Rarely Seen: Adoptee Makes Her Adoptive Parents Testify Under Oath About Her Origins
As a teenager, Yaneth Menger already thought that her adoptive parents were hiding details about her origins. She now has indications that a lot of money was paid for her adoption. On Tuesday, her adoptive parents had to give a statement about it in court.
ZYaneth Menger (50) has not seen her adoptive father for even years. On Tuesday morning she meets him again for the first time, at the Noord-Nederland court in Leeuwarden. It is not a warm reunion, but a business meeting: the 76-year-old man, who walks behind a walker, has to testify under oath about Yaneth's adoption. Just like his ex-wife.
It is a rare occurrence: Dutch adoptive parents who have to answer to their daughter or son in the witness box for decisions made long ago, with what they see as nothing but good intentions.
About the author
Menno van Dongen is a police and justice reporter for the Volkskrant.
The hearing is part of a trend. Adult adoptees who were brought to this country as children are standing up for themselves more. They give critical interviews, request documents from the government, file petitions and file lawsuits against the state, agencies or their adoptive parents.
Wrong family
At ten in the morning, Jan Menger takes a seat in front of Judge Hoekstra's desk. 'It is important that you tell the truth', the magistrate explains. 'To emphasize that, you must take the oath or the promise.' Menger chooses the latter and stands up when asked, on wobbly legs. 'This is just about possible', stammers the Leeuwarden man, who promises to tell 'the truth and nothing but the truth'.
The hearing is being held at the request of Yaneth Menger, who is locally known as the chair of the Stadspartij 100% Groningen. She is also one of the five victims who have held broadcaster KRO-NCRV legally liable for the damage they suffered because they were linked to the wrong biological family by the TV program Spoorloos . She spoke about this in this newspaper in June.
Menger knows little about her origins and adoption, except that she was 4 or 5 years old when she was handed over to a couple from Friesland in the Colombian city of Medellin. Her original surname is said to have been Palacio. But even that is uncertain; there are stories that she was abandoned.
Adoption for big money
As a teenager, Yaneth already had the feeling that her adoptive parents were hiding all sorts of things. This was reinforced by stories from other Colombian adoptees about fraud and illegal payments, and a damning report by the Joustra investigation committee. In 2021, the committee concluded that there was a 'demand-driven adoption market' in which 'large sums of money are at stake'.
In her case too, there are indications of illegal adoption, Menger states. With the witness statements, she and her lawyers Royce de Vries and Annemiek van Spanje want to substantiate that suspicion. Ultimately, that could lead to a claim for damages against her parents, the state or other parties involved.
During the hearing, Van Spanje asks whether the story in the newsletter of a Belgian priest from Colombia is true. He claimed that Menger's adoptive parents paid a local lawyer 600 thousand pesos to adopt her. Converted, that is 44 thousand euros, including inflation.
Jan Menger says that this is nonsense. He only gave that lawyer 200 dollars, for regular costs. According to him, that Yaneth was abandoned is just a rumor. His former partner says the same in the afternoon.
Sad parents
After the hearings, the lawyer for the adoptive parents, Baukje Kooi, calls the hearing 'complicated and difficult' for her clients. 'They are sad that their daughter finds it necessary to hear them under oath. Her father is very ill. The fact that he is here is because he cares about his daughter and wants to help her as best he can. That is why they have just handed her her entire file again.'
Many of the pieces in this file are new to Yaneth Menger, she discovers when she quickly leafs through them afterwards. 'We're going to study this calmly', is all she wants to say about it.
The hearing had multiple goals, lawyer Van Spanje emphasizes. 'More clarity about Yaneth's origins was the most important. In any case, we have received new puzzle pieces that we can use in her search.' Within three weeks, the lawyers must announce which other witnesses they still want to hear.