American Ambassador to Bucharest: "reopening international adoptions will be the priority of my mandate"

While the mobilization of local associations for the pro-adoption petition continues, the American ambassador in Bucharest Mark Gitenstein has taken a stand to support the reopening of international adoptions of Romanian abandoned minors. The ambassador, on the sidelines of a hearing in the Senate, yesterday expressed his desire to exert pressure on the Bucharest government on the delicate issue of adoptions.

In an interview with the international agency AFP Gitenstein, he stated that the reopening of international adoptions in Romania has become one of the priorities of his mandate.

"I am aware of the story of 300 Romanian children who could be adopted right away but cannot find a Romanian family willing to do so. The authorities in Bucharest have given me some information on their situation: it appears that only 40 of them will have the opportunity to be adopted. I am carrying out a series of investigations to understand what their state of health is, what are the treatments they receive in the structures where they live, what are the chances of being adopted. However, the situation is complex: the current law does not facilitate their adoption, I find it absurd that these children do not have the opportunity to be welcomed as soon as possible. My wife works as a volunteer at the center of a hospital that takes care of abandoned babies in the maternity wards where these babies are cared for in their first year of life. These children deserve a family just like everyone else living under the state protection system. "

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REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE

UNITED STATES CENTRAL AUTHORITY UNDER

THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND CO-OPERATION

IN RESPECT OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

July 2021

The Hague PVV member Sebastian Kruis was adopted as a baby from Colombia and feels happy and at home in the Netherlands. Yet, after a damning report on international adoptions, he sets out in search of his biological family. "I feel a bit like I'm actually too late."

Two years ago, he wasn't there yet. Hagenaar Sebastian Kruis made a trip to his native country for the first time in 23 years, but did not feel called to search for his biological family in the capital Medellin. "The adoption is the most beautiful thing that has happened to me in my life," said the PVV member in a political interview that became surprisingly personal. “It has given me a future and a mother. And also the nicest one around.”

Perhaps Kruis would still be quite laconic about his roots in Colombia, had it not been for a damning investigative report this year about adoptions from his native country, among others. Former top civil servant Tjibbe Joustra put the finger on abuses that had lasted for decades: corruption, child trafficking, forgery of documents and even child theft. Painful too: the Dutch government looked away for years.

"There had been signs for years that a lot had gone wrong with adoptions , but I have always taken that for granted," Sebastian Kruis says on a sunny summer terrace in Scheveningen. “This isn't about me, I thought. But I simply can't keep up after that hard report."

Why not?

TWO TEST CASES involving Mother and Baby Home survivors seeking judicial reviews are set to be heard by the High Court later this year.

The two cases, being brought by high-profile survivors Philomena Lee and Mary Harney, will be heard in late October or November.

Eight women, some of whom cannot be named, are seeking judicial reviews of the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

A third test case, involving Mari Steed, may also proceed at a later date. A discovery motion to receive certain documents related to the case is likely to be made by Steed’s legal team in the coming weeks.

A test case is one brought forward that would then set a precedent for future similar cases.

Unmarried mothers who were forced to give up their babies were given a controversial drug now linked to cancers and life-changing conditions passed on to future generations.

A synthetic hormone, developed to mimic oestrogen, was given to young mothers to dry up their breast milk after their babies were taken for adoption, leaving them at increased risk of developing rare cancers of the reproductive system.

Even now, few know the powerful drug Diethylstilbestrol (DES) has been linked to a number of breast and vaginal cancers. And it has been shown to cause gynaecological abnormalities and infertility in the children and grandchildren of women given the pills.

A major US study found that the daughters of women who took the drug were 40 times more at risk of the rare vaginal cancer adenocarcinoma, eight times more likely to suffer neonatal death, and almost five times more likely to have a premature baby. The study also highlighted increased risks with early menopause, infertility and ectopic pregnancies.

The sons of mothers who had taken the drug, which was marketed under the names Stilbestrol, Stilboestrol and Desplex, were also at increased risk of infertility and testicular cancer.

The 21-year-old’s victory in the 100m butterfly forces introspection given she was abandoned by her biological parents as a baby

Netizens lament the circumstances that forced the swimming star out of her birth nation, but are full of praise for those who raised and trained her

An adopted Chinese girl captured Canada’s first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and it sparked outcry in China’s domestic media over its now-scrapped one-child policy.

On Monday, Canada’s Maggie MacNeil – who was born in China – garnered worldwide fame as she was crowned Olympic champion ahead of China’s Zhang Yufei, the top-ranked swimmer in the women’s 100m butterfly.

Zhang had to settle for the silver medal in a time of 55.64 seconds, while MacNeil was 0.05 seconds ahead.

Ion Tiriac accuses the French weekly "Le Point" of defamatory statements and demands 100,000 euros in compensation. The trial opened in Paris on November 24.

The trial of Ion Tiriac against Franz-Olivier Giesbert, the director of the French weekly "Le Point", opened on November 24 at the High Court in Paris.

The Romanian businessman, represented by the lawyer Henri Leclerc, accuses "Le Point" of "defamatory statements infringing on honor and consideration. The crime is provided for and repressed by the law of July 29, 1881.

The object of the complaint is the article entitled "Romania's reckless contract", published by "Le Point" on May 19. Specifically, two peppered passages. The two journalists report in detail the scandal triggered in Romania by the contract for border security (1 billion euros), concluded on August 12, 2004 by the Nastase government with the French-German multinational EADS.

(Proving unfavorable, the megacontract was renegotiated by the current government and "lowered" from 650 to 524 million euros.) In the criminal complaint submitted to the court this summer, the law firm SCP Henri Leclerc & Associes quotes the full article, signed by Jean Guisnel and Laszlo Liszkai.

Guam could benefit from the streamlining the adoption process here, especially foster children who need homes and people who want to bring these children into their homes and families.

Department of Youth Affairs Director Melanie Brennan, who currently has oversight of Child protective Services, has said just a few foster children go up for adoption. There are 432 children in different types of foster care placement, most with relatives.

Bill 108 and Bill 109, introduced by Sen. Mary Torres, would involve independent adoption agencies in the Bureau of Social Services Administration’s process for finding children homes. The aim is “easing the burden of Guam’s already-strained foster care system.”

Bill 108 would allow adoption agencies to help in the screening and placement of children available for adoption. Bill 109 would give adoption agencies involvement in the placement of newborns given up through the Newborn Infant Safe Haven Act.

Sens. Joanne Brown and Telo Taitague are concerned with the lack of regulations for adoption agencies. Department of Public Health and Social Services Deputy Director Terry Aguon also raised concerns.

Vi skal i Danmark passe på med, at vi ikke krænker forældrenes ret til familieliv, som er en del af deres Menneskerettigheder. Sådan lyder det fra flere eksperter i forbindelse med aftaleteksten til Børnene Først, der lægger op til, at man kan træffe beslutning om bortadoption af børn, allerede før de er født.

I en række artikler har vi på K-NEWS undersøgt Børnene Først. Dette er sidste artikel i serien.

Tekst: Amalie Guldborg Olesen / Foto: Shutterstock

Norge blev i 2019 dømt af den Europæiske Menneskerettighedsdomstol (EMD) for at have krænket Menneskerettighedskonventionens artikel 8, der dækker over retten til privat- og familieliv. Sagen handlede om en mor, hvis tre-årige datter var blevet bortadopteret uden samtykke. Dommen lagde vægt på, at Norge ikke havde gjort et ordentligt forebyggende arbejde inden beslutning om bortadoption, og derfor var der allerede der sket en overtrædelse af konventionen.

I Danmark lægger aftaleteksten til Børnene Først og en ny Barnets Lov op til, at kommunerne skal have mulighed for at træffe afgørelse om en bortadoption, allerede før barnet er født. I udspillet til aftalen, der kom før den endelige aftaletekst, talte man endda om at ville lempe reglerne for adoption uden samtykke. Hos Institut for Menneskerettigheder, hvor Anette Faye Jacobsen er seniorforsker, holdt man meget nøje øje med netop denne del.

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI

ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 47 OF 2014

IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN ACT, 2001

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