"To everyone else, we looked like the perfect family. No one outside our home knew what we knew."

Until recently, I told everyone I was born in Chicago. Every school form, all of my college and job applications, and even my medical records listed my birthplace as Illinois. That was a lie. I was actually born in Hong Kong to a woman I’ve never met. And until last year, more than 60 years after my birth, I kept my adoption a secret.

Through the decades, I lived a nice suburban life with a husband and three children, while continuing to let people believe I was born to the attractive, accomplished couple whose 1943 wedding photo sat on my mantel.

I am a child who first belonged to a country that I can barely remember and whose family history is nonexistent in every possible way.

As an international adoptee from China, I was brought to the United States at nine months old. Left on the street of Qingyuan City, I came to America without a note, and a doctor at the Social Welfare Institute estimated my birthday.

My experience is far from uncommon. With limited knowledge of their family history, international adoptees often struggle to make sense of their identity. In recent years, multiple companies that allow customers to send a DNA swab or tube of spit have risen in popularity. People curious about their ancestry receive a pie chart with several colors telling them what countries they come from and a list of possible relatives, however distant. 

Still, DNA is not a substitute for the family history that, both medically and orally, can only be passed down from one generation to the next and cannot be shared through blood or by taking a test. It is the hope of developing a sense of belonging and understanding of how their parents and grandparents have shaped them into the person they are today that drives international adoptees to take a genealogy test. 

So, what does all of this mean for adoptees? Growing up in homes where their family is of a different race, many international adoptees are also transracial adoptees. Transracial adoptees focus more on their adoptive identity and on searching for biological parents than other adoptees. As they become teenagers and adults, many adoptees wonder what their life or community would have been like if not adopted.

On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants  for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, based on their alleged war crimes of unlawful transfer and unlawful deportation of Ukraine’s children.

Russia’s propaganda machine reacted swiftly to the ICC’s decision, with threats of nuclear strikes, false claims about Western “experiments on children ” and anti-Russian “hysteria ,” calls for the arrest of ICC judges, and claims that Ukraine’s children were taken away “for their safety .” Russia’s Deputy Chair of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev threatened  The Hague with a hypersonic  missile  and compared  the warrants to toilet paper . Kremlin propagandists Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan claimed  that nuclear strikes await any country daring enough to arrest Putin. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused  the “enlightened West” of “criminalizing the rescue of children” while the same Western countries are “experimenting on kids with gender reassignments.” Separately, Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin claimed  that “the West is hysterical” and any “invectives” against Putin will be seen as aggression against Russia, adding, “Yankees, hands off Putin!” Similarly, Russia’s Embassy in Washington  called “U.S. validation” of the warrants “reminiscent of sluggish schizophrenia ” and pointed  to “U.S. atrocities” elsewhere. Several Russian senators  proposed issuing arrest warrants  for the ICC judges and “liquidating ” the International Criminal Court. This report examines the context of the ICC charges and Russia’s efforts to manipulate information and deflect blame about the alleged war crimes.

Since February 24, 2022, when the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, attempting to topple the democratically elected government in Kyiv, members of Russia’s forces committed numerous internationally documented war crimes and crimes against humanity  in Ukraine, including against many of Ukraine’s children. On June 5, 2023, the Secretary General of the United Nations added  Russia’s armed forces and affiliated armed groups to the list of parties that have committed “grave violations affecting children in situations of armed conflict” for reportedly killing and maiming hundreds of Ukraine’s children, using them as human shields, and attacking schools and hospitals.

The Kremlin appears determined to erase Ukraine’s existence as a state by attempting to rob it of its future. Mounting evidence  shows  Russia uses  forcible relocation, re-education, and, in some cases, adoption  of Ukraine’s children as key components  of its systematic efforts  to suppress Ukraine’s identity, history, and culture. The Ukrainian government estimates that Russian authorities have “deported and/or forcibly displaced ” 19,553 children from their homes, including movements into so-called “summer camps” in Russia-occupied areas and sometimes into Russia itself, even to isolated regions in Russia’s Far East. As of August 1, 2023, Ukraine had successfully returned  395 children.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, has publicly said  that more than 700,000 children from Ukraine are now in Russia, claiming that the majority were accompanied by guardians and portraying it as a “humanitarian effort.”  The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL), a partner in the State Department-supported Conflict Observatory, reported  that Russia has “systematically relocated at least 6,000 children from Ukraine to a network of re-education and adoption facilities in Russia-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia” since the full-scale invasion began. Yale HRL’s findings  “indicate the majority of camps have engaged in pro-Russia re-education efforts, and some camps have provided military training to children.” The unlawful transfer and deportation  of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and constitutes an internationally recognized war crime .

The Collector verified the details of the certificates presented by the couple and agreed to the adoption.

Khammam: A couple from the United States of America adopted an orphan girl from Khammam.

The couple Florian Hackl and Geena Kuriakose Athappily who learnt about the adoption process of children in India applied for adoption of a girl child through Central Child and Women Welfare Department at www.cara.nic.in.

They spoke to the district Collector VP Gautham on a video call. The Collector verified the details of the certificates presented by the couple and agreed to the adoption. He handed over the child to the couple on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that those who want to adopt a child should apply for formal adoption through the Women and Child Welfare Department legally by visiting www.cara.nic.in.

Jimmy Lippert Thyden always thought he had no living blood relatives. Then he came across a USA TODAY story about a man stolen from his mother in Chile and adopted out to American parents.

It has been 42 years since María Angélica González saw her son.

He was a newborn. A nurse told González he needed to be put in an incubator because he was premature. Not long after, she returned with devastating news: The baby was dead.

For 42 years, that's what González believed. For 42 years, it has been a lie.

Gonzalez's son, Jimmy Lippert Thyden, was stolen from González, adopted out to unwitting parents in the United States and raised in Arlington, Virginia. For 42 years, Thyden believed he had no living relatives in Chile, where he was born.

MUMBAI: In a case where a two-year-old boy is at the centre of a legal battle between adoptive parents, who have raised him since he was two-day-old, and his biological parents, the Bombay high court has directed a trial court to decide the matter within six months. There will be no extension of time, clarified Justice Sharmila Deshmukh in a judgment pronounced on Saturday.
There are multiple petitions surrounding the toddler, of which the HC has set aside two orders of the city civil court in Mumbai which had ruled against the adoptive parents. The orders set aside include one of March 2002, which rejected their adoption petition of 2021, and one of March this year, rejecting their review plea and directing them to hand over the child's custody to the biological parents on a plea by the natural parents. Till then, however, the child will continue to stay with the adoptive parents, who claim that the biological parents had given the newborn for adoption and have even executed deed of adoption on July 16, 2021.
 

The biological father objected saying they had signed "without reading, understanding" documents given by a woman associated with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) named AHAM Foundation. He said the infant was handed over to the woman and adoptive parents were not there. The biological parents said that during the Covid pandemic, they lost jobs and the mother decided to keep the child in an institution for some days or for adoption, but later, after discussing with families, they were willing to maintain the child and sought rejection of the adoption plea.
The adoptive parents said adoption took place through the NGO, and the child was given in adoption as the biological parents, in their 20s, were not married at the time and had consented to adoption through affidavits. They subsequently married. The trial court rejected the adoption plea on grounds of lack of registered adoption deed and lack of consent, and said "mere custody of child" not sufficient proof that the child was legally adopted.

The rejection of the two orders, however, does not mean any conclusion in favour of the adoptive parents, said the HC, as the trial court is now required to decide a suit filed last year by the adoptive parents seeking a declaration that the adoption was valid. The HC said section 15 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), "valid adoption cannot be cancelled and, as such, inquiry into the validity of adoption by leading evidence is necessitated". It also said the law does not require registration of adoption deeds.
But the HC said "inquiry contemplated under the provisions of HAMA as regards the actual giving and taking of the child in adoption... was not conducted" in the trial court and the intention has to be gathered from their conduct with evidence in a trial.

MUMBAI: Mira Road police have arrested an 18-year-old youth for allegedly raping his 17-year-old adopted niece. The girl who along with her younger brother and a cousin sister were given for adoption to their late mother's neighbour after they lost both their parents in a span of four months. The police have also booked three other members of the family.
The girl, a class 12th student, left her adopted home and approached the police on August 9. The teenager had lost her father to cardiac stroke in September last year. Her mother had died by suicide in January. The siblings were taken to their paternal grandparents' home in Kandivli. Within 10 days, the teenager and her cousin were moved to an orphanage in Andheri after approaching the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The brother was sent to a residential school in Boisar. As the teenager was keen on pursuing her education, she approached the CWC to be given for adoption to a 54-year-old woman, who was her late mother's neighbour. The CWC officers visited the family, and the siblings were sent to stay with them in April.
 

In her complaint, the teenager stated about not being allowed to pursue their education and instead being forced to change their religion. They also accused the family of physically harassing them and making them do household chores. The teenager stated that when she protested against the torture, the family threatened to send them back to the orphanage.
She said the accused sexually abused her earlier this month, while others were asleep. She left home on August 8, spent the night out and approached the police the next day.

MUMBAI: Mira Road police have arrested an 18-year-old youth for allegedly raping his 17-year-old adopted niece. The girl who along with her younger brother and a cousin sister were given for adoption to their late mother's neighbour after they lost both their parents in a span of four months. The police have also booked three other members of the family.
The girl, a class 12th student, left her adopted home and approached the police on August 9. The teenager had lost her father to cardiac stroke in September last year. Her mother had died by suicide in January. The siblings were taken to their paternal grandparents' home in Kandivli. Within 10 days, the teenager and her cousin were moved to an orphanage in Andheri after approaching the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The brother was sent to a residential school in Boisar. As the teenager was keen on pursuing her education, she approached the CWC to be given for adoption to a 54-year-old woman, who was her late mother's neighbour. The CWC officers visited the family, and the siblings were sent to stay with them in April.
 

In her complaint, the teenager stated about not being allowed to pursue their education and instead being forced to change their religion. They also accused the family of physically harassing them and making them do household chores. The teenager stated that when she protested against the torture, the family threatened to send them back to the orphanage.
She said the accused sexually abused her earlier this month, while others were asleep. She left home on August 8, spent the night out and approached the police the next day.

A national government that has acted negligently in intercountry adoptions must do more than prevent new abuses. For example, by supporting adoptees financially in their search for information.

I was born twice. I don't remember anything about my first trip through the birth canal, but I still vividly remember the second time. My sister and I were dressed up: we wore short white dresses with brown trim and black shoes with low heels. For example, we flew from Seoul to Amsterdam together with a number of other children. Overjoyed to be there, our new parents looked into our eyes and stroked our hair as they spoke softly to us. Although we had no idea what they said, we let them be, because even with a second birth you have little choice. As a child, your fate is in the hands of adults.

This was in 1979. In the years that followed I adapted as best I could, although my environment regularly reminded me that I came from somewhere else. In addition, I had not only arrived at Schiphol with my sister, but also with memories of the village and the house we lived in, the aunt who took care of us, our father who came to visit, the children's home in which we lived. All this raised questions, but since answers were not forthcoming, I kept them to myself for a long time.

As an adoptee, you miss out on a lot of information that most people take for granted because you can't tap into the collective memory of your biological family. Because your family in the Netherlands knows nothing about the culture from which you are cut off. Because you don't have the options to look for information or don't know where to start. Because your native language is gone from your memory and it takes years to learn it again.

For example, it was not until 2005 that I saw two pieces of paper with the names and dates of birth of my Korean parents and the context in which my adoption took place. At that moment, some of many missing puzzle pieces fell into place.

Boonyoung Han

Ph.D. student in Social Welfare

Seoul National University