Wouter Beke argues for a general adoption break, but immediately receives criticism from Flemish coalition partners: "This is ra

Wouter Beke argues for a general adoption break, but immediately receives criticism from Flemish coalition partners: "This is rash and ill-considered"

Minister of the Family Wouter Beke (CD&V) thinks an adoption break of two years is necessary. This is apparent from a memorandum that Beke will present to the Flemish government next week and which could view Het Laatste Nieuws. Beke assists a number of experts who have completed a report on intercountry adoption after two years and for whom such an adoption break is necessary. Bad idea, say coalition partners N-VA and Open Vld.

It took a lot of work, but the report was finally delivered. And just like in the Netherlands, the experts here immediately throw a bomb on the table. The current system of intercountry adoption is not good, according to them, and urgently needs to be adapted. According to the experts, adoption agencies have become dependent on subsidies that came with the adoptions. The more adoptions, the more money it raised. And that, they say, has led to “mistakes and malpractice” that many children have become victims of.

So it must be different. Starting with putting the best interests of the child first instead of that of the parents. According to the experts, intercountry adoption, where the child is removed from its cultural and religious environment, is not one of them. It should therefore only be possible if no alternative can be found in your own country.

“Immediate Shutdown”

But the experts go further: the number of countries of origin must be severely curtailed, private adoption agencies must be abolished and replaced by a single service for intercountry adoption managed by the government and the waiting lists for adoptive parents must be transformed into a pool of candidates, just like with foster parents. What's more, according to the experts, this may become one pool of candidate foster parents and candidate adoptive parents. It is no coincidence that there is a shortage of candidates for some and a surplus of candidates for others.

To make that whole paradigm shift happen, the experts are proposing an adoption pause linked to an “immediate cessation of the influx of new adoptive parents.” A proposal with which Minister of Welfare Wouter Beke (CD&V) surprisingly agrees, according to a memorandum that Beke will explain to his colleagues in the Flemish government next week. “In order to outline such a far-reaching reform, such an adoption break is necessary,” says Beke, “whereby no new trajectories for candidate adoptive parents will be started.” However, according to Beke, those parents who have already completed a program should be treated with care.

But Beke does not limit himself to just intercountry adoptions during that break. In the memorandum to the Flemish government, Beke refers to "all adoptions of an unknown child", including those in his own country. This is also confirmed by his spokesperson. Although there is a caveat: with this proposal, Beke will go to his colleagues in the Flemish government next week. Whether it will come to that is another question. Coalition partners N-VA and Open Vld reacted negatively to the experts' report this morning.

06:01

Lorin Parys: "You are abandoning vulnerable children"

rash

According to Flemish MP Lorin Parys (N-VA), an adoption break is a rash idea that leaves the most vulnerable children in the lurch. “In practice, an adoption break amounts to an adoption stop,” it sounds. "If you don't adopt children from countries of origin for a number of years, those countries will also stop the cooperation." The idea of ??no longer adopting from countries with great poverty, where adoptions from vulnerable groups, is also a bad idea. is just one important reason why some children are looking for an adoptive family.”

Open Vld MP Maurits Vande Reyde (Open Vld) also asks to be careful with an adoption break. "In the first place, it must be about the well-being of the child," Vande Reyde said on Twitter. “Abusive conditions must go, but there are tens of millions of orphans, many of whom live in extreme poverty. We should not deny them that chance for a better life."

The N-VA is also not happy about the idea of ??abolishing the waiting lists and putting candidate adoptive parents and candidate foster parents in one pool. “This is just not thought through,” responds Parys. “In foster care there are more children looking for a family than there are candidate foster parents, so such a system works. In the case of adoption, there are more candidate adoptive parents than adoptable children and a pool system would lead to arbitrariness and conflict between candidate adoptive parents."

On Twitter, Vande Reyde still calls on Beke not to designate the candidate parents as perpetrators: “The procedure is emotionally heavy for those parents. Take them along as partners in a new and better system. Candidate parents are not to blame for abuses."