The Swiss-based NGO Terre des hommes is losing $10 million in annual contributions as a result of the suspension of humanitarian aid by the United States administration.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has “serious” and “immediate” consequences, said Terre des hommes Lausanne, which is Switzerland’s largest children’s aid organisation.

The NGO explains that projects in nine countries have been affected, with around 1.5 million beneficiaries losing “vital support”.

In detail, projects in Bangladesh, Kenya, Lebanon, Egypt, Afghanistan, India and Burkina Faso are directly affected. Due to the cessation of contributions to UN partner organisations, activities in Romania and Nigeria are also affected.

The end of US aid also means that the contracts of 440 employees, including over 200 in Bangladesh and more than 100 in Egypt, have had to be suspended or terminated.

By Heather Massey

On January 6, 2025, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) announced the re-introduction of his Adoption Information Act. According to a press release, this act “…would require family planning services to provide information on nearby adoption centers to anyone receiving their services. A family planning services’s eligibility to receive federal grants or contracts through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be contingent upon providing this information.”

An adoptee, Congressman Wittman also shared his perspective about adoption:

“A lot of people say they would not be where they are today without their parents—for me, that is the absolute truth….When I was eight months old, my mom and dad adopted me. My birth mother’s decision to choose adoption gave me more opportunities than she felt she could provide, and my parents’ decision to adopt instilled in me a passion for public service and a desire to give back. That’s why I’m proud to reintroduce my Adoption Information Act so that all mothers know what options are available to them. This legislation is a simple step that can make a world of a difference.”

In addition to being a constituent of Congressman Wittman, I’m also an adoptee who believes the Adoption Information Act would cause more harm than good.

Dear Press Service,

Please forward this to the person who deals with FOIA requests.

I would like to request the following to be made public under FOIA:

Letter from Condoleezza Rice dated 17 January 2006, addressed to
European Commissioner Olli Rehn, copied to European Commission
President Jose-Manuel Barroso.
The letter was transmitted by fax on 20 January 2006 by your Embassy.

Thank you in advance,

Mrs. Roelie Post

Foreign applicants who desire to adopt Sri Lankan children are required to forward their joint applications to the Commissioner of Probation and Child Care Services

Every application for adoption of a child must be in conformity with the provisions of the Adoption of Children Ordinance (Chapter 6)

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The Minister of Women and Child Affairs has issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification limiting the number of adoption orders that may be made by all courts in Sri Lanka for foreign applicants during the calendar year 2025 to 100.  

The subject Minister, Saroja Savithri Paulraj, issued a Gazette notification under Paragraph (b)(i) of Subsection (5A) of Section 3 of the Adoption of Children Ordinance.  

ROSE HILL, Kan. (KAKE) – The adoptive parents of a 6-year-old girl found buried in a Rose Hill backyard last summer have been arrested for murder, child abuse and torture.

On September 11, 2024, law enforcement dug up the back yard of a home in a residential neighborhood. There, they found the remains of a small child.

Rose Hill police Chief Taylor Parlier said that his detectives discovered the remains after a person in distress call at the home.

"While dealing with that individual and the circumstances surrounding that person's crisis, information was gathered up, which indicated that there might be human remains in the backyard of this residence," Parlier said. "The search warrant was secured on the morning of the 11th, and we started digging in the afternoon, and located the body."

The child was identified as Kennedy Jean Schroer, also called Natalie. She was born in July 2014 and is believed to have died in late 2020.

The Supreme Court has directed the Chennai collector and the district child protection officer to entertain and process a plea filed by a single adoptive mother, who is an overseas citizen Of India (OCI) and seeking ‘verification’ of adoption of…

The Supreme Court has directed the Chennai collector and the district child protection officer to entertain and process a plea filed by a single adoptive mother, who is an overseas citizen Of India (OCI) and seeking ‘verification’ of adoption of her twin adoptive children, born to her brother by surrogacy.

The Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Blantyre has set aside 12th March 2025 as a day it will start full trial of a case involving a Dutch national Wim Akster who is answering multiple charges of indecency. Akster who is a former Financial Director at Timotheos Foundation is accused of sexually abusing beneficiaries of a bursary scheme by the organization including former employees. Child Rights Activist, Memory Chisenga has since called for …

In Switzerland, 14 cantons want to work more closely together to help adopted individuals find their biological parents. In the past, not everything was always done by the book.

Why were there so many international adoptions in the past?

In recent years, as economic and social conditions in Switzerland improved – especially for unmarried mothers – there were fewer children available to adopt within the small Alpine state. This led to some people looking to adopt from abroad. From the 1960s onwards, there was a wave of adoptions from Asian countries, and later from South America and Africa. From 1989, there was an increase in adoptions from Eastern Europe.

Fertility issues were not always the main reason for adopting. Some Swiss couples felt as though it was a “humanitarian act”. They wanted to rescue children from poverty due to their social or religious beliefs and offer them a better life with educational opportunities.

Developments in certain countries were also partly responsible. For example, the South Korean government reduced funding for social welfare systems for unmarried mothers and poor families and instead promoted large-scale international adoptions until the 1980s. In Sri Lanka, an adoption industry developed: lawyers, social workers, midwives, chauffeurs and hotels all profited from international adoptions.

In Switzerland, 14 cantons want to work more closely together to help adopted individuals find their biological parents. In the past, not everything was always done by the book.

Why were there so many international adoptions in the past?

For most adoptees, being adopted is just one piece of a multifaceted identity—and like other identity markers such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or personality, it’s often necessary to navigate feelings of uncertainty, pride vs. shame, and questions about who one is and where they’re meant to be in the world. Adoption has unique influences on identity formation as a child grows up and may require that children confront loss and feelings of rejection; it may also present distinct challenges in adulthood, particularly when it comes time to discuss family history that might be unknown. Though being adopted has its challenges as children grow into adults, many adult adoptees report feeling stronger for having navigated them—and may even end up feeling more connected to their adoptive families, their birth families, their cultures, and their inner selves as a result.

On This Page

• Growing Up Adopted
• Life as an Adult Adoptee

Growing Up Adopted

Nowadays, in the U.S. and other countries where formal adoption is common, most adoptive families start discussing adoption with their child from the moment they arrive home—thus, the “big reveal” in which a child suddenly finds out they’re adopted is less common than it once was (though not unheard of). Growing up knowing that one is adopted generally has beneficial effects on children’s mental health and sense of self. However, it also raises questions that the child will need to grapple with as they grow: What does it mean to be adopted? Does being placed for adoption mean that they were unwanted? Is it possible to truly fit in in one’s adopted world?