Utahn Ashley Mitchell placed her son up for adoption 20 years ago.

“I think it's very scary with a lot of unknowns,” she said. “When people step in and claim to care about you and your best interests and the best interest of your baby, they are going to offer solutions that are very permanent solutions to this temporary issue.”

She sat in the second row of a packed committee room at the Utah State Capitol and listened intently to the proposed amendments to Utah’s adoption code. She works for Utah Adoption Rights, an advocacy group that lobbies for better laws for birth mothers and adoptive parents.

Utah is known for having some of the loosest adoption laws in the country. But that could change with draft legislation being discussed in the lead-up to the 2026 legislative session.

One of the leading issues Rep. Katy Hall wants to change is the restriction on birth mothers’ consent.

In a significant ruling, the Gujarat High Court has held that a registered adoption deed is legally binding and cannot be questioned by the Regional Passport Office, directing the authorities to process a minor girl’s passport application filed through petitioner on the basis of the deed.

The single judge bench of the high court, while allowing a petition filed by a UAE-based woman, observed, “Once the deed of adoption is registered, the same cannot be called in question by the Regional Passport Office. The passport authority is bound by law to take cognisance of the registered adoption deed.”

The court directed the passport authority to decide the fresh application on its own merits, in light of the registered adoption deed dated July 20, 2016 and the Ministry of External Affairs’ Office Memorandum dated November 14, 2024, preferably within six weeks.

The petitioner and her husband, residents of the United Arab Emirates, had adopted the minor girl. The passport authority closed the fresh application seeking issuance of minor passport through petitioner on the ground that the adoption was invalid under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) since the adoptive parents belonged to different religions and therefore insisted on production of a proper court adoption order.

Wadapalli police said investigations are underway into both cases.

NALGONDA: Wadapalli police on Wednesday booked seven individuals in two separate cases for allegedly being involved in the illegal adoption of two infants in Damaracharla and Miryalaguda.

In the first incident, police registered a case against Vankudothu Seva and his wife, Bujji of Manthanda in Damaracharla mandal, for illegally adopting a baby girl. A case was also filed against Deepavath Srinivas and his wife Srivani of Munugothu Thanda, who allegedly gave the baby for adoption on November 2 near Uma General Hospital in Miryalaguda.

In the second incident, involving the illegal adoption of a baby boy on September 3, police booked Lavuri Sanjeeva and his wife, Urmila of Manthanda, who received the infant, and Radha of Yadagarapalli in Miryalaguda mandal, who allegedly gave the baby for adoption near Veena Hospital in Miryalaguda.

Wadapalli police said investigations are underway into both cases. District Integrated Child Development Services project director K Krishnaveni told TNIE that both infants were produced before the Child Welfare Committee and have since been shifted to Shishu Gruha in Nalgonda.

One of the US's most wanted sex offenders has been arrested in France after 14 years. A few years ago, he was able to adopt two children from Vietnam under his assumed name. Now, he is also facing charges in France for the rape of minors.

"A sexual predator with an icy stare," is how Arizona media describes him. The United States has already officially requested the extradition of Michael Wiseman, a man in his forties who has multiple convictions for child sexual abuse.

Wiseman was arrested on November 1st in the town of Kilstett, in the French Alsace region, but the news only just broke. He will now face decades behind bars in the US. When he will be deported is not yet certain. As soon as possible, according to the US authorities.

Wiseman was first arrested in Arizona in February 2008 on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Police Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU). He was suspected at the time of raping minors under the age of 15. In November of that year, while under judicial supervision, he cut off his ankle monitor and fled the US. His name then appeared on Interpol's Most Wanted list for the first time.

Foster care is under pressure, even for babies in need: “One child had to wait two months in the hospital for a place.”

Currently, 164 babies aged 0 to 1 year are on the waiting list for foster care. The number of applications is increasing year after year. The number of babies placed outside their homes is also rising. "A baby often has to stay in the hospital for weeks because there's no suitable place anywhere."

Steven De Bock Domestic Reporter

03:00

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From 10 to 14 November 2025, the Working Group (WG) on Parentage / Surrogacy met for the fifth time. The meeting, held in hybrid format, had over 45 registered delegates and other experts, representing 24 HCCH Members and three Observers, in addition to members of the Permanent Bureau of the HCCH.

Pursuant to its mandate, the WG continued its consideration of draft provisions for one new instrument on legal parentage generally, including legal parentage following an international surrogacy arrangement, and finalised its report for the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP).

The WG will present its Final Report on the Feasibility of a possible Convention on the Recognition of Judgments on Legal Parentage to CGAP in March 2026.

More information is available on the Parentage / Surrogacy Section of the HCCH website.

The VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) submitted a private member's bill on Wednesday that would allow a child to have a maximum of four parents, divided between a maximum of two households. However, multi-parenthood must be granted by a judge before the pregnancy.

According to Member of Parliament Ingrid Michon-Derkzen, this concerns situations in which two women have a child with a man, or two men have a child with a woman. Currently, two of those parents are officially the parents of the child.

According to the VVD, this causes problems in everyday life, for example, at school, in the hospital, or with inheritances. "With this bill, we will legally enshrine what has long been a reality in practice. Legislation lagged behind current practice. With this bill, we will rectify that," says Michon-Derkzen.

Only parents who enter into such a relationship after the law's passage can claim legal co-parenthood. It's not possible for people who already have one or more children in such a situation.

The House of Representatives has been discussing options for multi-parenthood since 2016, but no legislation has yet been passed. Former State Secretary Teun Struycken (NSC) advised against it, arguing it would be too expensive. According to him, there are approximately 150,000 such families in the Netherlands.

Identification of children 29.05.24.pdf

Verslag van de hoorzitting en gedachtewisseling namens de Commissie voor Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Gezin uitgebracht door Lorin Parys en Freya Van den Bossche over interlandelijke adoptie uit Ethiopië

Adoptie

Adoptiekinderen die kat de bel aanbonden blijven met wrang gevoel zitten bij onderzoek naar fraude

Na getuigenissen over fraude met adopties uit Ethiopië belooft minister van Welzijn Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) een onderzoek. Adinda Aelvoet en Priyani Libert blijven met een wrang gevoel achter. ‘Omdat het bijna verkiezingen zijn, schieten onze politici nu in gang. Toen wij anderhalf jaar geleden met ons adoptieverhaal naar buiten kwamen, gebeurde er niets.’Adinda Aelvoet ging in Sri Lanka op zoek naar haar biologische ouders.Bron Tim Dirven

Dit artikel is geschreven doorJan StevensGepubliceerd op 2 mei 2019, 11:00

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