Supervised adoptions: –⁠ The system is rotten

- I was so worried that I walked around with palpitations. I didn't see any other option than to notify, says Freja Bøggild to VG. 

It was Danwatch and DR that published the first interviews with her. 

As an employee of the Swedish Appeals Board, Freja Bøggild investigated several thousand adoption cases, she says. 

She says she was shocked by what she saw:

- Although my job felt meaningful, I was put off by the cynicism and indifference that characterized the system.

- I would go so far as to say that no adoptee can be sure that their papers agree with reality - and I think this applies to adoptees to Norway as well. The whole system is rotten. 

In recent years, illegal adoptions to several European countries have been revealed. 

In January this year, Denmark stopped all foreign adoptions, after the country's only adoption agency closed down. In Norway, Bufdir now recommends a complete halt to all foreign adoptions following a series of revelations. 

- Horrible things

When Freja Bøggild started working at the Danish adoption authority Ankestyrelsen in 2021, she had to ensure that today's adoptions took place legally. But she was also supposed to investigate adoption cases from the 1960s until 2016. 

Her conclusion is clear: 

- Time and time again, the Danish authorities have received crazy notifications about adoptions from abroad. But they have chosen to ignore them, says Freja Bøggild.  

Her first task was to investigate how the Danish authorities have overseen adoptions from abroad over the past 50 years. 

Freja Bøggild delved into the archives. 

 - I was simply shocked. I discovered horrible things that I couldn't do anything about, she says. 

Because she has a duty of confidentiality, Bøggild cannot go into detail about individual cases. But she says: 

- I saw in black and white that the documents contained serious deficiencies, errors and contradictory information. For one and the same child, it could be written that the mother had consented to the adoption - and that the mother had died. Other times I could read that the child had been found in the street, while at the same time it said that the mother had approved the adoption at the hospital. No one had reacted to these obvious contradictions. And the adoptions were approved. 

Norway has also been warned about illegal adoptions. Earlier this year, VG revealed that the Norwegian authorities have received at least 88 notifications since the 1970s. 

- Must trust corrupt regimes

In Denmark, Freja Bøggild discovered that the problems with adoption were not only about older cases, but also for adoptions today. 

- The system has improved. But it is still not safe enough, says Bøggild. 

The reason is that the system is still based on trust, she believes. 

 - In order to get adopters, we have to rely on thoroughly corrupt and lye-poor countries - countries we know deal in the buying and selling of children and falsified documents.

- We have no real opportunity to check that the information about the children is correct - no matter how hard we try. This applies to all Western countries that adopt children from abroad.

In the autumn of 2023, Freja Bøggild left the Board of Appeal. Then her temporary job expired, and she herself says it was out of the question to continue in the job. 

- Did you notify the management of the Danish Appeals Authority about what you are now telling about? 

- Yes. Repeatedly. In the summer of 2023, I sent an email to my managers and informed them of what I believed to be illegal adoptions. 

VG has seen extracts from the email. Here it emerges that Bøggild requests that the responsible minister be informed. 

 She doesn't know if it happened. A month later, Freja Bøggild left the Board of Appeal. 

- I hope I'm wrong. I was hoping that most adoptions have been done legally. But I don't think it's like that. 

- I am not saying that all adoptions are illegal. But I say that we have no way of checking which ones there are. 

- What do you think that adoptees who read this and may be scared? 

- I understand that what I say seems frightening. At the same time, I think betrayal and lies can cause greater trauma to adoptees. And with what I know now, I feel a duty to speak up.

When Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) hears the accusations from Denmark's Freja Bøggild, she first replies that the criticism applies to Denmark and the situation there.

- But Bøggild says this also affects Norway - all the time we relate to the same system and have to rely on information from the countries of origin?

- I am very concerned about the legal security of foreign adoptions, and an independent, external investigation has been set up on my watch . The ministry has also asked Bufdir to give higher priority to the adoption field and to carry out a review of the concrete mediation licenses of all countries Norway cooperates with today.

- Is the adoption system too weak?

- The examination of foreign adoptions must find out just that. They will investigate whether the system for adoptions in Norway has been sound and whether the governing authorities have had sufficient control. The aim is, among other things, to learn from any weaknesses in the system and the investigation will provide a basis for legislative development, as well as new practice for control and supervision.

Denmark is investigating

VG has submitted Freja Bøggild's accusations to the Danish adoption authority, Ankestyrelsen. They don't want to answer them in an interview. But writes in an email that they have already initiated investigations into adoptions from several different countries - and that the investigations into adoptions from Chile, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and South Korea from the 70s and 80s show that children's rights are not was respected.

They still see no reason to question the legality of all adoptions to Denmark, the email states. 

In Norway, Bufdir is responsible for supervising adoptions abroad. No one in Bufdir does not want to comment on Freja Bøggild's statements.

In a report from Bufdir to the Ministry of Children and Families from January, it is emphasized that Bufdir believes there is a risk of illegality in the current adoption system.