If survivors of forced adoption fighting for a parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia get their way, they believe it will be partly thanks to an Albany woman's traumatic story.

Danae only found out last year, at the age of 50, that she was adopted when, she said, a relative dropped the bombshell by text.

"I cried for I don't know how long … days and weeks," she said.

"It was like this big hole in the ground opened up and swallowed me in.

"It was overwhelming."

The Supreme Court has issued a clarification with respect to the order

passed by it in a petition filed by an unmarried woman seeking termination of

pregnancy. After the AIIMS reported that there was high probability of the

baby coming out alive if the 29-week pregnancy was attempted to be

terminated, the Court had persuaded the woman to opt for delivery. The

Western Australia will follow Victoria in holding an inquiry into forced adoption, following two years of campaigning by people who were adopted out as children and mothers who were forced to give up their babies.

A parliamentary committee this afternoon confirmed an inquiry would be held after both sides of politics indicated support for it in recent days.

Premier Mark McGowan on Tuesday revealed a personal connection to the issue upon backing calls for an inquiry.

Survivors in Western Australia say little has been done to support them or restore their basic human rights since WA became the first state in the country to apologise for forced adoption in 2010.

Inquiry to probe adoption practices over four decades

When I found out I had a different name to the one I grew up with, my life story began to change.

As an adopted person I had only ever seen my amended birth certificate which was written 'as if I was born to' my adoptive parents.

But when I was 18 years old the laws around closed adoptions changed and allowed me to apply for my original birth certificate.

So I did.

It was like reading a front page news story about myself that I had no idea about.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A firefighter experiences a happy ending when he met his biological mother for the first time in Chile.

Eyewitness News first told you about Odessa firefighter David Avary several months ago when he found out he was one of thousands of children stolen as babies and adopted out illegally under the Augusto Pinochet regime in Chile.

It was a trafficking of children that experts say was the Chilean government's way to reduce poverty and control the population.

A Houston organization called Connecting Roots, founded by a Houston firefighter who was also stolen at birth, was able to track down Avary's biological family.

He met his family for the first time this past weekend. A hug and reunion that were once just a dream became a reality nearly four decades later.

A child should not be lost in its search for paternity, said the court, directing family courts adjudicating between warring parents to order DNA tests only as a last resort

The Supreme Court has held in a judgment that children cannot be mechanically subjected to DNA tests in each and every case between warring parents as a short-cut to establish proof of infidelity.

“Genetic information is personal and intimate,” a Bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and B.V. Nagarathna observed in a judgment. “It sheds light on a person’s very essence... The information goes to the very heart of who she or he is,” the judgment added, emphasising that “a child’s genetic information is part of his fundamental right to privacy.”

“Children have the right not to have their legitimacy questioned frivolously before a court of law. This is an essential attribute of the right to privacy. Courts are therefore required to acknowledge that children are not to be regarded like material objects, and be subjected to forensic/DNA testing, particularly when they are not parties to the divorce proceeding. It is imperative that children do not become the focal point of the battle between spouses,” Justice Nagarathna, who authored the judgment, underscored.

‘Psychological trauma’

As of 1 May 2023, Lonneke Kapoen will become Director of Advice, Direction and Central Authority at the Directorate-General for Punishment and Protection of the Ministry of Justice and Security.

The Directorate for Advice, Direction and Central Authority (ARC) provides expertise to the Directorate-General for Punishment and Protection (DGSenB) by advising, facilitating and testing (solicited and unsolicited) on policy issues in the areas of finance, business operations and legal affairs , information provision and subsidies. In addition, the management supports the DGSenB in the implementation of work processes, but above all in cooperation with all organizations, such as DJI, Child Protection Board, probation organizations, CJIB, OM, ZM, Police. In addition, the director is responsible for the Central Authority for International Children's Affairs (CA) and has an important liaison function in international child abduction, child protection and adoption.

Eric Bezem: “I am very pleased that Lonneke will join the DG with her energy, broad experience and clout. Lonneke is collaborative and with her open and curious attitude she will be appreciated both within and outside the DG.”

Lonneke Kapoen: “Let policy work, that is my motto. No impact without good policy. How wonderful to be able to bridge the gap between policy and implementation within the chain of punishment and protection in this position. I look forward to contributing to a safe and just society. In this position I can create the conditions and fulfill the connecting role for a good translation of politics and policy into implementation and vice versa. I look forward to working with colleagues in the department as well as with all partners outside it."

Lonneke Kapoen has been working at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate since 2017. Currently as department manager Implementation Policy where she is responsible for easily implementable policy for enterprising Netherlands. Previously, she worked at the Ministry of Justice in Security in various (management) positions in implementation, staff and policy and at the European Union. Her areas of work have always been at the intersection of policy and implementation and the proper translation of these to society. Lonneke brings a lot of (implementation) knowledge in the areas of finance, legal frameworks, data-driven working, subsidy schemes and process design. She has also earned her spurs several times within the international playing field.

THANE: A newborn found abandoned in a drain in Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra’s Thane district in 2018 has been adopted by an Italian couple, said a functionary of a local organisation that rescued him and registered a police complaint at the time.

The child, with severe injuries to his head and illness due to consumption of contaminated water, was found in a drain in Vadol village on December 30 that year by Shivaji Ragade and his wife Jayshree.

They filed a complaint with police to find out who had thrown the child in the drain, though that search is yet to yield results.

An appeal for money for his treatment at Wadia Hospital in Mumbai post the trauma yielded Rs 10.42 lakh in 24 hours, Shivaji Ragade said.

“We wanted to adopt the child but could not do so due to some legal issues, so he was given in the care of Vishwa Balak Ashram. He was named Tiger due to the resolve with which the child survived despite being thrown into a drain,” Ragade said.

Kochi: Ernakulam Child Welfare Committee has decided to cancel the procedures to declare the baby, who was illegally adopted by a couple from Tripunithura, as free for adoption. The committee has made the decision after the biological parents of the six-months-old baby turned up before CWC and requested to keep the baby with the committee for some time, expressing their helplessness to take the baby home now.

"We haven't asked about their inability to take the baby home now. Since they have expressed the willingness to take back the baby but requested more time, we have cancelled the procedure for legally declaring the baby as ready for adoption," said a CWC official.

The baby is currently under care in a childcare home functioning with the government's approval. The illegal adoption of the baby, born at Kalamassery medical college, came to light after a municipality staff filed a complaint against a staff in the hospital for allegedly making a fake birth certificate.

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The newborn was rescued from the drain by a couple—Shivaji and Jayashree Ragade—on December 30, 2018. Till the time of his adoption, the Ragade couple looked after all his requirements

Ambernath: Tiger, now four-year-old, who was abandoned in a drain in Ambernath hours after his birth, on Friday got a new home and set of parents after he was adopted by an Italian couple.

The couple visited Vishwa Balak Kendra in Nerul and flew back with Tiger.

The newborn was rescued from the drain by a couple—Shivaji and Jayashree Ragade—on December 30, 2018. Till the time of his adoption, the Ragade couple looked after all his requirements.

“After an eight-month-long process Tiger finally got his parents. It is not that we did not try to adopt him, but one cannot adopt a child by choice. Hence, we had to wait for another family to adopt him and look after his future,” Ragade said.