Despite Chandigarh administration’s January notification to make child adoption easier, only 11 children adopted in 10 months

It’s been almost a year since the UT administration notified the Chandigarh Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Amendment Rules, 2023, to accelerate the adoption process. Yet, the list of people hoping to adopt a child remains long.

Recently, the Supreme Court had raised serious concerns over the “grave” delay in the process of adoption of children and asked the Centre why no steps were being taken to simplify the process. (HT File)

Through the January notification, the district magistrate was given the authority to issue adoption orders that were previously under the ambit of district courts, thereby speeding up the process in such cases, be it intra-country, inter-country, relative or step parent adoption.

But as of October end, only 11 of the 51 adoption hopefuls have been able to bring a child home. Meanwhile, the wait for remaining 40 applicants, which has already drawn out for over two years, continues to grow longer.

In continuation of the work linked to the publication on December 11, 2020 of the report “Illegal adoptions of children from Sri Lanka: historical study, search for origins, perspectives”, the Conference of Directors of the Cantonal Departments of Justice and Police (CCDJP ) set up a Working Group on “Tracing of Origins for Adopted Persons”, whose report was published today .

In Switzerland, the search for origins falls under the jurisdiction of the cantons (art. 268c and d of the civil code), and this subject today raises numerous legal, structural and practical questions. The aforementioned legal provisions are in fact quite poorly adapted to the international context of a search for origins, cantonal resources suffer from the gap between a necessary specialization of those involved and a limited number of requests, and the questions linked to the discovery of irregularities which affected an international adoption procedure remain to date without a complete and coherent response. The financial support granted by the CCDJP and the Confederation to the Back to the Roots association for the implementation of a pilot project to support origin research (2022-2024) constitutes an important step, but it addressed only to adoptees from Sri Lanka.

The work was structured into 5 subgroups: psychosocial support, help for victims, search for files and people in Switzerland, international search and illegal adoptions. They made it possible to explore these different themes, in particular by highlighting the gaps in the current context. Their pooling led to the adoption of the following recommendations:

1. Examine and adapt the skills and tasks in the field of information (art. 268d al. 1 CC) and advice (art. 268d al. 4 CC) according to art. 268d CC, as well as the tasks of research services. The people and organizations concerned as well as the cantons must be involved in this work.

2. Review and improve coordination of adoption issues at the political and technical level.

A TikTok user named Kalkidan is opening up about the dark side of international adoption in Ethiopia.

On July 27, Kalkidan, a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, took to TikTok to share her harrowing illegal adoption story. The young beauty claimed that she was “trafficked to the United States in 2008” and that her abductors “falsified” her adoption paperwork.

“On paper, I was six, but in real life, I was 7,” Kalkidan told her followers in a viral video that has garnered over 650,000 views.

@kalkidantems

I dont think enough ppl realize how many kids were kidnapped and brought to the US under false pretenses that they were “orphans” or had no family like myself…#ethiopian_tik_tok #habeshatiktok #adoption #ethiopian_tik_tok🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹 #fyp #fypシ #viralvideo

♬ original sound - Kalkidan

Regulator says access to DNA testing and genetic matching already allows identification without formally applying for details at age 18

People who donate sperm, eggs and embryos to help others have children will lose the right to anonymity from the moment the child is born, under proposed changes to UK fertility law.

Existing rules around IVF treatment state that children conceived from donor tissues can apply for details that identify their biological parents only once they reach the age of 18.

But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said a combination of easily accessible DNA testing, genetic matching services, and information sharing on social media had allowed people to sidestep formal routes and trace donors independently.

A Pākehā mother in a same-sex relationship sought the help of a Māori sperm donor so she could have what she described as a “half-caste” baby.

But the friendship between the mother and donor broke down, and now a court has appointed the man as a guardian and granted him three-weekly contact to ensure the child’s cultural needs are met.

The 5-year-old girl’s mother, now single, opposed guardianship, saying the man had little involvement in the child’s life and his intermittent visits were “confusing” to the young girl.

According to the decision published by the Family Court this month, the child, identified by the pseudonym Elle to protect her real identity, was born in 2018.

The other parties aren’t identified, although the man is described by the judge as having a “nationally important role in New Zealand’s cultural heritage”.

Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750

Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.

The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).

After selling a birth certificate, the hospital would follow the “normal” registration process for new babies, including issuing vaccination booklets and assisting with household registration requirements, Shangguan claimed.

Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750

Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.

The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).

Decision memorandum accompanying letter to Parliament about Woo decision on reports of discussions about the future of intercountry adoption

Woo request about meeting reports on the future of intercountry adoption

ore than 15 000 adoptions have taken place in South Africa in the past decade.

November is World Adoption month. The National Adoption Coalition of SA said that according to the UN, an estimated 260 000 adoptions take place worldwide each year.

The coalition said that based on statistics from the Department of Social Development, 15 068 adoptions were registered in South Africa from April 2010 to March 2020.

Many South African children grow up in families that face poverty, exposure to domestic violence, neglect, abuse, exploitation, lack of parental care, abandonment, unplanned crisis pregnancies, substance abuse and mental health issues.

Katinka Pieterse, chairperson of the coalition and CEO of Abba Specialist Adoptions and Social Services, said these children “should be entitled to responsive services to protect them and to return them or place them in a nurturing family environment”.