Politician Yngvild Ingels sold as a baby for 6.500 frank: ‘Thorough investigation needed’
There must be an investigation into the thousands of children that unmarried mothers of the church had to give up for adoption. This is what Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt said after the emotional testimony in the Chamber of Yngvild Ingels. The N-VA politician from Lauwe was also compulsorily given up for adoption at birth.
The emotional testimony about Ingels' search for her biological mother makes a special impression on her colleagues in the House. The church forced the mother of the politician from Lauwe to give her up for adoption at birth.
"I only know that I was born in the north of France, in Dunkirk. And that five days later I was dropped off by a Catholic organization, Caritas Catholica, at my parents' home here in Lauwe. I have an original birth certificate with a name on it that is no longer the same as it is today," says Yngvild Ingels. Although the politician hopes that she can one day tell her biological mother that she is doing well.
"I hope that one day I can tell my biological mother that I ended up well, that my adoptive parents are fantastic and that I have been in a warm nest."
Yngvild Ingels
6,500 francs
What Ingels remembers is that she was sold by the Catholic organization in question for about 6,500 francs. That is about 160 euros, a painful amount according to the politician. "I find it very difficult to pronounce that amount, it is so strange that an amount is put on your head. But of course it is difficult to estimate why that is. And what was that money for? Nobody knows."
Thorough investigation
With her testimony in Parliament, Yngvild Ingels mainly wants recognition for the many people who experience the same thing as she does. "My mailbox is filling up because of my testimony. There are also many people who want to bring it up, who want to bring it out into the open, who want something to happen to their story, who want to be heard," says Ingels.
Minister of Justice Van Tighelt wants a thorough investigation. It concerns the forced adoption of about 30,000 children by the church in the 1940s to the 1980s.