Nancy Santing from Emmen thinks that when adopting, too much thought is given to the joy of Western adoptive parents: "They have a choice. That is the problem. Babies or children do not have that in all cases. The focus is therefore on the joy of the adoptive parents, while important developmental points of the child are thereby overshadowed. " This mainly concerns the children's feelings and mental development.

Santing does not just speak out about her adoption. November is 'National Adoption Month'. The month in which attention is requested for adoption.

Dominican Republic

Santing, who is from Haiti, is adopted at the age of two by a couple from Emmen. In 2017 she visits her biological mother in the Dominican Republic and finds out that the adoption papers are incorrect: "My mother told us how it really went. It turned out that my father and uncle had sold me to child traffickers." She ends up in a children's home.

A huge shock for Santing, but also for her adoptive parents. "It was a real blow and it caused a lot of confusion. In addition, identity problems and depression were involved. The mental consequences for everyone involved are incalculable," she explains.

This article is the first installment in a series about adoptions from Haiti to the U.S., offering perspectives on the process from both countries.

In October, the media spotlight shone on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and her family of seven children during the judicial confirmation process. Among the children, the two adopted from Haiti — Vivian, 16, and John Peter, 13 — received the most scrutiny.

Probes came from news outlets like The New York Times, which reported that the children were adopted in 2004 and 2010, respectively. Since 2010, however, the Haitian government has adopted stricter laws to comply with Hague Convention protocols, making international adoption more difficult.

“In the past, anybody could come and adopt a child easily,” said Erick Pierre-Val, a Delmas, Port-au-Prince pastor who counsels parents on the adoption process. “Now, because of the Convention, [they] try to control the process because they care about human trafficking.”

International adoptions to the United States from the rest of the world declined sharply after 2008, when the U.S. government first adopted Hague standards. Haiti itself tightened its laws in 2014 to comply with the Hague Convention, and the steepest decline in adoptions from Haiti took place in 2015.

Currently, within an unmarried couple, only one of the two members has the right to adopt a child and therefore has parental authority. This situation is about to change. Monday, the deputies examined in committee, and validated, a bill LREM opening the adoption to the couples pacsés or cohabiting.

Carried by the deputy of Isère Monique Limon, this text “aimed at reforming adoption” intends to facilitate and secure the procedures, and also to strengthen the status of ward of the State. It will be examined on December 2 in the hemicycle of the National Assembly.

The Assembly's Laws Committee has already adopted its article 2 on Monday, which should make it possible to disconnect the plenary adoption from the marital status of the adopter.

Today, marriage is “not a guarantee of stability” for children, explained Monique Limon. Her colleague Coralie Dubost praised a "progress text" which removes all "civil discrimination".

Minimum age required for adopters lowered to 26

Four more suspects have been arraigned over a child trafficking syndicate at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi following an expose that revealed the underworld of baby-selling activities within Kenya’s capital.

The police had vowed to hunt down the syndicate, whose undertakings involved selling babies in the pretext of helping individuals not willing to go through a formal adoption process.

According to the police, the criminals targeted public hospitals and children's homes within Nairobi in the trade.

On Thursday, Dr Musa Mohammed Ramadhan, Beatrice Njambi Njoroge, Selina Awour Adundo and Juliana Mbete Kimwele appeared in court to answer to the charges of child trafficking crime.

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The government has constituted a multi-agency team to investigate allegations of child theft and trafficking in the country.

Labour CS Simon Chelugui on Tuesday reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure safety of children in the country, adding that he will do everything possible to get to the bottom of child trafficking claims.

This comes after a BBC documentary that exposed how babies are being stolen in Kenya to feed a thriving black market.

In its expose titled 'Buying a baby on Nairobi's black market', Africa Eye infiltrated the trafficking rings selling children for as little as Sh300,000.

“We therefore assure Kenyans that our health facilities are secure and safe for mothers and children. We further urge the public to report to government agencies any case involving child loss,” the CS said.

The Cradle Baby Scheme that provides for cradles at government hospitals and Primary Health Centres to receive unwanted newborns, and put them up for legal adoption, could prevent illegal sale of babies. But, the system needs to be tightened.

For instance, the Cradle Baby Centre at the Dharmapuri Government Hospital itself needs resuscitation. The centre has remained dysfunctional for close to a year, after its lone staff, who was paid Rs.100 a day, found a better job.

Babies, however, find their way to the cradle because the centre is located within the hospital, and the babies come from the hospital's maternity ward, says District Child Protection Officer M. Sivagandhi. “We get routine calls from the doctors and the nurses from the maternity ward, alerting us on parents who have a third girl child, or an unwed mother wanting to give away a baby.”

All the 24 private homes run by NGOs and the two government homes in the district have a cradle. But, babies are almost never dropped in them, says the director of a home.

This is where PHCs can play a crucial role.

'Bake Off' candidate Asha Schraepen likes to emphasize her Indian roots with her colorful pastries. She and her twin sister were barely one year old when they arrived in Belgium. 'I don't need to find my biological parents.'

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Met haar kleurrijke gebakjes zet ‘Bake Off’-kandidate Asha Schraepen haar Indiase roots graag in de verf. Zij en haar tweelingzus waren amper één jaar oud toen ze in België terechtkwamen. ‘Mijn biologische ouders vinden, daar heb ik geen behoefte aan.’

NEW DELHI: Citing over 13000 e-stamp papers issued for adoption between January, 2018 and November 10 this year, as

revealed in response to an RTI plea, voluntary organisation, Families of Joy (FoJ), has expressed concern that many adoptions

are taking place through deeds executed under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 to avoid monitoring and bypass

the rigorous process laid out under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015.

The JJ Act allows adoption through specialised adoption agencies under stringent procedures laid out by Central Adoption

Police have arrested a 32-year-old woman for allegedly dumping her three-month-old girl in an open place near Chandni Chowk in Kothrud area on Thursday evening.

Constable Sonam Bhagat lodged the FIR in this case at Kothrud police station. According to police, a baby was found near the water tank at Chandni Chowk in Kothrud area around 5.45 pm on Thursday.

Police traced the baby’s mother and arrested her. Investigating officer Amol Ghodke said, “We arrested the baby’s mother and produced her before a court in Pune. The court granted her bail. A probe showed that the woman was residing with her husband and due to some domestic dispute, she felt disturbed and left her baby in Chandni Chowk area.”

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THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court Thursday gave two weeks time to the Centre to respond to the arguments of an expert that the Ministry of External Affairs and regional passport officer cannot decline an adopted child a passport by questioning the validity of the adoption or for lack of NOC of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

The high court, since 2019, has been hearing a petition filed in the name of a minor challenging the decision of denying her the passport for lack of an NOC from the CARA, a statutory authority for regulation of inter-country adoptions. The 2017-born child was adopted by her mother’s sister and latter’s husband in 2018. The adoptive parents of the child are British nationals while the biological parents of the child are from Jalandhar. A registered deed for record of the adoption was also got prepared by them following the ceremonial adoption at a gurdwara in Phillaur. The parents name was also got changed on the birth certificate.

Following submission of the report by Amicus Curiae advocate Anil Malhotra, who is considered an expert on the subject of cross-border child removal, Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain informed the court on Thursday that the report has been sent to Delhi for comments. Justice Jaishree Thakur, while listing the case for final disposal on July 15, gave two weeks to the Centre for reply. Malhotra had been earlier asked by the court to assist it in the matter.

In a 79-page report, Malhotra opined that the invalidity of adoption or lack of NOC from CARA are no grounds for rejecting the application for passport of an adopted child. He also submitted that the parties in the case have already fulfilled the conditions of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) for the adoption and the ceremony held for it is duly recorded in the adoption deed.

Submitting that though there was not even a requirement for registering the adoption, Malhotra said, as a benefit of it, “hence, under Section 16 HAMA, a presumption shall be drawn that the said adoption has been made in compliance with the provisions of HAMA & there is a presumption in law as to what is recorded in the said deed”. The process is irreversible under the HAMA, he has said, adding, thus there is no scope to insist for a court order or NOC from CARA for issuance of the passport. The presumption under HAMA is applicable at the time of consideration of issuance of passport, as per the report.