The GLP Thurgau has submitted a simple request to the government council to shed light on the illegal adoptions of Indian children between 1973 and 2002. Several cases are said to concern the canton of Thurgau.

The report "Mother Unknown", which was commissioned by the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, "reveals serious misconduct", according to a statement from the Thurgau Green Liberals. Many adoptions were carried out without the consent of the biological mothers and on the basis of forged documents.

"The adoptions were not just acts of charity, but also a business model," the GLP states. Homes in India released children for adoption and received money from Switzerland. "Despite missing or incomplete documents, the relevant authorities in Thurgau approved the adoptions. This means that the canton shares responsibility."

Families who spent years in limbo have had their hopes dashed, and some analysts fear disabled children may never get to enjoy family life

China’s abrupt decision to ban international adoptions last month appears to have crushed the dreams of hundreds of foreign families and possibly ended the last chance many Chinese children would have had of a family life.

“You’re losing a kid even though you didn’t give birth to them and you haven’t even met them,” said Kathy Rice, one of the affected would-be parents. “But they’ve been part of our family all this time and all of a sudden we’re losing them.”

Rice had been waiting for five years to adopt Ruby, a teenager with Down’s syndrome, and bring her home to Michigan.

Updated 07 Oct. 2024 AT 1:26 PM

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The house's brown front doors are open, but Natalie Montaño (35) stays inside the car.

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The Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court last week quashed an FIR against christian missionary Dr. Ajai Lall accused of trafficking two children, who were earlier living in an orphanage run by a society of which he was the office bearer, and who were subsequently adopted following a family court order in 2017. In doing so the High Court noted that the adoption of the children was...

South Korea adoptees endure emotional, sometimes devastating searches for their birth families

SEOUL — They began a pilgrimage that thousands before them have done. They boarded long flights to their motherland, South Korea, to undertake an emotional, often frustrating, sometimes devastating search for their birth families.

South Korea adoptees endure emotional, sometimes devastating searches for their birth families

These adoptees are among the 200,000 sent away from Korea to Western nations as children. Many have grown up, searched for their origin story and discovered that their adoption paperwork was inaccurate or fabricated. They have only breadcrumbs to go on: grainy baby photos, names of orphanages and adoption agencies, the towns where they were said to have been abandoned. They don’t speak the language. They’re unfamiliar with the culture. Some never learn their truth.

The Thurgau GLP has asked the government council for more information on adoptions of Indian children between 1973 and 2002. In a motion, the party is asking, among other things, what support the canton offers those affected.

The background to the GLP's request is a recently presented study on illegal adoptions in the cantons of Thurgau and Zurich. The study on the practice of adoptions from India revealed serious misconduct, as the GLP Thurgau wrote in a statement on the submitted request. Adoptions have also become a business model.

Adoptions approved despite missing documents

A story of being chosen: an adoptees journey to empowerment and her parents dual adoption - join us for a special conversation with Rati Dhoundiyal Ahuja, a remarkable woman who was adopted as a baby in the 1970s and grew up in a loving family in South Mumbai. She’ll be sharing her unique adoption journey, how her parents helped other couples adopt, and how she proudly embraced her story despite societal questions. In this live session, we’ll discuss her experiences of: - Growing up with an adopted sibling who faced emotional challenges. - How she openly shared her adoption story with her son at 16. - Why she believes normalizing adoption is essential and how we can encourage others to embrace it, just like "paw parents" do with adopted pets. Her story is an inspiring testament to the power of love, family, and the importance of open conversations around adoption. Don’t miss this insightful and heartfelt discussion! Tune in live on 28th September 2024 at 5 pm IST Let’s continue the conversation on normalizing adoption and embracing these beautiful journeys with pride!

Legal requirements were systematically ignored in adoptions from India, and to this day it is not clear who the mothers were. A new study shows that the authorities knew about it and did nothing.

For decades, the overwhelming desire of Swiss couples to have children meant that babies were separated from their mothers in other parts of the world.

Now, a new research study commissioned by the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau shows that in the 1980s and 1990s, India was the most important country of origin for babies who came from abroad to married couples in Switzerland. 

Between 1979 and 2002, a total of 2,278 babies were brought from India to Switzerland.

Until now, adoptions from Sri Lanka have been the main topic of discussion, with several scientific studies revealing actual child trafficking and proving major legal irregularities.

Authorities made serious mistakes in adoptions in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau between 1973 and 2002. This is proven by a recently published study. Children from India were handed over to Swiss adoptive parents without a waiver from their biological parents.

Last week, a report from The Associated Press in collaboration with Frontline stated that untold numbers of South Korean children had been stolen from their families, trafficked into international adoption through widespread fraud.

The stewardship of internationally adopted children has long been a subject of concern and rumor. Earlier this month, China abruptly stopped their international adoption program, and other countries have recently done the same. From Romania to Vietnam to Chile, rumors of stolen children adopted by unsuspecting American and European parents have endured. Now they are being proven true.

In 1995, after years of miscarriages, including the loss of twins, the advice from my doctors, therapists and everyone I talked to was to adopt, and I welcomed the idea. I was in my mid-thirties — “old” by adoption standards — and I knew I wanted any child I raised to have a sibling. I decided to adopt two children at once.

I received pictures of two babies. With them were documents showing blurry, black-and-white copies of government ID photos of their birth mothers, along with the papers that relinquished the rights to their children.

My sons and I lived a life of closeness, love and all the frustration of a mother single-parenting two boys: video games, smelly rooms, homework, the magically emptying refrigerator, bedtime stories and birthday parties.