Adopted people abroad can also receive money

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.

"The crucial question is whether the official coercion took place in Switzerland."David Furger, lawyer

Do people placed for adoption abroad therefore also have a right to financial compensation? Yes, says Bernese lawyer David Furger, who represented an adopted man in the aforementioned Federal Supreme Court case. According to Furger, it doesn't matter whether someone was placed for adoption abroad or not. "What's decisive is whether the measure, that is, the official coercion, took place in Switzerland." 

The issue of placing children abroad was not addressed when the federal law on the investigation of coercive welfare measures was drafted. The extensive activities of adoption agent Alice Honegger were largely unknown to the general public. 

Authorities were involved in questionable adoptions.

Investigations by the Observer now show that Alice Honegger had coordinated with the guardianship authorities in many cases – or rather, acted on their behalf. A criminal investigation against her was dropped – the investigation concerned breach of trust and "improper trafficking of children" between 1953 and 1964.

However, regarding the placement of children abroad, the discontinuation order states: "With the exception of one case, the consent of the responsible guardianship authorities was always obtained for such placements abroad [...]."

"Allocated to the highest bidder"

At the same time, the investigation concluded that Alice Honegger had too much leeway in placing children abroad and had been inadequately supervised. Apparently, she sometimes offered the children to several families simultaneously – and ultimately assigned them to the highest bidder. 

“In my opinion, for the child’s well-being, it should also have been examined whether an adoption in Switzerland should have been preferred to one abroad,” says Danielle Berthet from the Historical Institute at the University of Bern, who researches Alice Honegger’s adoption arrangements. “Because there had to be compelling reasons for an adoption, and the child could not be disadvantaged by it.”