Adoption agency turns the key after sanctions from supervision

Denmark's only mediator of international adoptions stops its work following sanctions from the Danish Appeals Board.

It has been decided at an extraordinary board meeting in DIA, after it has been hit by a number of sanctions from the Danish Appeals Agency and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and the Elderly.

DIA states this in a press release on Tuesday.

The agency and the ministry supervise the adoption agency.

- It was a difficult decision for the board of DIA to make. But we see no other way out, says Anne Friis, who is deputy chairman of the bureau's board, in the announcement.

- The area of ​​international adoption can no longer, under the current conditions in Denmark, be run by an NGO like ours.

DIA does not describe the specific sanctions in the announcement.

On Friday, the Danish Appeals Board informed DIA that the agency is proposing to the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing to stop mediation from DIA's largest mediation country, South Africa.

On Monday, the ministry's department then announced that DIA's five other country agreements will be suspended for a period.

There are currently 36 applicants on the waiting list spread over six countries.

The decision to turn the key must also be seen in the light of developments in the area of ​​adoptions in Denmark.

According to DIA, from the mid-1970s until 2010, 400-500 children were adopted annually to Denmark.

In the past three years, the number has been between 20 and 40 children annually.

DIA's mediation of international adoptions has been regulated through an accreditation agreement that has been continuously renewed by the Danish Appeals Board.

The board is also responsible for approving each cooperation country and each individual adoption.

- As part of the accreditation agreement, a contingency plan has been drawn up in the event that DIA's work has to cease, the adoption agency writes in the press release.