Still adopting brothers and sisters of placed children from abroad

Adoptions from abroad may continue when it comes to brothers and sisters of children who have already been placed in the Netherlands. Intercountry adoptions have been suspended, but an exception will be made for this group, the outgoing minister Sander Dekker (Legal Protection) has decided after a question about this from the SGP in the House of Representatives.

In a letter to the House, Dekker writes that he considers the importance of placing brothers and sisters together very important, because "this protects the original family relationship between brothers and sisters as far as possible". He does point out, however, that the usual rules and conditions for an adoption procedure do apply in these situations.

Dekker suspended the adoption of children from abroad in February after an alarming report from a committee that had investigated the adoption system. This revealed serious and structural abuses, such as child trafficking, fraud and corruption. Because this could possibly still be the case, Dekker immediately stopped the adoptions.

An adjustment of the adoption system is currently being considered. The number of adoptions has steadily declined over the past thirty years. In the 1980s there were still more than 1,000 adopted children each year, in 2019 there were only 145.

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