Between the 1960s and the 1990s, more than twenty thousand Chilean children were adopted and taken abroad by French, Italian, American, Belgian and even Canadian families. Adoption encouraged by the dictatorship of General Pinochet. But years later, voices began to be raised in Chile: several thousand biological mothers had in fact never agreed to have their babies given up for adoption. RFI went to meet these women in Chile, but also children adopted in France, who are looking for their origins.

From our correspondent in Chile,

1,200 kilometers south of Santiago, on the island of Chiloé, Ruth Huisca puts wood in the stove which warms the main room, in the middle of the southern winter. This domestic worker, aged around fifty, welcomes us in a red house with the typical architecture of the island, with its facade covered in wooden shingles.

In the mid-1980s, Ruth lived and worked in Osorno, in the south of the country. She became pregnant by her boyfriend when she was 17, and he was 16. He moved to another town, and Ruth gave birth to a baby girl alone at the Osorno hospital. But she doesn't dare return to her home in the countryside. “  At the time, I couldn't have come back to my grandparents with a baby. They would have thrown me out, they would have given me a beating. So I was afraid to tell them I was pregnant. And I looked for a pension for my daughter, I entrusted her to a lady I trusted.  »

Although the commission’s chairperson acknowledged the probability of the incident and the state’s responsibility, he noted it should be resolved through diplomatic measures

“There does appear to have been some likelihood of harm in the Hà My village incident. It does appear that the state bears some responsibility in connection with that issue. But there is also the potential for restitution for that harm to be received through the courts rather than the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We will move to dismiss [this matter] as not corresponding to the scope of our commission’s investigation subjects.”

As soon as the final statement had been made by Kim Kwang-dong, chairperson of South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a member nominated by the Democratic Party raised an objection.

Application for initiation of investigation concerning human rights violations and incidents of historical significance in the field of international adoption 1.0 Introduction On behalf of the organization Danish Korea Rights Group (DKRG), we hereby submit an application to initiate an investigation concerning human rights violations and incidents of historical significance in the field of international adoption during the authoritarian rule in South Korea. DKRG is an organization for Danish adoptees from South Korea adopted to Denmark. At the time of writing, we represent more than 160 adoptees. DKRG is a non-profit interest organization that works for the rights of Danish adoptees from South Korea and for their rights to their own identity and personhood as adoptees and free individuals with their own ability and power to act as independent and free human beings. DKRG's inquiry to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea is based on the fact that many adoptees in Denmark were adopted during the time of authoritarian rule in South Korea. We are adoptees who seek our Korean origins and wishes to examine our backgrounds as adoptees. Access to background information and historical facts for the adoptees are therefore of crucial importance and significance, and for some adoptees it is also important to be able to search for their origin. Both the access to background information for adoptees and the access to search for biological family are today hampered by the practice of adoption agencies, which dates back to the time of authoritarian rule, which is still de facto unregulated when it comes to post-adoption services and is important to ensure the human rights of adoptees.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Thursday, September 7 the request of two people born from PMA who asked France for access to their origins and in particular to medical data on their parent.

In its judgment, the Court considers that the “refusal to disclose data relating to gamete donors to applicants born from an MAP does not breach Article 8 of the Convention”on the right to respect for private and family life.

The case opposed, since 2018, Audrey Gauvin-Fournis and Clément Silliau, born in the 1980s with a third-party donor, to the French State for a refusal of access to information on their respective parents.

“Legislative choice”

According to the Court, “the situation denounced by the applicant and the applicant stems from the choices of the
legislator ». Indeed, the lifting of anonymity for donors only dates back to September 2022, when the bioethics law came into force, with a new mechanism for access to origins, subject however to the donors’ consent.

NEW DELHI: Some of India's distinguished retired judges, including four former Supreme Court judges and two former HC chief justices, have written to the G20 members urging them to initiate a discussion in the forum for the repatriation of Indian children in foreign countries who have been removed from their parents by child protection agencies, reports Ambika Pandit.
In their letter, the judges ask for a compassionate solution in the form of repatriation of Indian children removed from their parents in western Europe, UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand. The signatories include Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Vikramajit Sen, Justice A K Sikri and Justice Deepak Gupta, formerly of the Supreme Court of India; Justice AP Shah, who was chief justice of the Delhi HC and Justice S Muralidhar who was chief justice of the Odisha HC. The letter includes a discussion of the international conventions under which children have a right of return to their country of origin, and a right to preservation of their nationality, identity, religion.

CNN — 

Jimmy Lippert Thyden says he always knew he was adopted. He also knew that he had been born not in the United States, but in Chile. Raised in Virginia by very loving and committed adoptive parents, he says he never lacked anything. The 42-year-old who served in the US Marines is now an attorney who is married and has two young daughters.

“I was told that I was given up for adoption out of love,” Thyden said. “Given by a mother who loved me and wanted the best for me: a life full of opportunity, education and meaning.”

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) —

The adoption community in Tulsa is shifting, as a prominent adoption agency closes its doors.

Dillon International announced its decision to discontinue services on August 28 after serving the community for 51 years and matching more than 7,000 orphans with families.

As the first agency in Oklahoma licensed for international adoption, the closure of Dillon International comes as a shock to the community.

“We're very saddened to hear whenever our partner steps aside from social services, but especially one as large as and as impactful as Dillon,” Sarah Keywood, Oklahoma Lifeline casework supervisor, said.

The case against a former Ottawa aid worker, accused of victimizing several Nepalese boys, is the latest black mark for the international aid community, which has seen several organizations roiled by allegations of workers committing sex crimes against children.

Paul McCarthy, 62, was granted bail Wednesday, on a condition of house arrest, after he was charged last week with multiple child pornography offences and one count of luring a child.

McCarthy was stopped by the Canada Border Services Agency in mid-December as he returned home following a volunteer mission to an orphanage in Nepal.

Authorities said the investigation led to the identification of five alleged victims: all Nepalese boys under the age of 16.

In the 1990s, McCarthy worked for disaster relief organization CARE Canada where he was director for Indonesia between 1992 and 1995.

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Retired minister Fred Cappuccino and his wife Bonnie raised 21 children from 11 countries. One of their adopted children is Shikha Deepa Margaret Cappuccino, a 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War baby

After Bangladesh won its independence in 1971, there arose an issue regarding 'unwanted' babies left behind by their birth mothers. Since their biological fathers were Pakistani military officers who left after raping their mothers, a 350-year-old former Portuguese monastery situated at Islampur Road in the old part of Dhaka took responsibility. 

This was done to encourage rape victims to come to the orphanage grounds in confidence, so that both the mother and the baby could be saved. Between October 1971 and September 1972, war babies born in Bangladesh were thought to have "badness" in their blood, so their mothers gave up a record number of these babies. 

MUMBAI: Mira Road police have arrested an 18-year-old youth for allegedly raping his 17-year-old adopted niece. The girl who along with her younger brother and a cousin sister were given for adoption to their late mother's neighbour after they lost both their parents in a span of four months. The police have also booked three other members of the family.
The girl, a class 12th student, left her adopted home and approached the police on August 9. The teenager had lost her father to cardiac stroke in September last year. Her mother had died by suicide in January. The siblings were taken to their paternal grandparents' home in Kandivli. Within 10 days, the teenager and her cousin were moved to an orphanage in Andheri after approaching the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The brother was sent to a residential school in Boisar. As the teenager was keen on pursuing her education, she approached the CWC to be given for adoption to a 54-year-old woman, who was her late mother's neighbour. The CWC officers visited the family, and the siblings were sent to stay with them in April.
 

In her complaint, the teenager stated about not being allowed to pursue their education and instead being forced to change their religion. They also accused the family of physically harassing them and making them do household chores. The teenager stated that when she protested against the torture, the family threatened to send them back to the orphanage.
She said the accused sexually abused her earlier this month, while others were asleep. She left home on August 8, spent the night out and approached the police the next day.