A couple hailing from Karnataka and settled in Germany adopted the one-year-old baby on Thursday, in presence of Cuttack Collector, Bhabani Shankar Chayani.

Until recently, she was known as Sai Shreemayee and her address was ‘Servants of India Society, an orphanage located in Choudwar in Cuttack district.

From now on, she will be known as Sai Meenakshi and her new address will be Germany as she has been adopted by a childless NRI couple.

Kochi: In the latest update to the Kalamassery adoption row, the child has been temporarily handed over to the Tripunithura couple, who were accused of forging the infant's birth certificate, upon the direction of the Kerala High Court.

Earlier, the court had assigned the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to decide on custody of the child. Following this, the committee decided to place the child in the temporary custody of the couple.

Meanwhile, the child's biological parents say they cannot accept the infant under the current circumstances. After the CWC informed the high court about the matter, it directed the Tripunithura couple to legally apply for adoption.

The adoption row came to light after the CWC found that the Tripunithura couple had adopted a newborn child from Kalamassery Medical College by forging a birth certificate. Furthermore, Anilkumar, an administrative staff of the medical college, was suspended in connection with the issue. He was accused of aiding the couple by expediting illegal adoption procedures.

A woman has shared her despair after a DNA kit revealed her boyfriend of six years to actually be her biological brother, admitting she doesn't know where to go from here

A woman's entire life has been turned upside down after a DNA kit revealed her boyfriend of six years to be her biological brother. The 30-year-old, who was adopted from birth, explained how she met her boyfriend after graduating from high school - and instantly hit it off with him.

She says they "bonded" over the fact they're both adopted, finding comfort in their shared experience. Taking to Reddit, she said: "I was adopted as a baby. I love my parents and my parents love me - who cares if they aren't my real parents.

"My boyfriend was also adopted and when we met it was one of the things we sort of bonded over. We both didn't learn we were adopted until high school and we both were lucky and had good families."

She went on to explain how their relationship blossomed "very fast" thanks to their "understanding" and "attraction" to each other.

Are you part of an organization for adoption stakeholders and do you have ideas for a joint project, in collaboration with at least 2 other organizations? Then you might be eligible for this one-off incentive! Until May 31, 2023 you can submit a project application to the Adoption Support Center for financial support (€ 2500) and the possibility of guidance.

The Adoption Support Center is launching this one-off call in the context of the policy action 'expanding low-threshold care and guidance' and the policy recommendation 'professional development of peer contact for those involved in adoption' of the 'care and guidance' working group.

Here you will find more information and the conditions to participate. You can submit a project via this form . Good luck!

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AHMEDABAD: A Gujarat court has rejected a 24-year-old woman's petition to legally renounce her adoptive parents by cancelling the adoption deed and having the names of her adoptive parents removed from her certificates and documents.

She claimed she wanted to legally separate from her adoptive parents because of ill-treatment over the years. Turning down the demand, the court cited Section 15 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, which bars such cancellation and prohibits such renunciation either by the adopted child or the adoptive parents.

To justify the legal provision, additional senior civil judge at Mirzapur court R C Sodhaparmar also cited Hindu rituals associated with the adoption process. The court said that in Hindu culture adoption is considered a "samskara" and, for this occasion, the ritual prescribed is "homam", considered divine. Lawmakers based Section 15 on this concept and it was declared that the adopters are required to perform their duties towards the adoptee as biological parents would, while the adoptee must perform all duties a biological son or daughter would.

According to the case details, the applicant woman and her biological parents filed the application in court last year and sought cancellation of the adoption deed. The court was informed that the woman was born in Gandhidham in 1999. Seven months later, she was adopted by her father's brother, who was childless then. A deed was notarised in 2007. Her adoptive parents live in Jaipur, while her biological parents live in Ahmedabad, where she currently resides.

Seeking cancellation of the 2007 deed, the woman told the court that she found out late that she was an adopted child. She claimed that she got admission to a dental surgery course in Udaipur but could not pay the fee due to her adoptive parents' poor financial condition. So she turned to her biological parents for help, and they arranged for her to study medicine in the Philippines. For this, she required documents from her adoptive parents, who allegedly refused to give them to her as they disapproved of the help given by her biological parents. Her admission was cancelled and her birth parents had to bear the financial loss.

Margaret Tuite | (Chair), Child rights activist

After 33 years of EU public service, the last seven of which were focused 100% on rights of the child, I am happy to contribute on a voluntary basis. I'm interested in everything to do with children's rights and love to connect people who can work together. I see clear benefits in system-strengthening, high standards for NGOs working on children's rights, child safeguarding (that's the least we can do), and lots more effort for children in migration.

When I was younger, I thought everyone knew better than me. But that's not true. Had I figured that out sooner, I could have fought harder for some people. Can I make up for that in the time I have left? There's a fantastic global community of people working hard for children's rights, I hope we can expand that. And there is hope in children's activism for climate justice at a global level.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito [in the room].”

— Unknown

Introduction

The preparatory phase of CRIN dates back to 1991, before the Committee on the Rights of the Child ever convened its first session. At this time experts from child rights organisations – including UNICEF Geneva Regional Office, UNICEF New York, Defence for Children International (DCI), and Save the Children Sweden – were already asking what would happen with information generated through the reporting process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The group muddled over questions including: 'What would happen with the information?', and 'What would be the documentation handling process?' The group met on numerous occasions and visited the OHCHR Documentation Centre to see how the documentation system was organised (at that time Microfiche was used), and UNICEF Geneva's information resource section.

To its present day, the development of CRIN has seen a move from Geneva to London; and a move from an informal Facilitating Group (which consisted of a group of international NGOs with UNICEF) to a formally structured management team. It is now a viable information network that includes over 1,200 organisations.

Geneva years: CRIN is an informal secretariat based at DCI

Children need and have a right to be cared for by their parents and to grow up in a family environment. This has been recognized through years of experience and research as well as formally recognized under national and international laws, including the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Yet millions of children live in residential institutions; no one knows just how many. Around the world, over one million children have been orphaned or separated due to armed conflict, and 15 million children under the age of 15 years of age have lost one or both parents to AIDS. In many countries, institutions remain a major response to poverty or family breakdown. In many more, few or no mechanisms exist to ensure the most appropriate placements, encourage and support guardianship and adoption arrangements, and to provide support and monitoring for foster families. Much needs to be done to prevent unnecessary family separation by supporting families and communities and to develop better care alternatives when separation is inevitable.

Recognizing the urgent need for concerted action, the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) and the Africa Bureau for Sustainable Development of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Save the Children UK, came together to form the Better Care Network (BCN) in 2003. Initially, BCN functioned as a loose affiliation of organizations and individuals exchanging information through a newsletter. As the listserv grew, and more information was exchanged via the Network, it became clear that BCN served a vital role and a more formal, full-time structure was required.

In response, in 2005, the organizations mentioned above, together with Cooperative Relief and Assistance Everywhere (CARE USA), agreed to form and serve on the BCN Steering Committee and establish BCN Secretariat, housed at the UNICEF Headquarters office in New York.

In June 2006 BCN launched the Better Care Network website, in partnership with the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN).

Since 2014, BCN has been implementing key changes to its governance, management and administration to reflect its maturity as a network, in line with its strategic plan (2014-2017). Its fiscal and hosting arrangements have evolved to better enable BCN to operate as an independent network organization. In November 2014, BCN moved to its own office space located opposite the UN Headquarters in New York and in September 2015 it launched a brand new independent Website. Since July 2016 BCN is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Help us fulfill the last wish of Argentine grandmothers

The 'Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo' in Argentina have been looking for their children and grandchildren for years. Children who disappeared during the years of the dictatorship, were robbed and (usually illegally) appropriated in families, whether or not through adoption. Time is running out for these grandmothers. Their greatest wish is to hold these children and grandchildren in their arms.

Silly mothers

Background

During the last dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), many children were born in captivity. In most cases, the parents of these children have been killed or have disappeared. It is not clear where the children ended up. In many cases they have been adopted illegally. It is suspected that a number of these also ended up in the Netherlands. In collaboration with HIJOS Netherlands, Fiom tries to trace these children. Everyone has the right to know where he/she comes from.

Rishi Singh, winner of Indian Idol 13, said he accepted the life-changing news to continue living the same life with his adoptive parents.

On Sunday, Rishi Singh was crowned as the winner of the 13th edition of the reality show Indian Idol. The young singer hails from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Rishi, who is not formally trained, did not expect that he would go on to win the competition. Besides being named winner, the singer also learnt some life-changing news during the course of the show, when he found out that he was adopted. He spoke about accepting his truth and learning to live with it.

There were a few people who wondered about the news being shared on air with Rishi, and questioned if it was a ploy to gain votes in the competition. The singer revealed that he tried to shut out any kind of negativity and just focuses on what he had to sing each week. He also added that if he and his family, especially his parents, were aware of the truth, that's what was really important to him.

Rishi told the Indian Express, “Of course, it was big news for me and I was taken aback. I think what was most important was that I accepted the truth. That was the only way I could lead a harmonious life with my parents. Also, I think everyone has seen the bond that we share. They related to me and our story. And I think so many other families like us will get the courage to accept their truth through us.”

Kolkata's Debosmita Roy became the first runner-up, while Jammu and Kashmir's Chirag Kotwal was named the second runner-up. Besides the trophy, Rishi also received a brand new car and prize money worth ?25 lakh. The other finalists on the show were Bidipta Chakraborty, Shivam Singh and Sonakshi Kar.