How are you going to do that? There's nothing.'"

Child Protection Council

Venhuizen and Haven also mention the role of the Child Protection Council. "They ultimately made the decision. They followed a pattern that was in line with FIOM's policy," says Venhuizen. She believes the council didn't do its job properly. "The council didn't stand up for the many underage women who were pregnant unexpectedly. Until 1988, women were still minors until the age of 21. And there was hardly any supervision of how our children fared in the homes where they ended up immediately after birth and in the years that followed, in their adoptive families." Those children are now adults. The youngest are just past forty, the oldest are approaching seventy. VIZ prefers not to call them "adopted" but "relinquished."

Cuttack: She was a child when she left Basundhara orphanage here after being adopted by an American couple. Around 26 years later, Sudhanya Dunn returned to the place which sheltered her on Friday, to celebrate her first wedding anniversary, marking a moment filled with emotion and nostalgia.
Sudhanya was aged 10 months when she was left at the orphanage in 1994. In 1999, she was adopted by Hollie McGillicuddy and Jeff Dunn of USA, giving her a new life abroad. She later became a nurse and married Indian-origin professional Harsh Dua on Oct 27, 2024.
 

This week, she returned to the orphanage accompanied by six family members — including her adoptive parents and in-laws — to celebrate her wedding anniversary. Joy, nostalgia and heartfelt moments abounded as the Basundhara family welcomed her like a long-lost daughter.
The orphanage had arranged an array of cultural programmes, musical performances and interactive sessions to mark the occasion. Children presented handmade cards and performed traditional dances, creating a festive yet deeply personal atmosphere.

Sudhanya, visibly emotional, expressed her gratitude. “It feels surreal and overwhelming. This is the place that gave me a beginning. To return on such a special day is beyond words,” she said, her voice breaking as she hugged the children and staff.
Shaila Behera, founder-member of Basundhara, said the reunion was equally special for them. “Sudhanya was overwhelmed to witness the celebration on her arrival. She was in tears witnessing such a grand welcome and anniversary arrangements. For us, seeing her return as a confident, accomplished woman fills our hearts with pride,” Behera said. “I recognised her as she was brought here when she was just 10 months old. It’s an incredible journey and the joy can’t be expressed in words,” added Behera.

Dignitaries, including doctors, child welfare committee members and the district child protection officer, attended the celebration and blessed the couple. Many called it a “circle of love” moment — where a child once nurtured returned as a successful woman to celebrate love, gratitude and belonging. For the children at Basundhara, the day was more than a celebration — it was a message of hope and possibility.

A dual Canadian American citizen made her initial appearance in court in Plattsburg, New York today after being extradited to New York from Canada to face charges relating to her role in a deadly human smuggling conspiracy that left a family of four, including two small children, dead in the St. Lawrence River.

In June 2024, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of New York returned an indictment against Stephanie Square, 52, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation (AMIR), Canada, for conspiring to engage in alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for profit, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, and Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), made the announcement.

Square was arrested in Canada in August 2024 at the request of the U.S. government. Her extradition followed extensive coordination and cooperation between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement authorities. Co-conspirator Timothy Oakes, 34, from the AMIR, was arrested on June 15, 2025, and remains detained pending trial for his role in the deadly conspiracy. U.S.-based co-conspirators Dakota Montour, 31, and Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, both of Akwesasne, New York, and Janet Terrance, 45, of Hogansburg, New York, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 23, 2025, Oct. 8, 2024, and March 6, 2025, respectively.

According to court documents, Square allegedly was the U.S.-based leader of an alien smuggling organization (ASO), that regularly smuggled aliens across the U.S.-Canada border via the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation. During the week of March 27, 2023, a prolific Canadian smuggler contacted Square to smuggle a Romanian family of four across the St. Lawrence River into the United States. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Square is alleged to have recruited multiple co-conspirators to assist with the smuggling of the family, though one refused to assist due to the high winds on the St. Lawrence River that night. Undeterred by the dangerous weather conditions, as alleged, Square enlisted one of her regular drivers, Dakota Montour, to transport the family via automobile to Timothy Oakes’ residence on Cornwall Island, a notorious staging area for cross-border smuggling operations.

The rescued infants have been handed over to Shishu Gruha, and all arrested individuals were sent to judicial remand, while police are on the lookout for the absconding parents.

NALGONDA: Nalgonda District Superintendent of Police Sharath Chandra Pawar on Wednesday announced the arrest of seven people, including a doctor, in connection with the illegal adoption of a 10-day-old girl and a 21-day-old boy in two separate cases.

Addressing a press conference, the SP said police seized Rs 20,000 in cash, seven mobile phones, and an adoption agreement from the accused. The operation was conducted following complaints filed by ICDS Supervisor Saraswathi on October 27, leading to two cases being registered.

Three police teams traced the families who sold and bought the babies, along with intermediaries — including Dr Matta Shanthi Priya, who allegedly brokered the deals.

In the first case, Kurra Babu, a mutton shop worker, decided to give away his newborn daughter after his wife delivered a baby girl. He contacted Dr Shanthi Priya, who facilitated the illegal adoption to Kadali Samba Murthy and his wife for Rs 2.3 lakh. Police arrested the doctor, who later confessed to mediating between the couple and Kurra Babu after learning of his willingness to sell the baby.

"I didn't do anything wrong," she maintains to this day. But according to the presiding judge in Mons, there's ample evidence that Michèle H., now 82, from Tournai, kidnapped at least 14 children from Guatemala and trafficked them to unsuspecting adoptive families in Belgium. "It turns out my biological mother isn't my mother, but the mother of another kidnapped adopted child who now lives in Belgium. But who am I then?" asks Eva Langenus (41).

Bjorn Maeckelbergh

October 30, 2025, 10:00 AM Last update: 10:12 AM

I currently don't know where I was born, nor when. Actually, I know nothing. Except that black-and-white photo of the woman in my file is definitely fake. (hesitantly) I've cherished that image for years. But she's not my mother.

The High Court of Judicature at Madras, in a significant ruling, has held that the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, (JJ Act) do not apply to adoptions validly conducted under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, (HAM Act). In a judgment delivered on October 25, 2025, Justice To Read More Please Subscribe to VIP Membership for Unlimited Access to All the Articles, Download Available Copies of Judgments/Order, Acess to Central/State Bare Acts, Advertisement Free Content, Access to More than 4000 Legal Drafts( Readymade Editable Formats of Suits, Petitions, Writs, Legal Notices, Divorce Petitions, 138 Notices, Bail Applications etc.) in Hindi and English.

The Madras High Court recently held that in case of adoption of an unmarried woman's child, an adoption deed executed by the grandparents would be valid, when it is shown that the mother had concurred to such adoption. “The mere fact that the grandparents of the child had executed the adoption deed alone cannot make the adoption deed invalid so long as the adoption deed was...

https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/madras-high-court/madras-high-court-grandparents-executing-adoption-deed-not-invalid-mother-concurrence-308195

Kasaragod: A childless woman who illegally adopted a newborn boy and raised him as her own for four months had to give him up after an Anganwadi worker and an ASHA visited the biological mother’s house and found the baby missing. It was a harrowing day for the adoptive mother in her mid-50s, clutching the child to her chest, sobbing, begging not to be separated, threatening to end her life, first before the police and then before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

She was inconsolable, shattered, while the biological mother stood indifferent, refusing to take the child back, said a CWC official. By evening, the boy was “rescued” and handed over to a foundling home in Kasaragod, in line with the law, but crossing a woman’s maternal love. “I don’t know how she will sleep tonight. The baby was bonding well with her,” said the official, who found the day equally traumatic.

The woman told the CWC that she had turned to illegal adoption after her formal application to adopt a child was rejected, citing that she was financially unfit. She is a homemaker; her husband is a daily wage labourer. In 2015, the Kerala government introduced a rule requiring prospective adoptive parents to have an annual income of at least ₹3 lakh. Even those who meet the income requirement, officials say, can later be deemed ineligible during a social investigation for the same reason. “The rule is discriminatory irrespective of its intent. Nowhere else in India does such a financial cap exist,” said the CWC official.

The woman’s secret began to crumble when the Anganwadi worker, responsible for the health, nutrition, and well-being of pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under six, visited the house of the biological mother near Kumbla, 12 km from Kasaragod town. When she enquired about the child, the woman fumbled and avoided giving a clear answer. Sensing something amiss, the Anganwadi worker alerted the local ASHA and together they approached the Kumbla police.

During questioning, the mother confessed. Her first husband had died, leaving her with two children. Later, she married a man who already had a wife and children and worked in a restaurant in Bengaluru. Four months ago, she gave birth to a boy. “In the first week itself, the child was handed over to the other woman. They must have come to an understanding even before the birth,” said the CWC official.

The alleged Belgian kingpin in a large-scale adoption fraud involving stolen "orphans" from Guatemala will finally have to answer before a criminal court after all these years. The court in Tournai has ruled this .

Pieter Huyberechts

Were numerous babies and young children taken from Guatemala against their parents' will in the 1980s? It certainly seems that way. A story that began with a complaint from Sandra S. from Vilvoorde. In August 2014, the woman read in our newspaper the story of Dolores Praet, who was adopted by a Belgian couple in 1985. In 2011, she traveled to Guatemala to find her biological mother, Rosario Colop, in the village of Santa Maria de Jesus, the name she found in her adoption file. Colop no longer lived there. A villager told her that a girl had disappeared in the 1980s. She wasn't Colop's daughter, but the daughter of another couple. DNA analysis confirmed it: they were the biological parents. Colop was arrested for allegedly arranging fraudulent adoptions.