PUDUCHERRY: A Puducherry resident who was trying to adopt a child was cheated of Rs 1.07 lakh by an online group posing as an adoption agency. The victim, Sinode, had reached out to the group after spotting a Facebook advertisement for child adoption under the name ‘Anbu Illam’ said Inspector (Cyber Wing) BC Keerthi.

Sinode responded to the ad and was soon contacted by the fraudsters. They sent him photographs of more than ten children, asking which one he would like to adopt. Believing the scheme to be genuine, Sinode continued the conversation. Over the span of a month, the group tricked him into transferring Rs 1.07 lakh, in various installments, under the guise of handling “legal proceedings” for the adoption.

The scam came to light when Sinode realised that despite the payments, no real progress was made, prompting him to report the matter to cyber police. Authorities are now investigating the case to trace the fraudsters.

FRONTLINE and The Associated Press examine allegations of fraud and abuse in South Korea’s historic foreign adoption boom. The documentary investigates cases of falsified records and identities among the adoptions of 200,000 children to the U.S. and other countries over decades.

Ricki Mudd was born in 1993 in China during the one-child policy era. She remembers her early childhood only in fragments, but has been told she had spent some of it hidden in a bag.

At age 5, she was adopted from a Chinese orphanage, one of the more than 150,000 children China sent overseas. Most were girls. In the West, they were one of the most visible consequences of the one-child policy, which ended in 2016. This month, Beijing put an end to foreign adoptions. 

China is grappling with a demographic crisis, with dropping birthrates and a rapidly aging population. The policies to control the population have given way to new ones in the opposite direction. But a legacy of the one-child policy is a dearth of women of childbearing age.

Because of a government decree that led to forced abortions and sterilizations, millions of girls were never born or were hidden from authorities. In the process, China’s gender ratio became increasingly skewed, with 117 boys born for every 100 girls in 2004, compared with 106 in 1980, United Nations data showed. 

A U.N. Population Fund study based on China’s 2010 census estimates the country’s “missing girls,” or females who in regular circumstances would have been born but who were absent from the population, at 24 million.

Intercountry adoption often appears to be the ultimate humanitarian deed —offering parentless children the chance for a better life in a safe and loving home. However, the reality is more complex. Dr. Elvira Loibl, assistant professor at the Department of Criminal Law at Maastricht University’s Law Faculty, uncovered significant weaknesses in the Dutch intercountry adoption system. Her research played a pivotal role in the decision to suspend all intercountry adoptions in the Netherlands as of May 2024. In recognition of her work and its far-reaching impact, the Edmond Hustinx Foundation awarded her this year’s prestigious prize.

It was ten years ago that Loibl encountered the topic of illegal intercountry adoption. “It was a coincidence, actually. I knew I wanted to pursue  a criminological study for my PhD, and while exploring potential topics, I read about illegal intercountry adoptions,” she starts off. “When I was working on my dissertation, I never imagined my research would have so much impact. In the same month my dissertation took place, the Joustra Commission was established.” Another coincidence that led to a chain of events that reshaped the intercountry adoption system in the Netherlands.

Edmond Hustinx Prize

The Edmond Hustinx Prize for Science has been awarded annually since 2011 by the Edmond Hustinx Foundation to highlight the impact of scientific research in South Limburg. The Edmond Hustinx Prize for Science is worth 15,000 euros and is awarded during the opening of the academic year of Maastricht University.

Romania and the United States, through the head of the prime minister’s chancellery Alexandru-Mihai Ghigiu, and the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, have signed a five-year Child Protection Framework Partnership valued at USD 10 million.

The purpose of the partnership is to create a victim-centered prevention strategy and protect child victims of trafficking, according to the US ambassador.

“Many adult human trafficking victims around the world, including in the United States, were first exploited as children,” Kathleen Kavalec said.

Kavalec also stated that the US State Department will contribute up to USD 10 million over a five-year period to implement activities in Romania under the CPC partnership. She also mentioned that several NGOs will contribute to the implementation of this partnership.

Also present at the signing, Romanian interior minister Cătălin Predoiu noted that globally, abuse phenomena, including online, against children have increased alarmingly.

Over 60 guests came to Reek this year for the annual Ethiopian camping weekend. Marij de Bruin explains how the weekend, specifically for adopted children from the African country, came about. She herself, together with her husband Chris, has adopted three Ethiopian children.

A small group of parents spontaneously camped here with their adopted children. That is where the idea arose to invite more people. With children from Ethiopia. That way, they can get to know each other.

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Child placement officer Alice Honegger often acted on behalf of the authorities. Therefore, individuals placed for adoption abroad may also be entitled to financial compensation.

Adopted individuals may be entitled to compensation under certain circumstances. Specifically, this applies if they were placed for adoption as a result of a coercive welfare measure and suffered harm within their new family. This was the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court in spring 2023.

The Federal Office of Justice has so far only granted the right to financial compensation to mothers whose children had been taken away . And it has only approved the solidarity payment of 25,000 francs  for them – not for adopted persons .

The suffering of the children falls back on the authorities.

The Federal Court, however, concluded that adopted individuals may also, under certain circumstances, meet the criteria of victim status and be entitled to compensation. The court argued that the authorities were responsible for selecting the foster family and the subsequent adoptive family. If a child later suffered a violation of their physical, psychological, or sexual integrity, the responsibility lies with the authorities.

Siri and his guesthouse provide a good base for a search of the biological parents of adopted children. Siri has already gained much experience in this type of search. He works cautiously with feeling for the situation. He has a lot of contacts in Sri Lanka and if necessary travels all over the island in search of information. He also provides a service for Tros, a Dutch broadcasting company for programs about reuniting parents and children. He has been very successful and has already reunited many biological families.

Korea's domestic adoption system bars international couples from becoming adoptive parents

By Lee Hyo-jin

This July marks a significant milestone for British national Thomas Pallett and his Korean wife surnamed Kang: seven years of unsuccessful attempts to adopt a child in Korea.

The couple, who live in the southeastern port city of Busan, have faced persistent rejections from local adoption agencies, which primarily cite Pallett's British nationality as the obstacle. They got married in Korea in May 2019, with Pallett obtaining an F-6 marriage visa that grants him permanent residency.

“Our discussions on adoption began in July 2018 even before we were married. When we first met, I was 35 and my wife was 40. We knew having our own child could be difficult,” Pallett said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

Adoption & Samfund has sent the following to the Folketing Social Committee.The future remains uncertain and unhappy for international adoption in Denmark

Adoption & Society can state that, despite promises of a quick clarification, nothing has been done to correct the inadequate handling of international adoption in Denmark!

On 16 January this year, all international adoptions were urgently suspended by the direct intervention of the then Social Affairs Minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil. The promises to the many waiting applicants for adoption were not fulfilled from this date. This also applies to the promises to secure a solution for the many adoptees in Denmark who would like to apply back and have information about their own case. Promises that were made over half a year ago!

In other words, nothing has happened since Danish International Adoption (DIA) announced in mid-January that it would carry out a controlled closure of the organisation.

Adoption & Samfund bears a great responsibility as an interest organization, as we have taken on the important task of fully supporting and helping both individuals and families who want to adopt or have adopted. It necessarily also reaches back in time, because as an organization we look both forward and backward in time.