Criticizing Bufdir for stopping adoptions – important not to overreact
Criticizing Bufdir for stopping adoptions – important not to overreact
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26.01.2026
Several adoptive parents disagree with Bufdir's reasoning and have appealed the decision.
Photo: PixabayNorwegian couples are not allowed to adopt because Bufdir cannot guarantee the legal security of the children and their biological mothers. KrF fears the regulations prevent children from having a family
Journalist
Jorunn Gleditsch Lossius (KrF) has sent a written question in the Storting to the Minister of Children and Family Affairs. She expresses concern that current adoption practices are detrimental to children and prospective adoptive parents.
Norway has suspended adoptions from all countries, except Colombia, until the investigation committee for intercountry adoptions completes its work in June.
Now, some ongoing adoptions from Colombia have also been stopped by Bufdir.
Jorunn Gleditsch Lossius (KrF) wants the minister to consider whether current adoption practices are too strict.
Photo: Parliament
– How will the minister ensure that the Norwegian authorities' control and professional diligence do not develop into an overreaction that prevents children who have been released for adoption from having a family, Lossius writes in the question.
Lossius tells Utrop that KrF is contacted by many couples who are not allowed to adopt.
– Stricter control of international adoptions has been necessary, but we must be careful not to stop adoptions where nothing is really wrong. We have received many inquiries that I think it is natural to follow up on, she says in an email.
Lossius refers in the question to an article in NRK about a couple who had waited for four and a half years only to find out that the adoption had been stopped. NRK has also spoken to other couples in similar situations. All were waiting for children from Colombia.
Department Director Kristin Ugstad Steinrem in Bufdir tells NRK that the directorate cannot accept that the legal security of the children and their biological parents is not adequately safeguarded. That is why the adoptions have been stopped. She further refers to Norwegian and international legislation.
Department Director Kristin Ugstad Steinrem in Bufdir
Photo: Bufdir
Several adoptive parents, however, disagree with Bufdir's reasoning and have appealed the decision.
Three families have also filed a lawsuit against the state to be allowed to adopt the children.
They believe that Norwegian adopters have not been given good enough reasons why children are being held back in these adoption processes.
– Someone must react to the practice
Lossius is concerned that adoptions are being stopped unnecessarily.
– But the many inquiries and stories about parents who lose the opportunity to adopt a child, I must say, create concern that Norwegian authorities are now practicing the regulations in a way that in practice stops adoptions, even in cases where such serious risk factors do not exist, says Lossius.
She points out that the regulations are intended to protect children, not prevent them from having a family.
– Then it is important that someone in the opposition also dares to question current practices, she says.
However, Lossius again emphasizes that it is important that the adoptions are safe.
– For many parents and children, adoption has been something wonderful, but I am also glad that the authorities have taken steps to ensure safe adoptions. It is a demanding balancing act, she says.
– Only Western couples speak their mind
Elin Netland is someone who has long called for a values debate about adoption .
Elin Netland believes that international adoption is based on a misunderstood need for help and kindness.
Photo: private
Netland is a socially engaged health worker and adopted from South Korea.
– My adoption is full of unanswered irregularities, Netland tells Utrop.
She thinks it's good that politicians dare to raise the adoption issue, so that we can start the values debate about adoption.
But she reacts strongly to what she believes is Lossius' one-sided position.
– The question she asks sends a strong signal about where we still stand mentally and in terms of values. We don't need more voices that focus on adults who want to adopt. Where this is more important than the legal security of the children and the biological families. And their right to family life in their home country, says Netland.
She believes that it must now be about the systematic abuses that have occurred.
– About kidnapping, document forgery and human trafficking, says Netland.
She points out that the South Korean president has issued a public apology to international adoptees . He also acknowledges that human rights violations have occurred. South Korea will now phase out international adoption by 2029.
Elin Netland was adopted from South Korea when she was around four years old. She is somewhat younger in the photos.
Photo: private
Among Western countries, the Netherlands has decided to phase out intercountry adoptions by 2030. The parliament bases its decision on the fact that intercountry adoption is no longer a sustainable solution to protect the best interests of children. Furthermore, children's interests are best served when they can grow up in a safe environment in their own country, religion or culture.
– Many adoptees in Norway are now asking for the Storting's full attention to this side of the matter. Politicians must ask where the unreserved apology is going? The same applies to the question of meaningful redress for the human rights violations that adoptees have suffered. And to which Norway has indirectly contributed, she says.
Netland adds that an illegal adoption industry would not have existed if the demand had been there.
– A market for child exports and child trafficking is thriving among us because we allow it, says Netland.
The Minister's response is not yet available.