Students who hide their pregnancy under thick sweaters and give birth alone, it still happens in the Netherlands. Stichting Beschermde Wieg, which helps women in all phases of an unwanted pregnancy, has seen the group of students grow in recent years. ‘Above all, these women want to prevent parental interference.’

It sounds like a story from another time. Yet last year a student gave birth alone in her student house. She immediately went out onto the street to give the baby up for adoption, wrapped in a blanket.

Kitty Nusteling, operational director at the Beschermde Wieg foundation, has seen these types of students more and more in recent years. ‘Sometimes they take another exam the following week.’ Every year, around 1,500 women contact the Beschermde Wieg foundation for help in all phases of pregnancy. This can involve a listening ear, advice, shelter or medical support, or giving babies up for adoption. This year, the foundation has already facilitated seven births of women who wanted to give their child up for adoption, three of whom were still studying. Two of those births were in Amsterdam.

Whether this also means that the number of students in the Netherlands who hide a pregnancy is increasing is difficult to say. However, Nusteling does see more women who only use natural contraception, methods to prevent pregnancy without hormonal agents, which are less reliable. Nusteling. 'In addition, there is always a number X, the women who do not report to us. Research shows that women who want their child never to be found succeed in their plan.'

The 13-year-old allegedly conspired with two men to kill her adoptive mother over her opposition to the relationship and to gain control of her property.

In Short

• Victim opposed girl's ties with older men Ganesh Rath and Dinesh Sahu
• Girl, 13, conspired with 2 men to gain control over Rajalaxmi's property
• Murder covered up by claiming heart attack, body cremated in Puri

A teen and her two male friends were arrested in Odisha for the murder of the woman who had adopted and raised her since infancy. The victim, 54-year-old Rajalaxmi Kar, was allegedly smothered to death on April 29 at her rented home in Gajapati district.

Police say the girl, just 13 years old, conspired with Ganesh Rath, a temple priest, and Dinesh Sahu to kill Rajalaxmi over her opposition to the relationship and to gain control of her property. The teenager was allegedly in a relationship with Rath and Sahu.

While there was a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest official data, there has been a continued positive trend, with record 4,515 child adoptions in FY 2024-25, the highest since 2015-16.

A couple from Arizona, USA adopted a 15-month-old baby from Dhanbad in Jharkhand. Credit: iStock Photo New Delhi: Neeraj's (name changed) note to his mother was simple yet profound: "I love you Mom because you take me out to play." Neeraj's words have been the culmination of a journey that began four years earlier, when he was born with a condition called "knock knees" and left at a Child Care Institution just a day old. He was put up for adoption, and for years, families hesitated, often discouraged by his medical condition.

2021, when a couple saw him not as a problem to be solved, but as "their child." Since then, Neeraj's life has transformed. His new parents enrolled him in swimming lessons to help with his legs, took him for regular check-ups, and showered him with love. Today, he is thriving, learning to swim, acting in school plays, and mastering parkour

Neeraj's journey is not an isolated one 

In India, there has been a noticeable surge in adoption numbers over the past decade, with their number increasing from 3,677 in 2015-16 to 4,027 in 2018-19.
While there was a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest ofcial data, there has been a continued positive trend, with record 4,515 child adoptions in FY 2024-25, the highest since 2015-16

As of the current nancial year, 420 children have already been adopted from the Orphan/Abandoned/Surrendered (OAS) category.

Of these, 342 children were adopted by Resident Indian (RI) parents, eight by Non-Resident Indians (NRI), six by Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), and 11 by foreigners.

The New York State Senate adopted a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, introduced by Senator Jeremy Cooney, who celebrates his Indian origin. “Today, I had the privilege of introducing a Senate resolution to recognise the 75th Anniversary of the Indian Constitution. As an orphan from Kolkata, India, I'm incredibly proud to celebrate our Indian heritage and this important landmark with my colleagues and all New Yorkers,” Senator Cooney posted on X.

“I am introducing this resolution in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, a time to celebrate Indian independence and the many brave Indians who risked their lives for the betterment of their fellow countrymen,’ Cooney said during his address.

“As many of my colleagues know in the Senate, I was adopted from an orphanage in Calcutta and throughout my life, I have worked very hard to maintain a strong connection with India and Indians in my community. That connection continues today as we honour the 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution,” he stated.

What Jeremy Cooney revealed about his birth and birth mother

Cooney has extensively spoken about his Indian origin. In 2018, he penned his birth story in a blog, though he said he does not know much of it. "I don’t know much about my birth mother, but I know she was alone. She came to my orphanage, the International Mission of Hope Society, pregnant and unable to keep her child. She was able to stay at the Christian mission and deliver me under medical supervision. I was born weeks later with only a first name. No substantial records were kept, assuring her anonymity," he wrote.

He was adopted by his single mother Anne when she was 40. "Years later, I would return to that same orphanage as Jeremy Cooney, with my (adopted) mother, Anne. Single and at the age of 40, my mother took a chance and adopted a little brown boy from across the globe. She did so in the name of love. Nevertheless, it was risky at the time. I was first Indian male adoptee from India in upstate New York," he wrote.

Yeny was 3.5 years old when she was adopted from Colombia. Together with her older, biological sister and adoptive parents, she left for the Netherlands, on her way to her new life. There are a lot of assumptions and prejudices surrounding the subject of adoption, while every adopted child has a different story and experiences different emotions. Yeny talks openly about her search for her biological family, the difficulties she encountered in the Netherlands, but also how she now stands as a 38-year-old woman.

Yeny's mother became pregnant at a young age and as a result Yeny and her sister were largely cared for by their grandmother. After a few years she indicated that she could no longer provide care. Through the agency Wereldkinderen, Yeny's adoptive parents received a photo of her and her sister. In 1987 they met the two girls and after staying together for another week in Colombia, the four of them flew to the Netherlands.

From a young age, Yeny has been very concerned with her adoption. Despite the fact that she experienced her childhood as pleasant, she was already occupied with certain things that her peers did not experience at an early age and she did not feel completely at home in Dutch culture. When she was about ten years old, she developed many questions and experienced a form of loss. “Being sad and missing someone you don't really know, that is very strange and difficult to deal with. Fortunately, I was able to talk about this well with my mother in the Netherlands.” One way for Yeny to deal with these feelings was to write a letter. She addressed the letter to herself as if she were her biological mother. A way to reassure and comfort herself. “In the letter I wrote that it was not my fault and that she was simply too young to raise us.”

Enlarge

Submit written evidence to the inquiry: Improving family court services for children

In 2023, more than 130,000 children were involved in the family court system.  A large part of family courts’ work is dealing with disputes over children, such as deciding which parent a child should live with or whether a child should be taken into care for their protection.. The system relies on input from a range of bodies including  His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ); the Department for Education (DfE); and the Children’s and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), to provide adequate support and services for the children and families involved. 

The work of Cafcass was last examined by the Committee in 2010 when it determined that the service, which looks after the interests of children involved in family court proceedings in England, was not fit for purpose. However in the years since these findings Cafcass has been rated outstanding by Ofsted, although some past challenges identified by the PAC still apply today, including the pressure caused by high caseloads. 

The National Audit Office’s (NAO) work in this area in 2025 questioned whether the MoJ, DfE and other bodies involved in the family court system in England and Wales managing the system effectively to provide better outcomes for the children and families involved. In recent years the time taken to resolve cases in the family courts has steadily increased, with figures in March 2024 showing that families were waiting almost a year on average for decisions to be made.  

Based on the NAO’s work, the Committee will take evidence from senior MoJ and DfE officials, and representatives from other relevant bodies on topics including:   

Alan Jones, 56, and Kris Kathryn Jones, 57, are each facing a list of felony charges

A West Michigan couple is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly abusing their adopted children over several years.

DAVENPORT, Fla. - A 4-year-old boy is dead, and his mother is in jail on murder charges, accused of beating him to death.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says Bryan Boyer, who was born in Haiti, went to live with Patricia Saintizaire, 36, in Davenport last year. The sheriff explained that the child was born to a woman who didn’t want him and Saintizaire’s sister began the process of adopting him for Saintizaire to keep. Saintizaire, according to Judd, also adopted her 16-year-old son from Haiti. 

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Homicide charges brought against adoptive parents in death of 5-year-old boy