Justice minister Franc Weerwind wants to make foreign adoption possible again in order to "not exclude" prospective parents. Children's and human rights organizations are outraged. They believe that the minister does not put the interests of children first.

"There will always be people with an unfulfilled wish to have children. For example, people who have a same-sex partner. We want to offer that group a choice by still allowing adoption from abroad," a spokesperson for Minister Weerwind told NU.nl. . "If we completely stop foreign adoption, we will exclude these prospective parents. For the time being, we therefore see no reason to stop adopting from abroad."

The minister says that foreign adoption is only possible if a child cannot receive suitable care in its own country and there is no other option. The government will monitor this more closely. In addition, the Ministry of Justice and Security (JenV) expects that foreign adoption will automatically decrease. For example, 145 children from abroad were adopted in 2019. In 2015, this was still 304 children.

Intended parents can now adopt children from six countries: Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, South Africa, Lesotho and Hungary. Adopting a child from China, the United States, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Colombia, Peru, Slovakia and the Czech Republic is no longer possible. In these countries it is more difficult to supervise adoption practices strictly, or the minister is of the opinion that suitable reception can better be arranged in the own country. The ministry is also investigating whether it will also remain possible to adopt children from Portugal and Bulgaria.

Mistakes cannot be avoided

A local adoption agency that specialises in bringing children from India to Malta opted to cancel its party at L-Arka Ta’ Noe in Si??iewi after a public status by the establishment’s owner was interpreted as “xenophobic”.

Anton Rea Cutajar, the park’s owner, posted a status to his Facebook page, saying he “wishes that cowboys would come to Malta so that we stop seeing Indians around”.

“Workers at the grocers are Indians, workers at supermarkets are Indians, cab drivers are Indians, everywhere you look, it’s Indians,” he wrote in the now-deleted status.

A parent of an adoptive child informed Lovin Malta that the venue for the party was changed after the organisers saw his Facebook post and found it offensive and in bad taste.

“We had a Christmas party planned for our adoptive children from India booked there! Obviously, it was canceled after seeing this post,” the parents told Lovin Malta.

Eline and Sander decide, when their son is three years old, to start the adoption process for a second one. After six years, the redeeming phone call comes: an adoption proposal is ready for three Hungarian sisters. “I preferred to hug them completely flat, but we held back. It was of course very exciting for them.”

Ten years ago, Eline and her husband Sander were very happy with the birth of their biological son Noah. When he was 1 year old, they tried to have a second child. Unfortunately, they had three miscarriages. “The doctors saw it as bad luck. They expected me to carry another pregnancy to term, but we still decided to stop getting pregnant.”

Eline always dreamed of a big family and one day when she put Noah to bed, she thought that countless children all over the world went to bed without a mom or dad who gives them a goodnight kiss and says 'I love you'. “That touched me. Every child deserves a loving, safe home.” In the end it is a documentary about adoption that is decisive. "We really see it as our mission to give these children a safe, loving home and, as far as we can, take the pain out of their hearts."

When Noah was 3 years old they started the adoption process. The family soon found out that there is a serious shortage of parents who want to adopt several brothers or sisters at the same time, so that children are often separated from each other. “We found that heartbreaking. Adopted children already lose so much.” Thanks to Eline's work experience and their experience with foster care, the family received special permission from the Child Protection Board to adopt several children at the same time.

Tough years

Volunteering in a library, surrounded by books and curating an author’s series provides me with a steady stream of information, education and inspiration. I get the opportunity to choose the authors, read their books and interview them. At least that's how it usually works.

It was different with Catana Tully. We met for lunch before I read her book "Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity." She had told me over the phone that she would bring me a copy. I immediately recognized this striking older Black woman from her website, and the moment I saw her enter the restaurant, I became fascinated with her beauty and easy-going sophistication.

From my research, I knew Tully grew up as an adopted child in a German, Spanish and English household in Guatemala. Her well-to-do adopted family gave her every advantage, even sending her to a fancy private boarding school in Jamaica that was affiliated with Cambridge University in England.

With her life of privilege and education, and her knowledge of many languages, Tully aspired to be an international interpreter. While studying in Germany, she fell in love with acting and became an actress, fashion model and appeared in films in Germany, Austria and Italy. While in Munich she met and married American actor Frederick Tully and moved to the United States. Soon after, the couple had a son, Patrick, a mixed-race child.

Tully decided to complete her degrees, including a Doctorate of Humanistic Studies, and served as an associate professor at SUNY, Empire State College in Albany, New York, before retiring in 2011.

The police claimed in 2019 that the six couples who had “adopted” the six children had paid money for them but did not complete legal formalities for adoption. It was in 2020, when five of the six children were legally adopted by five couples after a go-ahead from the court.

A couple from Mumbai central suburbs awaits reunion with their “adopted son”, now 11 years old, who was “rescued” by the police in 2019 after he stayed with the couple for seven years. The boy is one of the six children whom the police have claimed was trafficked by members of an alleged illegal adoption racket.

The couple’s plea, moved before the city civil court, seeking to legally adopt the boy, was not heard for the last few months as the court which was assigned the case was vacant. The plea, filed under the Guardians and Wards Act, is now likely to be heard on Saturday.

The police claimed in 2019 that the six couples who had “adopted” the six children – all boys then aged between 18 months and seven years – had paid money for them but did not complete legal formalities for adoption.

It was in 2020, when five of the six children — all belonging to different biological mothers — were legally adopted by five couples after a go-ahead from the court.

By Minyvonne Burke

An ordained elder at a California megachurch was arrested along with her parents in connection with the death of her 11-year-old adopted daughter.

Leticia McCormack, 49, was arrested Monday on a charge of murder, three counts of torture and three counts of willful cruelty to a child in the death of Arabella McCormack, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Tuesday.

Leticia McCormack's father, Stanley Tom, 75, was arrested on the same charges. Her mother, Adella Tom, 70, was charged only with torture and willful cruelty to a child.

Authorities began their investigation Aug. 30 after deputies were called to a home in Spring Valley for a report of a child in distress. Arabella was found at the home and rushed to the hospital, where she died.

New Delhi, Nov 9 (UNI) Known for

upholding constitutional rights and freedom

of speech and expression, and upholds the

rights of the LGBT class, CJI-Designate

Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant

During his career, the new Chief Justice of India has been part of several constitution benches & delivered landmark judgments in high-profile cases, like Ayodhya land title dispute.

New Delhi: Whether he concurs or dissents, either way, his judgments evoke a keen interest. His verdicts are an assertion of constitutional principles — stressing on acceptance of diversity and inclusivity — and speak of him as a true liberal who is extremely sensitive and empathetic towards marginalised sections of society.

However, at the same time, he is equally conscious of maintaining judicial decorum and refrains from breaching the “lakshman rekha” (a strict boundary never to be crossed) when it comes to deciding on policy matters or development projects. Here he chooses to indulge in a deliberative process with the executive, nudging and not directing it to follow judicial orders.

This is how the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, is defined by his college mates, law teachers, and bar as well as bench colleagues.

Sworn in Wednesday by President Droupadi Murmu, Chandrachud, who will turn 63 on 11 November, will have a two-year term in the CJI’s office. Not only will he have the longest tenure for a CJI in a while, he will also be the youngest one in office in the past 10 years.

The Danish Appeals Board can help review your international adoption case if you suspect that something illegal has happened in the case.

You can read more about the Danish Appeals Authority's guidelines for handling adoption cases with suspected illegal circumstances here .

Contact the Danish Appeals Board

If you would like to see the documents (file inspection) in your adoption case, you must contact Danish International Adoption (DIA) if you were adopted through AC Børnehjælp, Glemte Børn, DanAdopt or DIA.

Go to the DIAS website

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ms. Catherine Colonna, the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, Mr. Eric Dupond-Moretti and the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister for Children, Ms. Charlotte Caubel, decided to seize the General Inspectorate of Foreign Affairs (IGAE), the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) and the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) on illicit practices in international adoption.

International adoption developed significantly in the 1950s to culminate in 2005 with the arrival of more than 4,000 children from abroad on our territory. Since then, the number of adoptions has dropped significantly, from 4,136 in 2005 to 421 in 2019 1 .

This drop is mainly due to changes in policies in the countries of origin of adopted children, but also to the implementation of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption; the creation of the French Adoption Agency in 2005 also made it possible to further improve fraud prevention.

Despite these significant results, several associations of children adopted prior to the implementation of the convention and the actions initiated by the French Adoption Agency (AFA) argued that adoptions organized in the past had been able to be irregular or even illegal. They would like the public authorities to be able, as far as possible, to document these irregularities and ensure that the structures which today contribute to the adoption of foreign children in France put in place effective systems to prevent fraud.

During the parliamentary debates around the law of February 7, 2022, the government undertook to shed light on the phenomenon of illicit adoptions, which was able to develop internationally from the 1980s.