DES MOINES, Iowa — Giving a newborn child up for adoption can be the most difficult decision a mother or family can make. However, the secrecy that surrounded some adoptions decades ago created a generation of children with no idea who their birth parents were.

This period of time, which lasted from about 1943 to 1970, is known as the “Baby Scoop Era.” Author and filmmaker Ann Fessler has spent decades researching the lives shattered by adoption practices of the past.

“They would tell a women her baby died because then she would be able to forget about it and let it go,” Fessler recounted. “They sensed the birth mother was going to have a lot of trouble, so if they say the baby didn’t live, they wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.”

That scenario unfolded for Tom Taylor and his fiancé Barb in 1969.

They decided to give their baby up for adoption weeks before her birth because they worried how people would react to their pregnancy.

Gabriel “Tokkie” du Preez, the adopted son of Die Antwoord’s Yolandi Visser (aka Anri du Toit) and Ninja (aka Watkin Jones), has accused the couple of physical and sexual abuse and exploitation. The allegations surfaced through a 44-minute interview with the South African group’s former filmmaker Ben Jay Crossman and a subsequent sitdown with News24.

du Preez and his younger sister were adopted by Die Antwoord in 2010 — when he was just nine years old — under foster parenting agreements with their biological mother. They would go on to appear in music videos like “I Fink U Freeky” and “Ugly Boy” while being raised with du Toit and Jones’ biological daughter and a boy from another poor family in Johannesburg.

“They adopted me to be a slave,” he recalled about the experience. “They made me feel like I wasn’t really being loved.” Now 20, he is back in his childhood home, while his 14-year-old sister no longer lives with du Toit and Jones as well.

He told News24 that the abuse and exploitation began when he was allegedly forced to record videos degrading his biological family for being poor. According to du Preez, who suffers from a rare skin disease called hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, they made him feel like he was the devil.

“They made me swear more and made me believe that I could burn people in hell and that I am the king of hell,” he said. “They told me that I could bring darkness upon the world.”

For years, adoption agencies preyed upon impoverished Cambodian mothers, taking their children in shady circumstances and sending them to families abroad.

Elizabeth Jacobs remembers some of the earliest red flags she noticed when she was trying to learn more about her adoption from Cambodia as a baby in 2000.

While the 22-year-old’s birth certificate stated Jan. 1 as her birth date, records kept by the orphanage indicated Feb. 2. Her surname, too, was listed in her adoption document as “Rath,” Khmer for state or government, and known to be commonly used in falsified birth documents. Then there was the fact that Jacobs had no information about her biological family.

But the brightest red flag of them all came when Jacobs found out who facilitated her adoption: an American named Lauryn Galindo. Galindo was convicted of fraud in 2004 after handling the adoptions of about 800 Cambodian children, some of whom were deemed to have been disguised as orphans, but were in fact sold by impoverished mothers for as little as the price of a bag of rice.

The more she dug into her adoption, the more unsettled Jacobs felt, grappling with the reality that she might not have been “rescued” as an orphan from Cambodia at all.

Legal action to be taken against adoptive parents

Kozhikode

The Child Welfare Committee of Kozhikode sent the 4-year-old-boy, who was illegally adopted by a couple in Chakkumkadavu, Kozhikode, with his biological parents. CWC Chairman P.M. Thomas said that the child left with his parents for Wayanad on Wednesday.

The child was found by the police at his adoptive home at Chakkumkadavu a month ago after one of the actual children of the adoptive parents reported it at his school following which the Child Welfare Committee intervened. The CWC wanted to give the child back to his biological parents if they were willing to accept him, or else start legal adoption proceedings for him.

The police, upon investigation, identified an unwed couple from Wayanad as the child's biological parents. The mother, due to her unwed status, wanted to give up the child after he was born in a private hospital in Kozhikode in 2018. She was planning to leave him in the 'Amma Thottil', but was unwilling to travel to Thrissur for the purpose. She handed over the child to the couple in Chakkumkadavu through a caregiver at the hospital as mediator.

Jobs in Central Adoption Resource Authority: Apply now, check eligibility

criteria

ANI | Updated: Apr 27, 2022 19:42 IST

New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI): The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), a statutory body of the

Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, has invited applications to fill several posts on

Biotechnology is one of the fields of science in which China wants to become a leader. Last year, China declared human DNA a natural resource that the state can dispose of. This has far-reaching consequences for pharmaceutical companies that are active in the country. Is the combination of a totalitarian regime, applied scientific research and rising nationalism a danger?

China has regarded human DNA as a 'natural resource' for two years now.

In principle, the state reserves the right to dispose of all materials that are stored in databases and labs.

Companies with more than half of foreign stakeholders must request permission to work with Chinese DNA.

“Iunderstand my work will be controversial, but I believe families need this technology. And I'm prepared to be criticized for this.' With those words, Chinese scientist He Jianku delightedly announced the birth of Nana and Lulu in a 2018 video. As if he were the father himself. In a way it was. The girls were the first children in the world to have their genes edited. As a result, the twins were no longer susceptible to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Jyotika and her two younger brothers lost their parents to AIDS at a very young age. Left with no one else to turn to, they turned to each other instead. Through some of the most challenging phases in their lives, they had each other’s backs and pushed through life together, with Jyotika taking most of the responsibility. All that changed when Jyotika turned 15. Just when they were beginning to reshape their lives, there was bad news again. Jyotika was diagnosed with HIV. As soon as she heard the news, fear crippled her. Not fear for her life, but for what her brothers would do without her. As the days passed and with no one else to care for her, she had no choice but to admit herself into a shelter home for HIV-infected children. She was heartbroken. Her brothers were her only family, her whole world. But she had to leave. Five years later, at the home, Jyotika is now well taken care of. She has finished her school education and is currently taking tailoring lessons. However, she still yearns for her brothers. “What must they be doing? I hope they’re studying well and not messing around,” she says. She tries to visit them once a year, but sometimes, even that cannot happen because they live far away and she doesn’t always have the money to travel. One of her brothers is living in a shelter home, while the other has been adopted by a family. Worried about her brother Arun, she says, “The last time I saw him, he had been smoking and drinking irresponsibly. I’m worried for him. Had I been with him I would have been able to advise him, and help him stay on the right track. Now I don’t know who his friends are and what sort of influence they’re having on him. I know he’s burdened about something, but he doesn’t share anything with anyone. It’s been so many years now that our bond is bruised. I wish I could spend time with him and he could open up to me.” Of her brother Abhishek she says, “He’s still so young. He calls me up every time and pleads with me to come to stay with him. My heart aches whenever I hear him say that. Every day I dream that one day, the three of us would be together again. We have spoken about it. But we need to study hard and work hard so that we can have our own house and live together just like when we were children.” There are many others like Jyotika. For instance, 18-year-old Padmaja who grew up in a big family of five children. They all live separately now. Although the older ones have gotten married or gone their own way, Padmaja is still in touch with her younger sister. They haven’t met in three years. Padmaja had saved up money to meet her two years ago, but the pandemic hit and there were travel restrictions. She says, “I haven’t been doing well in my studies. I know I have to and that’s my only way out. But every time I open my book, all these thoughts cross my mind and I lose my concentration. I’m just longing to see my sister and I feel very very lonely.” There are an estimated 30 million orphans in India today. There is no government data on how many of them are sibling groups. Of these orphans, around 4,000 children are adopted each year. The Child Adoption Resource Authority records that as of 2018 there were 183 sets of siblings among them. State policies have tried to keep these siblings together. According to the amended Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 which governs adoptions, “all efforts must be made to keep siblings in institutional or non-institutional care together, unless it is in the best interest of the child.” While civil society and public authorities are doing their best to make this happen, it isn’t always easy. Many factors continue to cause siblings to be separated. For instance, the lack of space and resources in shelter homes leaves them unable to accommodate more children. When it comes to adoption, most parents want to adopt only one child. Another reason for the separation is that male and female children cannot stay together in homes. So a lot of the boy-girl siblings are separated because of this. Special needs children are also often separated from their siblings, as adoptive parents only want to adopt the “healthy” child. Also, they usually want to adopt newborn babies and toddlers, so older siblings are left behind. When it comes to foster care, however, there are options like group foster care. For instance, all SOS villages across the country follow this system where siblings usually are allowed to grow up together in the same house, under their SOS parents. This is decided by the local Child Welfare Committee. But if it’s an older boy, he will be sent to a boy’s home. There are also some NGOs that have the boys home and girls home next to each other so that boy-girl siblings can still live close by. According to various studies, the death of parents or abuse and neglect from parents often leads to a deeper bond between siblings. In a lot of cases, the older children take up the responsibility of parenting the younger one and the younger ones solely depend on the older child. When that bond is broken, it can lead to severe emotional distress. And although siblings who are separated are allowed to meet each other, it is not always feasible. According to psychologist and counsellor Jemima Wesley, “it depends on the situation from which they are adopted or taken into alternative care. It depends on the attachment and bonding a child already has with his or her sibling. In many cases, although they are siblings, there is no strong bond. In such cases it won’t really impact the child. Again in the case of newborn babies or toddlers, it won’t really have a lasting impact.” Over the years the Child Adoption Resource Authority had been making all efforts to find prospective parents willing to adopt all siblings. But in 2018, union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi announced that children older than 5 could be separated from their siblings, provided they gave their consent. The government said it decided to do this because it could not find enough adoptive parents willing or able to adopt all siblings together, and hence it would be better for them to live separately with better facilities and care. According to a recent analysis the share of public spending on children’s welfare (‘education, nutrition, health, protection and other developments’) has been slashed by nearly half since 2014, from 4.5 to 2.5% of union budget estimates.

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Following Russia’s invasion, the widespread internal displacement of families in Ukraine has led to a precarious situation for vulnerable children, with reports of forced deportations and illegal adoptions to Russia raising particular concerns.

More than five million women and children have fled Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict on 24 February.

According to reports by Ukrainian officials, Russia has forced over 150,000 children to leave Eastern Ukraine and enter Russia’s adoption system – although, it should be noted that these figures are based on limited information on the whereabouts of the children.

“In violation of international humanitarian law and basic standards of humanness, Russia is engaged in state-organised kidnapping of children,” said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Russian media reported that Ukrainian children from the Donbas region are being integrated into their adoption system. Russian ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova stressed the importance of placing these orphans, who may or may not have living relatives, in Russian families.

Eight years ago, Oldenburg bus driver Jasbir Singh Dhot and his wife adopted a baby in India. To this day, the authorities do not recognize this adoption and the family has to live apart.

A fully furnished children's room has been waiting for eight-year-old Anoopjot in Wahnbek for eight years. For eight years, Jasbir Singh Dhot has only seen his wife twice a year. And for eight years, the 59-year-old has not given up hope that his family can still live together.

He himself came to Germany 31 years ago. Many people in Oldenburg know him – Jasbir Singh Dhot has been a driver in the VWG city bus fleet for over ten years. His wife Charanjit has lived with him since 2003. "We always wanted children, but it didn't work out," he says. The couple was all the happier in 2014 when the chance arose to have a baby. “My nephew and his wife were unable to provide for another child and wanted to put him up for adoption. We wanted to accept it.” They adopted Anoopjot as soon as he was born, and since then the boy has been living with Dhot's wife and family in north-west India, 80 kilometers from the Pakistani border.

All requests denied

Contrary to what was planned, the couple has not yet been able to bring their son to Germany. In 2015, the youth welfare office had already inspected the apartment and the surrounding area in Wahnbek and classified it as suitable and forwarded the so-called home study report to the authorities in India and Germany. The Joint Central Adoption Office (GZA) in Hamburg nevertheless refused to recognize the adoption in 2017. Another application was rejected at the end of last year. The family court in Oldenburg and the higher regional court also rejected the recognition of the adoption. A court in India has already confirmed the adoption twice, in 2015 and again in 2017. However, the procedure there is not internationally recognized.

My name is Radhika, and I was adopted from India when I was 17 months old. My birth mother gave me up when I was 10 months old, and I was in an orphanage for 7 months before being adopted. For the majority of my life, I have shoved anything related to my adoption down so far that I couldn’t feel the pain. But it’s all coming up and has overwhelmed me to the point that I feel lost. I am now a 25-year-old living in South Dakota going through so many emotions revolving around being adopted: grief, loss, anger and sorrow.

Growing up I didn’t deal with the trauma of losing my birth parents because, well, I was adopted and had a family. But I hated the fact that I was different from my adoptive family. Except for my brother who was also was adopted from India, they were all white. But my brother wasn’t biologically related so I felt like an outsider. To be honest I still feel like that to this day.

I hated my skin color, oh how I hated being brown! I hated it so much that I would wear long-sleeve shirts and pants to just hide my skin. I did this up until my high school years. I also hated my name, I hated the fact I was from India. I would act like I wasn’t from another country. I literally hated EVERYTHING about myself. All I wanted was to fit in with my family and the town I lived in. But that was damaging, and I am still recovering from the pain I put myself through. I am saddened looking at it now, as an adult. That little girl definitely did not deserve that.

I was 12 when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. Along with being adopted with trauma, it felt like too much. Though I had a family, I felt alone. All of this impacted my life into being either good or bad. There were no in-betweens. After being diagnosed with my mental illness, I began hating my birth mom even more than I already did. Back when I was 12, all I saw was how she had given me up. I felt like I hadn’t been good enough for her and she hadn’t loved me. And the realization that she may have given me a mental illness made me even angrier and more resentful toward her.

I began therapy sessions soon after and this resentment became a large part of it. Though it seemed pointless to talk about, I began to understand how traumatic it was for me. A child that needed unconditional love had been given up. Though my memories before being adopted are shaky, the emotions that the trauma left behind remained.