A Thessaloniki appeals court has handed a lawyer a four-year suspended jail sentence on condition that he pay 3,000 euros to a children’s charity after finding him guilty of brokering illegal adoptions.

The case involves five illegal adoptions – one in 2014 and four in 2016 – where financially vulnerable women from Bulgaria were lured to come to Greece to give birth in private clinics and hand their babies up for adoption in return for a small fee.

The court found that the lawyer made over €32,000 from the adoptions, receiving payments ranging from €2,000 to 18,000 to his bank account.

The lawyer maintained his innocence throughout the trial and appeal. [AMNA]

By Vivian J. Salles Vieira Pinto

Introduction

The right to know is the core of the right to identity of adoptees, as it allows them to pursue their own biological information. The identity of one`s biological parent – a simple, straightforward information for many – is a significant missing piece in adoptees’ history. Questions such as: who are my biological parents? Where did I come from? Why was I put up for adoption? What is my family's medical history? These inquiries, though seemingly commonplace, underscore the profound impact of the right to know on adoptees' self-identity. While the legal definition of the right to know is still a matter of debate, this right seems to function as a mechanism for exercising the right to one's own identity. By exercising the right to know, the adoptee should be able to collect pertinent data to construct their own identity, which can be significantly compromised in adoption scenarios. The right to identity is a comprehensive and all-encompassing right that ensures individuals have the right to exist and enjoy their rights within society, including the right to have a name and surname, nationality, gender, and date of birth.

Unravelling the complexities, this blog post aims to shed light on the intricate interplay between the right to know of adoptees and the right to privacy of biological families in adoption scenarios, particularly concerning the role of the Australian Contact Veto Provision (CVP) in this context. In this regard, the Australian CVP in New South Wales is especially noteworthy. It is one of the few jurisdictions that enforce legislative measures to prevent adoptees from contacting their birth parents. This type of provision was also previously enacted in Tennessee and subsequently repealed in 2022, rendering it ineffectual due to its shortcomings. In 2001, Ireland attempted to implement a CVP in the Draft scheme of a bill on adoption information and post-adoption contact, which was later removed.

The right to know

On 16 January, Dansk International Adoption (DIA) announced that they are closing . For many years, they have been the only help for Danish parents who wanted to adopt children from abroad. Now they are gone, and the reasons for their closure are many. Consideration for the children's biological parents has, among other things, weighed heavily, as it has not been possible to ensure that the children were adopted away voluntarily. 

Whether the decision to close DIA is correct is up to the organization itself and the politicians to assess. But the closure has major consequences, especially for us Danish gays, who now lose our last opportunity to have children legally . We must therefore look for other solutions.

The childless have many opportunities for help in today's Denmark. We have one of the world's best health systems, where massive investments are made to help the childless realize their dream of a family. This is also of great socio-economic importance, as we as a country are dependent on the population multiplying. In the public health system, we therefore offer fertility treatment to heterosexual couples, lesbian couples and single women, including treatments with both egg and sperm donation. 

The news of a final stop to international adoptions has hit many hard.

A dream has been shattered for a family in Ågerup in Roskilde.

Lotte and Morten Skov Christensen have been waiting for five years to register as applicants for international adoption. 

But on Tuesday, the news came that DIA, the country's only mediator of international adoptions, has turned the key. This has happened following a series of sanctions from the Danish Appeals Agency and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and the Elderly.

- We are very affected by it right now. I started to cry when I read the news, says Lotte Skov Christensen and continues: 

Last week, I shared about a childcare agency here in Negros Occidental who facilitated an adoption. A friend messaged me about the adoption process here in the Philippines and it made me realize that it will also be nice to write about this.

I had the chance the chance to interview Ms. Bahiyyih Ruth G. Robinson, also called Ms. Bai, the Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) Negros Occidental Team Leader, who has experience in adoption processes and other childcare protection programs in the Province of Negros Occidental.

She introduced me to the new adoption law, approved and signed by then President Rodrigo Duterte on January 6, 2022 and took effect on January 28, 2022.

Republic Act No. 11642, also known as the Domestic Administration Adoption and Alternative Child Act, authored by Senators Risa Hontiveros, Pia Cayetano and Grace Poe, will allow domestic adoption proceedings simpler and less costly. The law seeks to streamline alternative childcare services. This law continues to protect the best interests of the Filipino child and the process will be lessened from six years to approximately six months to three years.

The law declares that every child shall remain in the care and custody of his or her parents and should be provided with love, care, understanding and security towards the full and harmonious development of the child’s personality. When it is proven to be insufficient and no one can take the child from the extended family, adoption by unrelated person can be considered. (Complete information is available at Official Gazette of the Philippines website).

The verdict is unanimous. The woman who called Celine Song Mee Nilsen (28) "damn Chinese" on Barcode has again been convicted of racism.

Last year, the accused woman was sentenced to 21 days in unconditional prison for hate speech, reckless behavior and violence against Nilsen.

The woman appealed the case , and now she has also been sentenced in the Court of Appeal.

- I am so grateful to be believed, both in the district court and the court of appeal. This shows that racism is unacceptable and that the legal system cracks down on it. Justice has prevailed, says Celine Nilsen to VG.

The woman's lawyer Kim Ellertsen tells VG that he has not had time to familiarize himself with the new sentence, and does not want to comment immediately.

Northern European countries are scaling back their long-standing overseas adoption programs following reports of illegal practices, a move that will likely impact South Korea, one of the leading countries in sending babies abroad for adoption.

Norway is contemplating a temporary suspension of all international adoptions after local news outlet Verdens Gang exposed illegalities and corruption in the process of bringing in foreign-born babies to be adopted by Norwegian families. The primary countries sending babies to Norway include South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Colombia.

The news report claimed that an adoptee from Korea discovered, from a hidden letter, that she was taken away from her Korean biological parents 50 years ago and was sent away for adoption. In a similar case, another adoptee found out that she was secretly sent to Norway by her grandmother without the consent of a biological father.

On Tuesday, one of Norway's top policy bodies recommended a suspension in intercountry adoptions while authorities investigate the alleged document fabrication, legal violations, profiteering, and abduction involved in the process.

“Adoptions must be safe, sound and in the best interest of the child,” said Hege Nilssen, head of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. “Our assessment is that the risk of illegalities is real.”

Shimla, Jan 18 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday appealed the wealthier section of the society to adopt children residing in the childcare centres and provide them a safe and bright future. He visited a childcare home at Tutikandi here where Jyoti (original name withheld), residing at the centre, was adopted […]

Shimla, Jan 18 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday appealed the wealthier section of the society to adopt children residing in the childcare centres and provide them a safe and bright future.

He visited a childcare home at Tutikandi here where Jyoti (original name withheld), residing at the centre, was adopted by her new parents in the chief minister’s presence under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Sukh Ashray Yojana’.

Sukhu lauded the couple for their noble gesture and encouraging wealthier section of the society to opt for adoption.

“The government understands the problems faced by the orphans and other weaker sections of the society, therefore the Mukhya Mantri Sukh Ashray Yojana has been started in the state,” an official statement quoted him as saying. Sukhu said the state government was arduously working for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society.

Taiwan affected by international adoptions decision

Staff writer, with CNA

International adoptions from Taiwan are conducted according to the Hague Adoption Convention and no reports of illegal cases have been received, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday after Norway and Denmark on Tuesday suspended international adoption from several countries, including Taiwan, pending an investigation into alleged illegal operations.

Social and Family Affairs Administration Director Chien Hui-chuan (簡慧娟) said that 215 children were adopted in Taiwan in 2022, with 110 of them international adoptions, including 62 to the US, 15 to Sweden, 10 to the Netherlands, and one each to Norway and Denmark.

'Long road ahead before ending Europe and Central Asia’s long, painful legacy’ of institutionalisation of children, as new UNICEF report highlights rate of children living in residential care across region is double the global average

GENEVA, 18 January 2024 – Nearly half a million children – or 456,000 – across Europe and Central Asia live in residential care facilities, including large-scale institutions, according to a new report published today by UNICEF.

Pathways to Better Protection: taking stock of the situation of children in alternative care in Europe and Central Asia notes that the rate of children living in residential care facilities across Europe and Central Asia is double the global average, with 232 per 100,000 children living in residential care facilities compared to 105 per 100,000 globally.

“We have a long way to go before ending Europe and Central Asia’s long and painful legacy of institutionalising children. While there have been some improvements, progress has been far from equal. Children with disabilities have largely been left behind,” said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Western Europe has the highest rate of children in residential care facilities at 294 per 100,000 children – nearly triple the global average. While facilities in Western Europe tend to be small and integrated into communities, there remains an overreliance on residential care instead of family-based care. The higher rate is partly due to an increase in unaccompanied and separated children and young people seeking asylum in Europe in recent years.