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People for Ethical Adoption Reform - Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Cherish Bolton (Co-President) is an intercountry adoptee from India. She is a historian who researches the legal and social status of vulnerable children in India. She has an MA in history and is completing her doctorate.

Chantal Rich (Co-President) is an intercountry adoptive parent (DRC) and domestic adoptee (USA). She is a licensed MSW and focuses on adoption and childhood trauma.

Nicki Clark Bradley (Vice President/Secretary) is an intercountry adoptive parent (Vietnam). The Baby Scoop Era impacted several members of her family, which drove her to work in adoption advocacy. She spent time on the Board of Ethica and founded Voices for Vietnam Adoption Integrity.

Organizations: Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform (PEAR)

Give Child For Adoption Or Choose Abortion: Bombay HC Tells 'Rape Victim ' Who Wants To Terminate Pregnancy [Read Order]

“If she does not want the child, she has the option to give the child in adoption as per the law under Juvenile Justice Act."

The Bombay High Court, though allowed a rape victim to terminate her pregnancy at her own risk, also reminded her that she has an option to give the child in adoption. A girl had approached the High Court and contended that her ex-lover on the pretext of marrying her sexually exploited her and thereby cheated her. She told that court that she does not want to carry the stigma of unwed mother during her entire life due to the act of the accused and thus want to abort the pregnancy,

which is more than 20 weeks now using the medical report, the bench comprising Justice PN Deshmukh and Justice Pushpa V. Ganediwala observed that her case falls within the criteria alaid down in section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. The Court said:

"In India a child to an unwed mother is taken as a social stigma of a serious nature and she does not want to carry such stigma for her entire life. In our

opinion, it would neither be beneficial for the petitioner not for the fetus in her womb. In the present social milieu in India, we can visualize the future complications she may have to face in her social and married life if she would be deprived of now to exercise her reproductive choice, which has its

Countries: India

These three senators want to make adoption more affordable for families

Three United States senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to help make adopting affordable for families nationwide. U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bob Casey (D-PA), and James Inhofe (R-OK) announced the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act, whch will make the adoption tax credit full refundable. In a news release, Sen. Blunt said, “Over 100,000 children are waiting for adoption into a family who can give them the loving home they deserve. This bipartisan bill will restore the refundability portion of the tax credit to make adoption more affordable for hardworking families….”

The adoption tax credit was made permanent in the American Taxpayer Relief Act in January 2013. However, that law did not extend the refundability provisions that applied to the adoption tax credit in 2010 and 2011. The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act would restore the refundable portion of this critical support for families wishing to adopt.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, about one-third of all adopted children live in families with annual household incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level. Despite the common misperception that only wealthy families adopt, nearly 46 percent of children adopted from foster care live in families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Many of these families’ income taxes are so low that they cannot benefit from the adoption tax credit at all unless it is refundable.

Sen. Casey added, “It is a common misconception that only wealthy families adopt…. This legislation is a commonsense approach to improve lower-income families’ ability to adopt and support children from foster care.”

For Oklahoma Sen. Inhofe, adoption hits close to home. He says, “My family knows firsthand the joys and blessings adoption brings. But adoption is not without its difficulties and, too often, can be a costly process. Making the adoption tax credit fully refundable will ease that financial burden so more families can choose to adopt and welcome children into their homes.”

Countries: United States of America

Signing Hague Convention: implication and challenges for Korea

By Jane Jeong Trenka and David Smolin The Korean minister of health and welfare on Friday signed the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, setting the stage for the Convention's subsequent ratification and implementation.This is a welcome development, and the government should be applauded. If the Hague Convention is ratified and properly implemented in Korea, it can improve the child welfare situation in at least four different ways. First, the convention's principle of subsidiarity dictates that the best choice for a child is to stay within his/her own family; the second choice is domestic adoption; and the last choice should be inter-country adoption. The government should prepare for ratification by expanding support for Korean single mothers through public transfer and also by enforcing child support by fathers. If the government does not do so, proponents of children's rights and human rights will have an additional tool for seeking governmental accountability. Secondly, the Hague Convention dictates there should be no improper financial gain by adoption agencies and others involved in adoption. In order to ensure this, the Korean government should annually audit the agencies and publicize the results. In addition, it government should require a strict accounting of the financial aspects of each adoption, as well as institute controls on the financial aspects of adoption to ensure that there is no improper financial incentive toward inter-country adoption in the system. The principle of financial limits is designed to safeguard the principle of subsidiarity. If money is spent, it should be spent in support of families keeping children, not in support of inter-country adoption. Thirdly, if the Hague Convention is properly implemented, some long-standing problems of Korean adoption should be alleviated. The central authority must be satisfied that a child is adoptable and produce documentation about the child, including information on the child's identity. If this is properly implemented, this should help to resolve the problem of the voluntary birth reporting system in Korea, which has no administrative connection to either national health insurance or the hospitals. This voluntary birth report opens the risk of child laundering, as demonstrated by the estimated 3,000 children who have been illegally registered as the biological children of their adoptive parents every year.

Organizations: The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and International Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption

Countries: South Korea

North Georgia surrogate delivers sons for European gay couple on Fathers Day

06202019 DADS 1.jpg

Dan Sobovitz, left, and Greg Merly hold their sons Monday June, 17, 2019, in the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Women and Children's Pavilion. The couple had their children born through a surrogate in Northeast Georgia. - photo by Scott Rogers

Jeff Gill

Updated: June 19, 2019, 7:55 p.m.

Organizations: Surrogacy Case Grégory Merly-Sobovitz ? (EP)

Aalsterse adoptieouders schrijven open brief over ‘Denderracisme’: ‘Onze kinderen worden steeds vaker geviseerd’

Aalsterse adoptive parents write open letter about "Dender Racism": "Our children are being fished more often"

Vincent Laurent (38) and Kim Weyenberg (38) from Aalst have written an open letter in which they denounce the emerging "Dender racism". They are the happy adoptive parents of two Getinat-Tijl (8) and Saron-Fleur (7), from Ethiopia. "We notice that our children are being fished more often and have to do their best more than other children," they write. RUTGER LIEVENS20 June 2019, 11:21 The open letter from Vincent and Kim was posted on Facebook yesterday and has since been shared more than a thousand times. The immediate reason is the racist hate letters that have been coming to Aalstenaars with foreign roots in recent weeks, but Dender racism has been going on for some time, say the concerned parents.

EDUCATION IN THE LAND OF MISTER CHOCOMOUSSE

"Just on the day that the news about the" go back to your country "postcard came to the people of the Irish pub, we were once again confronted with racist reactions on the street in Aalst," says Vincent. “I was going to pick up my children from school and we are running through the day in the Lange Zoutstraat when an elderly lady looks at us from head to toe. "Isn't that terrible now," she says. My wife answered: "Excuse me!" She received the answer: "Those children don't belong here, they have to go back to their country," says Vincent. According to the couple, the former living room racism is now generally accepted on social media. "I thought it would be useful to take a look at some of the facts of the past nine months," writes Vincent in his letter. “In September 2018 the Pano report from Schild & Vrienden was published. The extreme right-wing club of Dries Van Langenhove, calling primarily online to take action against the multicultural society ... In the autumn of 2018, "Mister Chocomousse" from Ninove won a monster score during the municipal elections. Guy D’haeseleer succeeded in convincing a very large group of people that he could turn the tide with an anti-immigration policy, among other things. ”

BURGEMEESTER REFUSES TO CONDUCT THE TROLLEY

Mayor Christoph D’Haese (N-VA) is also mentioned in the letter: “The mayor of Aalst refused to condemn the racist float that took part during the Aalst carnival parade. It may cost the city its Unesco recognition. And why? For a few extra preference votes? Even under pressure from his own party chairman, he refused to reject this "satire." Because is that right? To laugh? You have to be able to put that into perspective, you hear. Well, racism is not relative and it has never been: it is absolute. It is there or it is not there, "write the parents. They do not understand that there is so much stupidity in the world. "Our children have not chosen to be adopted," write the parents. “In fact, no child chooses that! We have tons of respect and understanding for the courageous choice that the biological mother of our children has made and do our utmost to shower them with all the love of the world. We are just trying to be a happy family. Who can object to that? "

Countries: Belgium, Ethiopia

Mother Teresa nuns face probe over funding allegations

A federal investigation into the Missionaries of Charity congregation of Mother Teresa has been recommended by India’s Jharkhand state following allegations that nuns diverted funds for unspecified objectives.

The state government run by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recommended the federal Home Ministry to conduct a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into foreign donations received and spent by Missionaries of Charity and all its subsidiaries, media reports said on June 19.

In the past 11 years, according to Hindi media, the five main subsidiaries of Missionaries of Charity have spent 9.27 billion rupees (US$154 million) on purposes other than those specified in donations, which is illegal according to Indian laws.

The five subsidiaries include both active and contemplative sections of Missionaries of Charity Brothers, Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Missionaries of Charity Fathers.

Hindu groups in Jharkhand have accused Christians of diverting overseas donations so that they can be used for converting socially poor Hindu Dalits and tribal people in villages.

Countries: India

Mumbai: 'Bogus' kids in care centres, funds gypped

Public Accounts Committee points to loopholes in institutes, find 75K such children wasting government money

Highlighting a major lapse, the state Legislature's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has pointed to how around 75,000 bogus or ineligible children were registered in child care institutions, leading to the state government's funds being siphoned off.

The committee has also pointed to lacunae in the functioning of these institutions, like children in need of care and protection not being segregated from juveniles in conflict with law lodged there. This is because these juvenile delinquents can influence other inmates and render them vulnerable to crimes like theft, drug use and sex abuse.

In its report on the General and Social Sector for the year ended March 2015, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed to deficiencies in the working of these bodies, which are meant to provide institutional care to children in need of care and protection.

"Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 95,000 children were taking benefit of these schemes in 1,153 child care institutions. During an inspection, it was found that a large number of children, who had homes of their own, had been admitted to these child care institutions. When the department examined every case during the inspection, it was found that only 17,000 of these children were found to be eligible for admissions. The other children were handed over to their parents. The department told the committee that at present, these child care institutions have around 21,000 children. This means, more than 75,000 bogus or ineligible children were registered here and crores of public money were siphoned off from the government on unnecessary expenses," the report said.

Countries: India

Internationale adoptie meestal niet in belang van het kind

International adoption is usually not in the child's interest

For a long time, adoption was an act of love. According to Prakash Goossens, adopted from India at the age of eight in 1985, that image needs to be adjusted. In the case of international adoption, the adoptive parents were the main focus. The interests of the child and the place of the biological parents remained underexposed to this day. Kelly Keasberry “Until ten years ago it was assumed that adoption was in the best interests of the child. The only criterion was material progress and in return gratitude was expected from the child. If you were integrated into a normal Fleming or Belgian, the business was closed. Only recently has there been a growing awareness that adoption is sometimes linked to serious trauma. I myself was shocked that an adopted child applied for euthanasia while supposedly there was nothing wrong with society. Depressions, addictions and suicide attempts are indications that something more fundamental is going on with adopters, "says Prakash Goossens. No aftercare “The first forms of modern adoption were created during and after the First World War. There were many displaced children back then. They were adopted in the US and Canada, but also in Belgium. The adoption as we know it today dates from the beginning of 1960 and peaked between 1980 and 2002. I was adopted in 1985. The intention for adoption shifted from pure charity to family formation. It was an ultimate remedy for fertility problems. No one asked questions. After adoption scandals in the 1990s, adoption legislation would increasingly be in the best interests of the child. The Children's Rights Convention (1989) and the Hague Adoption Convention (1993) led to stricter legislation on adoptions. What is now well arranged is the procedure from intake to adoption. Nevertheless, things still go too wrong after adoption. Up to now, no follow-up care has been provided for adult adopters. While many problems of a psychosocial nature come to the fore just then, "Goossens knows.

Primordial wound

“Psychotherapist Nancy Verrier states in The Primal Wound of 1993 that it is particularly difficult to restore the adhesion of adopted people. By breaking that bond "roughly", a primitive wound is created in the child. That wound determines everything that the adopted child experiences, feels and expresses in word and behavior in his later life. According to trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk, a trauma also changes the brain structure. This influences the language skills, the psycho-emotional stability and the development opportunities of the child. The first 45 minutes after birth are crucial according to that expert. If there is attachment to the mother then, the body adjusts, but if there was no one to comfort or grasp the child, the body creates a shutdown. As a result, the brain structure changes thoroughly and the trauma short circuit closes the connection to the emotional part of the brain. As a survival strategy, the brain creates an "unreal". An upper layer is created on the original personality and then it develops further. Often the person only discovers in therapy that his original personality comes to the surface, "Goossens continues.

“Adoption children usually adapt well. But because the body remains in the survival mode and therefore under constant high voltage, the child will be suspicious and will not attach easily. Verrier states that attachment precedes love. Love is not a condition for attachment. Safety and security are crucial. Even adoptive parents who have done everything will never be able to heal that primeval wound. " Adopted people encounter a lot of misunderstanding. “Society only sees that you grew up in a loving family and were given every opportunity. She does not see the taboos and the sorrow because you have never known your biological parents. She doesn't know what it's like to never feel 100 percent at home. To always remain a stranger. Certainly if you then have a different skin color. ”Nevertheless, Goossens states that that primeval wound does not have to be paralyzing. “The wound can be transformed; it can become a source of motivation, a creative drive, a desire for unity that is fundamentally good and healing. Our deepest pain can transform us if we want to. However, the brokenness caused by that primeval wound is so deep that our society must respond positively. There is an urgent need for a psychosocial aftercare package for adopters and adoptive parents. "

Historical lie

Goossens argues for historical research after 50 years of international adoption. “In Belgium we are easily involved in 38,000 intercountry adoption dossiers; in the Netherlands there are 54,000. The legality of the documents supplied is sometimes questionable. Little attention was paid to documentation and, above all, they wanted to protect the anonymity of the biological mother. In the last few months, more and more files have appeared in newspapers and media that make it clear that things have happened that really cannot get through. For example, most orphans are not full orphans at all. Many biological parents were looking for a temporary solution in orphanages and were shocked to find that their child was gone or they were even told that it had died. "

Recognition

The interpretation of charity with regard to adoption was far too one-sided. The Hague Adoption Convention says very clearly that poverty cannot be a criterion for adoption. “The Indian state's motto is: Truth alone triumphs, only the truth triumphs. Now there is the opportunity for adoption services, governments, politicians and Child & Family to take their responsibility. Adoptive children are entitled to social recognition that something serious has gone wrong. That is precisely why it is a historical lie to pretend that adoption was only in the best interests of the child. There are enough options to help a child in the country of origin. We help with that more than by taking it away from the biological parents, "says Goossens." III

Dutch:

Adoptie gold lange tijd als een daad van liefde. Volgens Prakash Goossens, in 1985 op achtjarige leeftijd geadopteerd uit India, moet dat beeld worden bijgesteld. Bij internationale adoptie stonden vooral de adoptieouders centraal. Het belang van het kind en de plaats van de biologische ouders bleven tot op vandaag onderbelicht.

Kelly Keasberry

“Tot tien jaar geleden ging men ervan uit dat adoptie in het belang van het kind was. Het enige criterium was materiële vooruitgang en in ruil werd van het kind dankbaarheid verwacht. Als je geïntegreerd was tot een gewone Vlaming of Belg, dan was de zaak gesloten. Pas sinds kort groeit het besef dat adoptie soms gelinkt is aan ernstige trauma’s. Zelf was ik geschokt dat een adoptiekind euthanasie aanvroeg terwijl er zogenaamd voor de samenleving niks aan de hand was. Depressies, verslavingen en zelfmoordpogingen zijn indicaties dat er toch wel iets fundamentelers aan de hand is met geadopteerden”, zegt Prakash Goossens.

Geen nazorg

“De eerste vormen van moderne adoptie ontstonden tijdens en na de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Er waren toen veel ontheemde kinderen. Die werden geadopteerd in de VS en Canada, maar ook in België. De adoptie zoals we die nu kennen, dateert van begin 1960 en piekte tussen 1980 en 2002. Ik ben in 1985 geadopteerd. De intentie voor adoptie verschoof van pure caritas naar gezinsvorming. Het was een ultimum remedium voor vruchtbaarheidsproblemen. Niemand die zich vragen stelde. Na adoptieschandalen in de jaren 1990 zou de adoptiewetgeving steeds meer in het belang van het kind komen te staan. Het Kinderrechtenverdrag (1989) en het Haags Adoptieverdrag (1993) leidden tot een verstrengde wetgeving rond adopties. Wat nu goed geregeld is, is de procedure van de intake tot aan de adoptie. Toch loopt het na de adoptie nog altijd teveel mis. Er is tot nu toe in geen nazorg voorzien voor volwassen geadopteerden. Terwijl heel veel problemen van psychosociale aard juist dan naar boven komen”, weet Goossens.

Oerwond

“Psychotherapeut Nancy Verrier stelt in The Primal Wound van 1993 dat het bijzonder moeilijk is om bij geadopteerden de hechting te herstellen. Door die binding ‘ruw’ te verbreken, ontstaat bij het kind een oerwond. Die wond bepaalt alles wat het adoptiekind in zijn verdere leven ervaart, voelt en tot uiting brengt in woord en gedrag. Volgens trauma-expert Bessel van der Kolk verandert een trauma ook de hersenstructuur. Dat beïnvloedt de taalvaardigheid, de psycho-emotionele stabiliteit en de ontwikkelingskansen van het kind. De eerste 45 minuten na de geboorte zijn volgens die expert cruciaal. Als er toen hechting met de moeder heeft plaatsgevonden, past het lichaam zich wel aan, maar als er niemand was om het kind te troosten of vast te pakken, dan creëert het lichaam een shutdown. Met als gevolg dat de hersenstructuur grondig wijzigt en door die traumakortsluiting wordt de verbinding met het emotionele deel van de hersenen afgesloten. Als overlevingsstrategie creëren de hersenen een ‘onecht ik’. Er ontstaat een bovenlaag op de oorspronkelijke persoonlijkheid en die ontwikkelt zich dan verder. Vaak ontdekt de persoon pas in therapie dat zijn oorspronkelijke persoonlijkheid komt bovendrijven”, vervolgt Goossens.

“Er is dringend nood aan een psychosociaal nazorgpakket voor geadopteerden en de adoptieouders”, zegt Prakash Goossens. © kk

“Adoptiekinderen passen zich meestal goed aan. Maar doordat het lichaam in de survival-modus en dus onder constante hoogspanning blijft, zal het kind wantrouwig zijn en zich niet gemakkelijk hechten. Verrier stelt dat hechting voorafgaat aan liefde. Liefde is geen voorwaarde voor hechting. Wel veiligheid en geborgenheid zijn cruciaal. Zelfs adoptieouders die alles hebben gedaan, zullen nooit die oerwond kunnen helen.”

Geadopteerden stuiten op veel onbegrip. “De samenleving ziet alleen dat je in een liefdevol gezin bent opgegroeid en alle kansen kreeg. Ze ziet niet de taboes en het verdriet omdat je je biologische ouders nooit hebt gekend. Ze weet niet hoe het is om je nooit 100 procent thuis te kunnen voelen. Om altijd een vreemde te blijven. Zeker als je dan nog een andere huidskleur hebt.” Toch stelt Goossens dat die oerwond niet verlammend hoeft te werken. “De wond kan worden getransformeerd; het kan een bron van motivatie worden, een creatieve drive, een verlangen naar eenheid die fundamenteel goed en helend is. Onze diepste pijn kan ons transformeren, als we dat willen. De gebrokenheid door die oerwond is echter wel zo diep dat onze samenleving daar een positieve respons op dient te geven. Er is dringend nood aan een psychosociaal nazorgpakket voor geadopteerden en de adoptieouders.”

Historische leugen

Goossens pleit voor historisch onderzoek na 50 jaar interlandelijke adoptie. “In België zitten we gemakkelijk aan 38.000 interlandelijke adoptiedossiers; in Nederland zijn dat er 54.000. De legaliteit van de aangeleverde documenten is soms twijfelachtig. Voor documentatie was weinig aandacht en men wilde bovenal de anonimiteit van de biologische moeder beschermen. De jongste maanden komen er steeds meer dossiers in kranten en media die duidelijk maken dat er zaken gebeurd zijn die echt niet door de beugel kunnen. Zo zijn de meeste weeskinderen helemaal geen volle weeskinderen. Veel biologische ouders zochten een tijdelijke oplossing in weeshuizen en moesten tot hun schrik vaststellen dat hun kind weg was of ze kregen zelfs te horen dat het was overleden.”

Erkenning

De invulling van caritas met betrekking tot adoptie was veel te eenzijdig. Het Haags Adoptieverdrag zegt heel duidelijk dat armoede geen criterium kan zijn voor adoptie. “Het motto van de Indiase staat is: Truth alone triumphs, enkel de waarheid triomfeert. Nu is er de kans voor adoptiediensten, overheden, politici en Kind & Gezin om hun verantwoordelijkheid te nemen. Adoptiekinderen hebben recht op de maatschappelijke erkenning dat er iets grondigs is misgegaan. Juist daarom is het een historische leugen te doen alsof adoptie alleen in het belang van het kind was. Er zijn genoeg mogelijkheden om een kind in het land van herkomst te helpen. Daarmee helpen we meer dan door het bij de biologische ouders weg te nemen”, vindt Goossens.” III

Bio

Prakash Goossens (1977) studeerde rechten en internationale politiek aan de KU Leuven, de UCL en de Université Robert Schumann in Straatsburg. Momenteel is hij internationaal vertegenwoordiger voor Fracarita International, een ngo van de Broeders van Liefde.

Organizations: Brothers of Charity

Countries: India, Belgium

Apex Sumi student body reaffirms resolution on adoption of child

All Sumi Students’ Union (Sumi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu-SKK) has reiterated the stand on adoption of child by Sumi couples and reaffirmed its commitment to preserve the traditional paternal lineage of inheritance.

In a press release, SKK president Atokiho Sumi and general secretary Hutoshe Kits said that SKK would want the inheritance matters of Sumi to continue on ‘paternal’ and not on ‘maternal’ basis.

They said that SKK at its 2nd union assembly resolved to preserve and protect the inherent rights of the Sumi and out rightly oppose anybody or authority that “attempt to contaminate the strong fabric of the Sumi cultural identity where the kingship is based on bloodline inherently.” SKK also affirmed that it would not tolerate any move that attempted to snatch ‘Sumi birth right’ by adopted children at any level.

The union affirmed that its stand was in line with NSF standing resolution “Nagas by Blood, not by Adoption”.

SKK maintained that any opportunity— be it government service, technical studies or inheritance of property, would be based purely on “Sumi by blood, not by adoption”.

The union said it does not oppose adoption of child by anybody/couples. SKK, however, stated that it would encourage any Sumi couple to do so on blood line so as to avoid any future complications or deprivations.

SKK has, therefore, called upon its constituent units to be vigilant at their respective level and report the matter to SKK office for further course of action.

SKK also urged all responsible authority to respect the rights of the Sumi and not to entertain any doubtful identity/candidate, especially government jobs seekers and get proper verification from SKK.

The apex Sumi student body asserted that it would not entertain any recommendation/approval of such doubtful identity and would fix the responsibilities on the concern recommending/approving authority in the event of any discrepancy that arose in its “resolute pursuance to preserve its customary practices and to protect our inherent rights from being invaded by the outsiders.”

Countries: India