Cabinet wants adoption from abroad to happen through the State: report

The Dutch government wants to ban adoption from abroad through intermediaries and only allow it through a new to-be-established government organization. Children can also only be brought to the Netherlands if they cannot be cared for in their home country, sources told AD.

The Netherlands halted adoption from abroad last year after a committee of inquiry revealed severe abuses in the practice. According to the Tjibbe Joustra committee, past adoptions from countries like Brazil and Sri Lanka involved children placed up for adoption without their biological parents' consent, forged forms, and paid bribes. The committee noted that the investigated cases happened in the past but added that the current system with private intermediary organizations is "susceptible to fraud and has given rise to abuses to this day."

The committee advised the Cabinet to stop adoption from abroad altogether. The Cabinet considered this for a long time but opted for an interim solution of more supervision. Minister Franc Weerwind of Legal Protection wants the four agencies that currently have a permit to act as intermediaries in adoptions from abroad to be merged into "one public foundation" under his tightened supervision. 

According to the newspaper's sources, the Cabinet will formally make this decision on Friday and announce it on Monday.