"I was telling anybody and everybody that they need to support 2nd Milk, so I felt like it was my responsibility to find out the truth," Nellya Canfield said

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Following the federal indictment of the founders of 2nd Milk, a Springdale-based nonprofit aimed at helping orphaned children in Africa and elsewhere, a Tennessee woman involved with the group is coming forward with details of her experience. 

Nellya Canfield said she met Jason and Lacey Carney in 2021. She said she and her husband were in the process of trying to adopt a child from Malawi, Africa when the adoption agency put her in contact with 2nd Milk. 

“Jason really helped me in that," Canfield said. "He's an adoptive dad. He's an adoptee himself, and I think what really put our walls down was the fact that he actually started off as a missionary in Malawi, Africa, so we really felt like he checked every single box to be able to run an ethical nonprofit.” 

It was after meeting, Canfield said, that she and her husband began donating $400 a month to 2nd Milk for several months in a row. 

Dr. Gardiner Gentry founded Malawian orphanage in 2003

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

When my husband and I decided to adopt, we had no idea Kentucky had a very special connection to an orphanage on the other side of the world, in Malawi.

We were years into the process when we learned the founders of our daughters’ orphanage, Gardiner and Alice Gentry, lived in Louisville.

Desperate women denied abortion access in much of the US are being offered a way out for the children they cannot raise themselves. It’s not always what it seems

The apartment complex nestled in the cradle of Salt Lake City’s snow-capped Rocky Mountains is teeming with expectant mothers. The women have travelled from all over America to give birth to babies they have no intention of keeping.

The apartments are run by adoption agencies that have bussed and flown pregnant women to Utah in their hundreds, if not thousands, exploiting the most relaxed laws in the country governing private adoption. In many cases they have been lured to the state on the promise of rent and cash payments, a practice so controversial Utah has been likened to a “human marketplace”.

The Times interviewed more than a dozen people as part of an investigation into the so-called baby broker business, including women who quickly came to regret the decision to give up their children only to find they had no way to legally reclaim them.

[Kim Yu-ri/Overseas Adoption Victim]
“I can’t accept this. Please… We are victims of the state.”

Ultimately, the fact that adoption records could not be found is what hindered the investigation into the truth.

[Peter Muller/Co-representative of the Danish Korean Truth Finding Group (DKRG) - Jeong Yeong-hun/Director of Investigation Department 2, Truth and Reconciliation Commission]
“The fact that there are no records is a violation of human rights. The fact that we cannot know the stories of our pasts is in itself a violation of our rights.” Only

56 people have been officially recognized as victims of overseas adoption.

In addition to the 42 people for whom the investigation into the truth was suspended, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission decided to suspend the investigation into 269 people, for a total of 311 people.

The reasons were a lack of materials and a lack of time.

[Noh Hye-ryeon/Professor Emeritus, Department of Social Welfare, Soongsil University]
“(If they don’t admit to being victims because there is no information) those who don’t know their real background and don’t know their parents and are suffering are saying, ‘You weren’t even harmed. ’”

Norway, which was an ‘import country’ for Korean adoptees, conducted a fact-finding investigation in Korea last month.

[Camilla Berndt/Chairperson of the Norwegian Overseas Adoption Investigation Committee]
“The purpose of our investigation is to determine whether the Norwegian authorities have sufficiently controlled international adoptions and whether there have been any illegal or inappropriate practices.”

Denmark has decided to conduct a large-scale investigation at the parliamentary level.

[Peter Muller/Co-Chairperson, Danish Korean Truth Investigation Group (DKRG)]
“The important thing about the Danish investigation is actually imposing legal responsibility. The Danish parliament is trying to find out how this happened and who is responsible.”

However, the investigation into the truth about overseas adoption in Korea is likely to end like this unless the third Truth Commission is launched.

[Park Geon-tae/Truth and Reconciliation Commission Investigation Team Leader]
"As you can see from the overall poor record management, I think at the time, they probably thought, 'Once a child is adopted, it's over, there's no need to look for them again.'"

-----

 

For adoptees, records, which are like an 'umbilical cord', are also a compass on the road to finding their identity.

[Han Bun-young/Co-CEO of the Danish Korean Truth Finding Group (DKRG)]
"Where is there a person who doesn't know where they came from? Where is there a person who doesn't know their mother, father, and siblings? It's so basic. Without this (adoption record), we don't exist. This is the beginning of our lives."

The damage caused by lost records continues across generations.

Marit Kim, who visited her mother's hometown after her mother took her own life due to the pain of adoption.

[Marit Kim van der Stey/Second-generation overseas adoptee]
"When I first went to Gwangju (her mother's hometown), it felt really special. I was so fascinated by the faces of the people. I thought, 'Gwangju people seem to have rounder faces, and their lips look like my mother's.' It was so sad, but it felt like a small gift to be able to see someone who looked like my mother."

However, even finding her mother's mother, her maternal grandmother, was very difficult.

[Marit Kim van der Stey/Second-generation overseas adoptee]
"But I'm a part of my mom. I don't know why I can't access my family papers. I asked the Child Rights Commission if I could get a DNA test, but they said no because I'm not an adoptee or a missing child. Maybe my grandmother is still looking for my mom and wants to know more about her."

The second-generation adoptees Straight spoke to described this experience as one of sadness, loss, and emptiness.

[Bastian Flickweirt (Shin Seo-bin)/Second generation overseas adoptee - Melanie Steiner/Second generation overseas adoptee]
"There are barriers on so many levels, culturally, linguistically, and legally. There are already such barriers simply because we are adoptees, and we are even further down. You feel like you can't approach it, and there is an emptiness in your heart that is too hard to explain. <To me, it feels like a silent sadness. It feels like sadness.> About something you've lost... <Not only did you lose your family, but you also lost your culture, your country, and your language. When I met other adoptees and adoptee children, this emptiness suddenly disappeared, and I felt a sense of light and connection, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not alone, I'm not crazy.' This is what it means to be alive. This is what it feels like to have roots. Other people must have felt this way their whole lives.>

-----

Moreover, adoption records are directly related to life.

Mathieu Christmas, who was adopted to France at 5 months old. He

has suffered from severe insomnia since last year and is now suffering from tinnitus and muscle I'm experiencing convulsions and hallucinations.

I desperately need information from my biological parents to find out if it's a hereditary disease.

The Special Adoption Act also states that adoption information can be disclosed regardless of the consent of the biological parents in special cases, such as for medical purposes.

[Mathieu Christmas/Overseas Adoption Victim (YouTube 'Mongsaem Bookstore', December 13, 2024)]
"I just want to find out if there was a case of fatal insomnia or a hereditary sleep disorder within that family."

However, the Child Rights Protection Center, which manages adoption information, is not disclosing the information, saying it has not yet received parental consent.

[Bae Jin-si/Director of Montaigne Overseas Adoption Solidarity]
"Is the Personal Information Protection Act more important than human life and the child's human rights? It's not like we can't find our parents. They're alive and well, and I know where they are living. But I don't know if it really makes sense that they can't give me that information."

-----

So how are the records of victims of overseas adoption managed?

The Child Rights Protection Center once entrusted an outside company with the task of computerizing the adoption records of 86 childcare facilities for 10 years from 2013.

The result was a mess.

The birth mother's address was written completely differently, from Jeollanam-do to Seoul, and even the child's gender was wrong.

A large number of cases were found where the names and contact information of the birth parents were written incorrectly or omitted.

Important records before adoption were damaged, and because they were not even properly inspected, half of the scanned data in 2020 and 2021 were blank.

They didn't even know that the external hard drive containing the original files was lost.

[Kim Nam-hee/Democratic Party of Korea - Jeong Ik-joong/Director of the Child Rights Protection Center (National Assembly Welfare Committee, October 21, 2024)]
"<So there's an external hard drive?> I understand that there is an external hard drive."

[Jeong Ik-joong/Director of the Child Rights Protection Center (National Assembly Welfare Committee, October 21, 2024)]
"I apologize for speaking too definitively about the loss of data. I would like to ask for a correction once again."

Internal document of the Child Rights Protection Center obtained by Straight Team. It states

that the original data is 50% more than what has been computerized, but it is not possible to identify which data has been scanned.

In the end, we concluded that we had to start the computerization process again from the beginning.

[Child Rights Protection Center employee]
"The data we have now is unreliable. When adoptees request disclosure of their current information, I honestly cannot guarantee whether or not the data will be correct."

-----

In addition, starting in July of this year, all adoption records from four adoption agencies, including Holt, will be transferred to the Child Rights Protection Agency.

A plan was made to build an archive on 25,000 square meters of state-owned land in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, and the director of the Child Rights Protection Agency visited the site, but the plan has been put on hold indefinitely.

[Gimpo City official]
"It seems that the Child Rights Protection Agency is still in the process of preparing internally. We are waiting."

When asked why it was put on hold, the Child Rights Protection Agency explained, "It was not something that the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Child Rights Protection Agency agreed on, and the article at the time was not an official position."

We also visited a place that was supposed to be used as a temporary storage facility until the archives were built.

It was a warehouse in Gyeonggi-do, a remote place that would be inconvenient for adoptees to visit.

[Warehouse official]
"<What was it originally used for? The building itself?> It was a cold storage. (The Child Rights Protection Center) would come and look at the 2nd floor, the 4th floor, the 5th floor, etc...."

In a place where the entire building was used as a cold storage, questions about whether old documents can be stored are bound to arise.

[Child Rights Protection Center employee]
"The place we are trying to move to (as a temporary storage facility) has a cold storage on the lower floor, so the temperature is very low. So in order to maintain the temperature and humidity there, a lot of equipment will have to be brought in, and we are worried about whether it will work or not."

However, the Child Rights Protection Center explained, "It meets the load capacity standards, has sufficient area, and is relatively close to the city center, so we consider it the best candidate."

[Lee Kyung-eun/Representative of Human Rights Beyond Borders]
"All of these issues ultimately converge on the right of 200,000 (international adoptees) to know their own identity, their own roots, and their true identity, so there is a very long way to go to guarantee those human rights."

ⓒ MBC&iMBC Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution and use (including AI learning) prohibited

The Overseas Koreans Agency (Director Lee Sang-deok) will hold its first policy discussion meeting tomorrow (the 29th) to discuss ways to support the domestic settlement of adoptive Koreans.

 This event, co-hosted with the Overseas Korean Adoption Association, was prepared as a follow-up measure to the 'Adoption Counseling Center' opened by the Overseas Koreans Office last month.

Approximately 60 domestic and international adoptees and experts, including Seodaemun-gu Mayor Lee Seong-heon, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Population and Children's Policy Director Kim Sang-hee, and Overseas Koreans

' Counselor Yoo Jae-hoon, will participate in the meeting to discuss adoption policies and business directions and seek field-centered support measures. In addition, the meeting will feature presentations on various topics related to adoptees, such as '

Overseas Koreans Office's dedicated window operation cases and this year's promotion plan for adoptees' and 'The Child Rights Protection Agency's family search project.' Overseas Koreans Office Director Lee Sang-deok stated that this meeting is an opportunity to listen to the real difficulties of adoptees and to discover and promote policies and projects for adoptees and their children, and that he will continue to provide effective support for adoptees.

This is the story of Princess Victoria Gouramma, the princess of Coorg, who was deposed by the British. Her story is not just a footnote of colonial history. It is a reminder of resilience, heartbreak, and a young girl’s fight for belonging in a world that was never ready to fully accept her. 

On a rainy spring morning of 1852, a usual day for Londoners, when they suddenly gathered curiously around the docs as an unusual figure stepped ashore. She was clad in a simple silk robe, a 11-year-old girl, with dusky skin, solemn eyes, steps down as she clutches her father's hand.

She was Princess Gouramma of Coorg. She was a royal from India, which was now annexed under the British rule. Beside her was her father, the deposed King Chikavira Rajendra, who hope for justice from the Queen of England. Little did they know that the little girl, bright and eager, was about to be swept into the heart of British royalty, which would turn into a lifetime of quiet battles against prejudice, loneliness, and betrayal.

In the pages of history as we go along adopting, acknowledging and embracing new curriculum, there are often stories that we continue to ignore. Princess Gouramma's story is also one such forgotten story, however, it continues to hold the haunting mirror which reflects even what royals like Meghan Markle may have faced centuries later. Princess Gouramma's life shows that even when the British monarchy embraced a person of colour, the acceptance was only skin-deep.

A Royal Arrival, A New Identity

One of thousands of adoptees taken away from Greece in the 1950s and 60s, stripped of their citizenship and identities, shares her story story

It was under a bright, warm sun in June last year when I arrived at the Patriotic Institution for Social Welfare and Awareness (PIKPA), a building which holds secrets and history and heartache in its very bones. Comfortably set on a hillside of Penteli outside of Athens, I was there to find out more about myself. This was the place I likely came after I left an orphanage on my way to adoption by a Greek-American couple, strangers to my tiny self. I had issues with my lungs, which I still have 67 years later, and this is the place where people came for further treatment, for rehabilitation, a place to heal and rest.

This visit to PIKPA Penteli was part of my long journey to secure the remainder of my adoption records in order to learn about who I am and from whom I come. I came with journalist and award-winning podcaster Katerina Bakogianni, who is producing a series, “Born Greek,” about the so-called lost children of Greece. She was there as a friend and interpreter.

My mother gave birth to me at the Athens Maternity Hospital, which has long since been torn down. We spent nine precious days together. Somewhere. She took me to the Athens Municipal Orphanage (Vrefokomeio) and I became baby number 44488. From there, I went to PIKPA Penteli before going to a final foster home and then to America and new parents.

PATHANAMTHITTA: Two years ago, baby Niket was fighting for survival, having been found abandoned by his biological parents. Today, he is nestled in the arms of his adoptive parents in Italy, in a early-life story that has come to embody resilience and unconditional love.

Niket’s journey of acceptance began on April 4, 2023 in Aranmula, Pathanamthitta, where he was discovered in a bucket in front of a house. After giving birth to him at home, his mother sought medical attention at a hospital in Chengannur due to excessive bleeding.

The mother informed authorities that she had delivered a stillborn baby. However, police became suspicious when they received information of the abandoned infant, weighing just 1.3 kg. and rushed him to Kottayam Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The intervention by police officers, which ended up by saving the child’s life, came for high praise. A video showing a cop running to a hospital carrying the bucket with the child in it had then gone viral.

Chengannur sub-inspector M C Abhilash, who carried the infant to safety, recalled the emotional moment. “We just wanted to save his life. Seeing him in safe hands now fills my heart with joy,” said Abhilash, who is now circle inspector with Venmony police station.

obtained after complaint handed in at European Ombudsman

Equivalent citations: AIR1986MAD181, AIR 1986 MADRAS 181, (1985) 17 LAWYER 36, 1985 LAWYER 17 36, (1985) 98 MADLW 339, (1985) 1 MADLJ208, (1985) 2 HINDULR 457, (1985) WRITLR 134

1. This petition for the issue of a writ of habeas corpus for causing the production of a minor boy by name Amba Shankar alias Jayapaul has come to be filed on account of a gross and total misconnection of the circumstances under which a petition of this nature can be filed. The facts of the case are briefly as under.

The petitioner is the father of a minor by name Jayapaul. He had entrusted the custody of the child as early as in the year 1978 to the first respondent herein who is running an institution known as "Prayer House". it is said to be an association registered under the Societies Registration Act and to be enaged in running an orphanage as well is maintaining a home for aged persons and for destitute widows. According to the first respondent., the petitioner informed him that after the ,death of his wife, he had married again and his second wife was averse to bringing up the minor child born to his first wife and therefore, the child may be taken care of in the orphanage run by the first respondent. Some months thereafter a Belgium couple expressed their desire to adopt an Indian child. The first respondent would say that the petitioner was contacted and he gave his consent to the child being taken in adoption by the Belgium couple; but the petitioner would deny it. Be that as it may, the first respondent filed a petition O. P. No. 500 of 1978 on the Original Side of this Court under Ss. 3, 7 to 10 of the Guardians and Wards Act. After the formalities regarding publication of notice etc. were observed, a learned Judge of this Court passed an order on 10-12-1978 declaring the first respondent, to be the lawfully appointed guardian of the minor child Jayapaul and permitting the first respondent to entrust the custody of the minor child to the foreign couple Mr. Raucy Claude Roger and Mrs. Raucy Alberte Champenois residing at 18 Anenue De La Victoire Virton, Belgium, through their power of attorney agent Miss Alma Philips, English Professor, Cultural Academy, 19 Santhome High Road, Mylapore, Madras, for being taken to Belgium for the purpose of being fostered, maintained and brought up by the said Mr. Raucy Claude Roger and Mrs. Raucy Alberte Champenois. The Court Imposed a condition that Mr. Raucy Claude Roger and Mrs. Raucy Alberte Champenois should send to this Court an annual report along with recently taken photographs of the minor child in order to satisfy the Court that the child was being looked after well. The first of such report was directed to be filed on or before 31-12-1979. According to the first respondent, the petitioner was fully aware of all these things and he gave his whole-hearted consent and he also executed an agreement on stamp paper on 8-1-1979 agreeing to the child being taken by the Belgium couple as their adopted son and giving an undertaking that neither he nor his relations or friends would go back on the arrangement and give any trouble or cause any loss to the first respondent or the adoptive parents. It is the further case of the first respondent that till recently, the petitioner had been corresponding with the adoptive parents and in one of those letters dt.27-10-1979 the petitioner has categorically stated as follows "We have no objection. I Jayapaul staying with you; Let him be your son itself, But we are eager to have some contact wish you morely writings."

It is further written in the letter that the adoptive parents may write to him (the petitioner) in future and not to the first respondent. Lastly, he concludes the letter invoking the blessings of God for the grace shown by them on Jayapaul.

2. In spite of all these, the petitioner has come forward with this petition stating that the entrustment of the custody of the minor child to the first respondent was only a temporary arrangement and the first respondent had no authority to act as the guardian of the minor child and send him away in adoption to Belgium. According to the petitioner, the agreement on stamp paper is a document in which his signature was obtained without his knowing what the contents were. In so far as the letters are concerned, he has no specific answer except to say that the taking away of the child in adoption was not with his consent. The technical plea raised by him is that he was not made a party to the proceedings in O. P. No. 5010 of 1978 and therefore, the order passed by the Court is not binding on him. The learned counsel for the petitioner asserts without any materials whatever, that the child is being made to serve as a domestic servant by the adoptive parents in Belgium and the child is living in inhuman conditions. Therefore, he would say that the child is not leading a dignified way of life and such a of violates Art. 23 of the Constitution. He Would also say that the child has been exported for monetary considerations by the first respondent without the consent of the father who is the natural guardian and that again is illegal. The further submission made is that the father is the natural arid lawful guardian and he is entitled to seek the issue of a writ of habeas corpus for getting the custody of his child. In support of these, Propositions, he cites the decisions in Gohar Begum, and Veena Kapoor v. Varinder Kumar, .Those, authorities have no relevancy at all to the facts of the case on hand. When asked as to how a writ of habeas corpus can be enforced when the child is beyond the shores of this country and when the persons having the custody of the child are not parties to these proceedings, the counsel would cite the in Marggarate Maria v, Pualparampil, Nee Fledman v. Dr. Chacko Pulparapil, (FB) which was rendered under entirely different circumstances.