Prospective parents consider legal action against adoption freeze: "Our dream of having children shatters at the last minute"
Dozens of prospective adoptive parents were informed this week that their process will be halted, often just before the final stage. Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) wants to gradually phase out intercountry adoption, with a complete halt in 2027. A number of prospective parents are exploring the possibilities of challenging the decision before the Council of State.
Published:Wed 29 Apr 20:00
In short:
Following a decision by Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez, intercountry adoption will cease completely by 2027, and a phase-out scenario will be implemented in the meantime.
Only files with a concrete match and a valid certificate of suitability can still be completed: dozens of other processes are being discontinued.
Prospective adoptive parents react with indignation and point to years-long procedures that are now ending abruptly.
Some prospective parents are considering legal action, including at the Council of State.
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Sebastiaan (36): "My wish to have children has shattered"
Sebastiaan Raymaekers (36) from Tienen is one of the prospective parents who has not yet been matched with an adoptive child, despite a process that has been ongoing since January 2021. As a result, his wish to have children has been put at risk this week.
"It has been my big dream to have children since I was 17," he says, visibly moved. "As a gay man, I cannot have children myself, so adoption is the only feasible way."
He sees no realistic alternative in surrogacy. "There is no clear legal framework for surrogacy in Belgium. It is risky; I am not comfortable with that."
Sebastiaan (36).
Over the past few years, Raymaekers has already gone through many steps of the adoption procedure. "I have attended information sessions and training courses and have been declared suitable by the family court. There have been psychological counseling sessions and home visits by a social worker. That process has already lasted for years."
When a temporary adoption pause was introduced by the Flemish government in 2023, he began to have doubts. Only ongoing procedures were allowed to be continued, including his own.
"I then explicitly sought advice from the VCA (the Flemish Centre for Adoption, which regulates adoption procedures, ed.). I asked them more than once: 'Does it still make sense to continue?' And each time I was told: 'Yes, go ahead.'"
The news just came by email: very cold, very businesslike, I am disgusted by it.
Sebastiaan Raymaekers, prospective adoptive parent
Just when he was ready for the next phase—preparing and sending his dossier to a country of origin of choice—the news came that his process had to be terminated after all. "I had to hear the news by email," he says. "That communication from the VCA felt very cold. Very businesslike. I am disgusted by it."
What affects him most is the feeling that he was wrongly encouraged to persevere for years. "After years of hope, every option has now suddenly been taken away from me." Domestic adoption is not an option either, according to Raymaekers.
There are hundreds of people on the waiting list, while only 20 to 30 children are adopted annually. The waiting list is endless. Everything I have worked towards for so long has become impossible in one fell swoop. My dream of having children has shattered at the last minute.
What does the phase-out scenario for intercountry adoption entail?
Intercountry adoption will be completely discontinued in the course of 2027. The government decided in March that the system is too vulnerable to abuse and errors.
Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) announced on Monday that an agreement has been reached on a phase-out scenario for the ongoing trajectories .
The procedure can only be continued for prospective parents who already have a concrete match with an adoptive child and possess a valid certificate of suitability. According to the Flemish Centre for Adoption (VCA), this concerns only a few cases.
The other prospective parents—a few dozen—will likely not be able to complete their process before the final stop in 2027.
Alessandra* (38): "We are not yet accepting this decision"
Alessandra*, 38 years old, single and HR manager, is also at risk of falling by the wayside. In 2021, she consciously chose to start an adoption process.
I have always wanted to adopt. Not because I can't have children myself, but because I want to offer a better life to a child who has fewer opportunities.
She initially started the process together with her then-partner, but continued it alone after their divorce. "I explicitly asked if that was possible, and it was allowed."
I have always wanted to adopt, to offer a better life to a child who has few opportunities.
Alessandra*, prospective adoptive parent
In the meantime, she has a suitability judgment in hand and was ready to continue working on her file. "I just had to submit my choice of country. I wanted to adopt a child from Peru, partly because I speak Spanish and have friends from South America. That can help with the child's successful integration."
However, the chance that her procedure can still be completed is very small. A painful realization for Alessandra. "I had expected a better transitional arrangement, like in the Netherlands." There, the government is opting for a gradual phasing out of intercountry adoption.
Candidates who are already in a process can still complete their procedure. In this way, the Netherlands aims to completely phase out the system by 2030.
We want to appeal to the Council of State to have it investigated whether this decision is lawful.
Alessandra*, prospective adoptive parent
Inspired by the Dutch example, Alessandra* feels strengthened not to give up the fight. Together with other prospective parents, she is considering legal action against Minister Gennez's decision.
We are gathering information, together with several legal experts, and intend to take the matter to the Council of State to have it investigated whether this decision is lawful. People who have been in a process for years are now suddenly being told that everything is stopping. Their rights are not being taken into account at all.
Although Alessandra* also understands the decision to eventually stop intercountry adoption. "You can't deny that quite a few cases went wrong in the past," she says. "I understand that the government is learning lessons from that. But the situation today is no longer what it was in the 1960s to 1980s. There are also many beautiful adoption stories that are now being overshadowed. That is a shame."
Alessandra is a pseudonym; the true identity of the witness is known to VRT NWS. The editorial team has also been in contact with the witness.
Sander (37) and Nicolas (31): "We were already renovating the children's rooms"
Sander Vercruysse (37) and his partner Nicolas (31) see their big dream shattered today. "We have been in the adoption process for 7 years," he says. "We wanted to adopt 2 children, and have been working on renovating our house, including 2 children's rooms, for several years."
Vercruysse describes the process the couple has gone through so far as a succession of reforms and uncertainty. “We started in 2019 with information sessions, followed by the full social investigation via the court: psychological counseling, home visits, everything included.”
Then came the adoption pause in 2023, a temporary halt during which the government had all countries of origin re-screened and reformed the entire adoption system. New processes could no longer be started, and ongoing ones often experienced delays as well. "There was no other choice but to wait even longer."
For seven years, we have lived in uncertainty. We made plans, only to have to adjust them time and again.
Sander Vercruysse, Candidate Adoptive Parent
According to Vercruysse, the psychological and emotional impact on prospective adoptive parents is underestimated. "For seven years, we have lived in uncertainty. We made plans, only to have to adjust them time and again."
Sander (37) and Nicolas (31).
The decision to ultimately just call it quits therefore comes as a hard blow after all these years. "It affects us deeply. You work towards something for years, and then it is suddenly cut short."
At the same time, he tries to understand the bigger picture. "Nowadays, prospective adoptive parents are almost viewed as egoists who want a child at all costs. The best interests of the child must always come first. If there are strong indications of abuse or fraud, then I understand that you intervene."
"But we also have rights as prospective parents." According to Vercruysse, the government should have chosen a more gradual path. A path that would actually give him and his partner the chance to complete their procedure. "We had hoped for a phase-out scenario, like in the Netherlands. Not stopping everything at once. You can't make such a far-reaching decision overnight."
Bram and Sandra adopted their little daughter at the last minute: "the adoption debate is too black and white"
Bram (48) and his wife Sandra (40) were able to adopt a child through international adoption. A conscious choice for the couple, who also have a biological son.
"My wife has Peruvian roots. Adopting a child from Peru seemed like the logical step to complete our family. We returned from Peru a few months ago with a cheerful 2-year-old daughter," he says.
For Bram, the debate surrounding international adoption is often too black and white. "It sometimes seems as if children become orphans simply because there are adoptive parents. But that is not correct. A child is first removed from a family situation by the local government because it is not safe. Only then are solutions sought."
In this context, he refers to the Hague Convention, the international treaty intended to regulate adoptions and prevent abuse. "Adoption is only the very last option. First, consideration is given to care in the home country or return to the family. Only if that is not possible does intercountry adoption come into play."
We received a file of hundreds of pages in which the first years of our little daughter's life were documented.
Bram, adoptive parent
"In Peru, that process was closely monitored. We received a file of hundreds of pages in which every step during the first years of our daughter's life was documented." He also points out that intercountry adoption costs no money in Peru itself. "Precisely to avoid any form of trade or profit."
Bram therefore regrets the decision to discontinue international adoption. "Mistakes have certainly been made in the past. But in the stories I know, adoptees also often say that they were well received and found a loving family. Adoption is a success story. It means giving a child a chance to grow up in a family," he concludes.