Dear President Berger,

As Members of the United States Congress we are committed to eliminating the barriers - that hinder all children from their basic right to a permanent loving family. We are aware that the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s Office {PGN) recently took control of the Casa Quivira childrern's center near Antigua under the authority of a court order. We are writing to express our concerns in regard to this action and the potential for other similar raids on children‘s homes in Guatemala.

We support Guatemala`s efforts to protect the well—being of children through reform of the current system and implementation of the standards set by the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions through pending legislation.

Certainly, it is the government’s duty to protect the welfare of children in Guatemala if the care provided by its children’s homes is found to be negligent or detrimental. However, if the care in such homes, including that of Casa Quivira, is found to be suitable to the needs of children, we do not believe that seizing control as a means of preventing suspected corrupt adoption practices elsewhere is in the best interest of these Guatemalan children or the adoption process in general. During the reform process, we strongly urge Guatemalan authorities to avoid sudden unwarranted interruptions of established procedures because such changes can seriously and irrevocably disrupt the welfare of the children as well as the stability of the institutions caring for the children.

We respectfully request that you open the lines of communication to the prospective adoptive parents of each Casa Quivira child, detailing the status of their specific whereabouts, care and health. We ask for your leadership in pressing for a judicious investigation of each Casa Quivira child’s legal status and the timely processing of their anticipated adoption, should the child still be found to be available for adoption under Guatemala’s current law.

By Chuck Colson

Across America this Mother’s Day, sons and daughters will shower their mothers with gifts. But of course the most precious gift a mother can receive is the gift of life itself—a child from the hand of God.

One mother I know—a Christian woman and a personal friend—so treasures the gift of life that she has begun the process of adopting an orphaned little girl from Romania, a child with cerebral palsy many others would have chosen to ignore. After major surgery and countless physical therapy sessions in the United States, this little girl now walks with a walker. But equally as stunning as the physical strides she has taken are the emotional strides. It is no small miracle for her to begin to trust and rest in the love of a Christian home she now enjoys here.

But sadly this little girl is caught in a complicated web of international politics, one that, barring some kind of miracle, will mean that she will be returned in just over a year to a Romanian orphanage, despite the longing heart of her would-be adoptive parents. You see, in 2004, Romania issued a ban on all international adoptions. When that ban took effect, more than one thousand children were already in the process of being adopted by foreign families, including two hundred in the United States. Some of these children have already met and bonded with their would-be adoptive parents.

Dear Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu:

As Members of the United States Congress, we write to voice our concerns over the Romanian adoption authorities` recent announcement stating that they plan to reject the remaining unresolved international adoption petitions filed between June 21, 2001 and January 1, 2005.

The Romanian authorities' action fails to demonstrate that a transparent system was used to review the cases and process the adoptions that were qualified under special ordinance 121 prior to its suspension. ln addition, the action is adverse to the spirit and tenets of both international child welfare treaties to which Romania is a signatory, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption (hereinafter, "Hague Convention").

As you know, the founding principle of the Hague Convention is "that a child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding." (Preamble) lt goes on to say that while international adoption is only appropriate after "possibilities for placement of the child within the State of Origin have been given due consideration" (Article 4; Subsection B), "inter-country adoption may offer the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable family cannot be found in his or her country of origin." (Preamble) This language is consistent with founding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As a signatory to the Hague Convention, the United States is in full support of the placement priorities that it outlines; reunification with birth family or relatives, domestic adoption, international adoption, long term foster care, temporary institutionalization. However, we cannot support distorting these priorities to favor the use of non-permanent domestic placements, such as foster care or institutionalization, over inter-country adoption.

Dear President Basescu:

As Members of the United States Congress, we write to voice our concerns over the Romanian adoption authorities` recent announcement stating that they plan to reject the remaining unresolved international adoption petitions filed between June 21, 2001 and January 1, 2005.

The Romanian authorities' action fails to demonstrate that a transparent system was used to review the cases and process the adoptions that were qualified under special ordinance 121 prior to its suspension. in addition, the action is adverse to the spirit and tenets of both international child welfare treaties to which Romania is a signatory, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption (hereinafter, "Hague Convention").

As you know, the founding principle of the Hague Convention is "that a child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding." (Preamble) lt goes on to say that while international adoption is only appropriate after "possibilities for placement of the child within the State of Origin have been given due consideration" (Article 4; Subsection B), "inter-country adoption may offer the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable family cannot be found in his or her country of origin." (Preamble) This language is consistent with founding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As a signatory to the Hague Convention, the United States is in full support of the placement priorities that it outlines; reunification with birth family or relatives, domestic adoption, international adoption, long term foster care, temporary institutionalization. However, we cannot support distorting these priorities to favor the use of non-permanent domestic placements, such as foster care or institutionalization, over inter-country adoption.

Dear Commissioner Ziglar:

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the prospective adoptive families from our states that are being considered under the expanded special humanitarian initiative on adoption. Your stewardship throughout this process is very much appreciated.

As you know, the joint U.S.-Cambodia Task Force began the final stage of processing cases under the special humanitarian initiative on Monday, August 19, 2002, with its visit to Kompong Thom. According to the most recent update, the Task Force and high·level Cambodian Ministry of Social Action officials met on Tuesday, August 20th, to review the results of the Task Force's _ work and discuss the 1NS’ proposed schedule for orphanage visits. The proposed schedule, as you are aware, would have provided for the initial, and possibly only, round of visits to be completed within three weeks of the first visit. It was reported in the last update that certain Cambodian officials were unable to agree to the schedule put forward by INS due to scheduling conflicts.

We were very disheartened by this news. As you can imagine, the emotional stress on prospective adoptive families is co pounded by the emergence of further delays. We are hopeful that talks regarding the schedule for visits will continue and would like to take this opportunity to encourage your personal involvement in this matter to ensure a timely resolution is reached that is consistent with due diligence.

Again, we appreciate your efforts and look forward to working with you to address international adoption issues.

The Bombay High Court ruled that emotional bonds do not grant custody rights over a child to anyone but the biological parents, directing the boy's return to them.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that sharing a strong emotional bond or attachment with a child did not confer a superior right on any person to claim custody of the child over that of its biological parent. A division bench of justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Gautam A Ankhad directed the police authorities to secure a young boy’s custody from his grandparents and hand him over to his parents within two weeks.

The child, one of two five-year-old twins, had been sent to live with his grandmother at birth since the twins suffered a serious ailment and their mother was unable to take care of both of them. The father of the boy had approached the high court for custody of the boy after the grandmother refused to send the boy back to his parents.

After the Covid-19 lockdown eased, several disputes arose between the father and his parents, and in February 2025, they exchanged legal notices over the boy’s custody. The father filed several police complaints in March, requesting the police to intervene in the custody dispute, but the boy’s grandmother refused to hand him over to his parents, prompting the father to approach the court.

Representatives of the father said that grandmother has no superior legal right to retain the child’s custody over its biological father. “The son ought to be reunited with his biological parents and twin brother,” said the father’s council.

Police say a further 15 former patients and staff have come forward since report published

A further 15 people have contacted police after reports of allegations of historical child abuse at a psychiatric hospital in Derbyshire.

Derbyshire Constabulary published a report this week saying that at least 65 children were allegedly abused at Aston Hall between 1954 and the 1970s. Former patients at the hospital said they were stripped naked, put in straitjackets, drugged and sexually assaulted.

The report said most of the abuse was allegedly committed by Dr Kenneth Milner, the hospital’s medical superintendent, who died in 1976. It said he would have been questioned over rape and cruelty claims if he was still alive.

After years of abuses surrounding the adoption of children from abroad, the government introduced a subsidy program as a "compensation." These subsidies are for foundations that, among other things, assist adoptees in the search for their biological parents. A nice gesture, but in practice, it has proven to be ineffective.

A large proportion of the more than 40,000 adoptees in the Netherlands still struggle with questions: Who are my biological parents? Where do I come from? Was I given up voluntarily? Questions that often lead to uncertainty, anger, and much grief.

There's no guarantee of answers. But a subsidy is intended to support adoptees in their search for their identity and origins. The government has made €600,000 available annually, part of which is intended to support these searches.

Abuses

The subsidy program was established after serious abuses surrounding adoptions from abroad came to light in 2021. These included child theft, child trafficking, and document falsification. The Joustra Committee concluded that the government had been inactive for years.

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has evaded indictment as part of a criminal case relating to minors being forced into prostitution, although his name appeared multiple times in the casework, a joint investigation by independent media outlets IStories and Verstka revealed on Thursday.

The joint investigation relied on access to 25 files from the case, consisting of over 30 different crimes, which was opened against multiple defendants in the Leningrad region of northwestern Russia in 2019.

According to the investigation, a network which forced minors into prostitution operated from 2018 at the latest up until 2019, with young women being tricked into thinking they were participants in regional beauty contests via modelling agencies, dating sites and online forums.

The network prioritised the trafficking of 15- and 16-year-olds, looking for virgins. According to the investigation, some young women were forced to simulate the loss of virginity with syringes of red dye and by taking pills to cause burning and vaginal pain. The network also forged ID papers to change the women’s ages depending on their clients’ wishes.

Although the network’s clients were well-known, wealthy people, none was prosecuted, according to the investigation. The defendants were named as network members Svetlana Titova, Alexandra Shantyreva, Olga Goncharova, Maxim Nekozyrev and Anastasia Yakusheva.