Last month, the House of Representatives asked the Cabinet for a “gradual path” to adoption from abroad. A ministry spokesman said: “This was not the decision the minister wanted to make.” Weerwind itself wanted to move towards a “tight system” where adoption from abroad was still possible. “But the House of Representatives’ desire is different.”
Dutch people who cannot have children can still choose foster care or domestic adoption.
Adoption violations
Research has previously shown that the government has “failed to combat adoption abuse”. In 2021, overseas adoptions were suspended by then-Secretary Decker, following a particularly critical report on adoptions. It was very vulnerable to fraud.
The government later decided to allow adoption again, but under strict conditions and only from a number of countries: South Africa, Lesotho, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Hungary, Bulgaria and Portugal.
The National Association of Adoptive Parents (LAVA) announced in April that it opposes adoption freezes. According to the spokesman, children are abandoned abroad if they are not adopted by Dutch parents. According to him, the proposal does not make a difference, except that these children now lack a safe home.
The number of adoptions has decreased
The number of adoptions from abroad has already fallen sharply, according to figures released by the Fiume Foundation, which deals with adoptions, among other things. Twenty years ago, this happened more than a thousand times a year, and in 2021 there were 77 adoptions.
Weerwind will now talk to adoption organizations about dismantling the system and wants to come up with a more comprehensive plan in September. He knows that some of them should remain anyway, such as archives containing files.
