Adoption in the country has, for a long time, remained an emotive issue.

It has often been steeped in suspicion and matters have not been helped by a moratorium on inter-country adoptions (adoption of a Kenyan child by foreigners who live outside the country) placed by the government.

The objective of the moratorium effected on November 26, 2014, was to enable the government to intervene and conduct a comprehensive audit of the policy and legal frameworks, processes, procedures and players involved in the practice of adoption.

However, concerns raised include lack of public participation before the moratorium was enforced. Several laws targeted at regulating adoption have also raised concerns with some parties claiming there are efforts to lock them out.

Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo argues that, though it is possible to abuse the rights of children when the laws are weak, and that there is need to have better regulations, the same should not be used to muzzle those who want to adopt.

They’re sick of hearing “You should be grateful.”

During the 90s and early aughts, you probably knew of a family who adopted a baby girl from China. At the time, the One Child Policy limited the number of children in Chinese families, and many Chinese kids were adopted by Western families as a result. (According to the State Department, American families adopted about 81,600 Chinese children from 1999 to 2018). The media narrative around this focused on adoptive families saving babies and young children from bad circumstances. 

Content creator Taylor Shennett was one of these babies — she was adopted from China at nine months old by American parents: “[My parents] chose to do international adoption because my aunt saw a video about the One Child Policy and the overflow of girls in China,” she tells Katie Couric Media.  

But adult adoptees like Shennett say that the narrative around adoption focuses too much on gestures toward an infant in need. She’s turned to an unexpected platform to speak out on how you probably use the wrong words when you describe the experience of adoption. And there’s also a chance you’re not really hearing adult adoptees when they discuss some of their less-than-pretty experiences.

By now, you’re familiar with the silly trends (like funny filters, songs, and dances) that TikTok has popularized. But adult international adoptees use TikTok for serious advocacy — and they’re reaching a real audience. The hashtag “adoptiontrauma” on TikTok currently has 92.8 million views while “adoptionstory” has a whopping 836.2 million views. 

Andrea's birthday is always fraught with despair.

Key points:

• Andrea found out she was adopted when she was five
• She's struggled with the trauma ever since
• She wants to make sure other adoptees are better supported

Even when she was a child, Andrea struggled to enjoy the day of her birth.

"Yes, of course I enjoyed the presents and got excited, but I could not take this blackness off me every time it came to my birthday," she said.

The Rajasthan High Court has directed "adoptive parents" of a child to hand over the custody of the nine-month-old to her biological mother, after finding that the child was illegally taken away by the woman's father and handed over to someone else. The child is over 9 months old and her mother is about 18 years and three months old. The custody of the minor child was handed over to...

Alma Feenstra will start as head of the Policy Implementation department at the Service, Partnerships and Implementation (DSU) department at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment with effect from 1 July 2023.

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Alma will lead the Policy Implementation department. This department implements a large number of European regulations. Examples include the European Social Fund +, the European Migration and Security Funds and the Just Transition Fund (JTF).

Ingrid Vanhecke, director of DSU: “I am very happy with Alma's appointment. Alma is an energetic and experienced manager who, with her style of situational leadership and working from trust, fits well with the team leaders and employees of the department. In addition, she brings in knowledge and insights from outside, about applicants and users of schemes, and she has a relevant network outside SZW. Alma also brings political and administrative insight, with which she will make a valuable contribution to the department, management and SZW.”

At issue in the case was whether a law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees within tribes is constitutional.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions, handing a victory to tribes that had argued that a blow to the law would upend the basic principles that have allowed them to govern themselves for years.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, affirmed the power of Congress to make laws about Native American tribes and child welfare. But the ruling did not resolve the question of whether the law, the Indian Child Welfare Act, discriminated against non-Native families based on race.

The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissenting.

The case pitted a white foster couple from Texas against five tribes and the Interior Department as they battled over the adoption of a Native American child.

Woo request about the position taken regarding the future of intercountry adoption

MANILA, Philippines — Implementing the law simplifying adoption will give a lot of families and children better chances in life, Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Daza, the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act (Republic Act No. 11642), which was signed in January 2022, fixes old problems in adopting children.

“Through RA 11642, we are correcting age-old problems in adoption — which typically took years to resolve.  The previous law, RA 8552 (Domestic Adoption Act of 1998), required a set of procedures — while founded on good intents — that often lead to emotional and financial strains on parties involved, not to mention clogging of cases in courts,” Daza said.

“Not only are we building better chances for families and children, we are also ensuring clear procedures for helping abused or neglected children. Children in these difficult circumstances need the society’s concerted efforts,” he added.

Daza issued the statement after the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched the Omnibus Guidelines on R.A. No. 11642 in a program earlier.

Adoption is trauma.

Trauma for birth mothers.

Trauma for the adoptive child.

Not acknowledging this truth would be irresponsible.

But can we not also acknowledge that for generations, people have suffered through terrible trauma—and thrived.

On January, HC directed the state govt not to transfer pending adoption proceedings to DMs, as mandated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said that its order—directing the state government not to transfer pending adoption proceedings to district magistrates, as mandated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021—was not meant to put a stop on foreign adoptions and that it would soon pass an order clarifying the same on June 16.