New international adoption procedures initiated despite stop announced last year
In May 2024, the Dutch government stopped intercountry adoption with immediate effect. Despite this, several new procedures have been initiated in the months since, the Reformatorisch Dagblad discovered in figures requested from the Ministry of Justice and Security.
The government halted intercountry adoptions at parliament’s assistance following a report on widespread abuses. Then-Minister Franc Weerwind for Legal Protection promised that no new procedures would be started. Only the 587 then-ongoing procedures would be carefully completed, he said.
But according to RD, the government has issued 18 Foreign Child for Adoption (BKA) numbers in the months after the announcement. Prospective adoptive parents receive the BKA number at the very start of the adoption procedure.
According to Reinout van Harperen of the National Association of Adoptive Families (LAVA), the government is struggling with the new adoption reality. Couples who applied to adopt a child from abroad after the announcement were initially rejected. “The reason was that no new procedures would be started. Those couples then objected to this. Because on what basis could they be rejected? The law has not been changed yet.” The Ministry eventually realized that rejecting new applications was in conflict with the still-unchanged law and issued BKA numbers again.
However, the BKA numbers came with a letter stressing that a new procedure is by no means a guarantee for an actual adoption, Van Harperen said, speaking of a discouragement policy. “The Ministry actually wants to close the door, but because that is not possible due to the legal space that still exists, prospective adoptive parents are discouraged from starting the process.” According to Van Haperen, replacing the current law is proving complicated because it is based on international treaties. “And international law takes precedence over national legislation.”
State Secretary Teun Struycken for Legal Protection presented a phase-out plan for intercountry adoption in December. According to that plan, this form of adoption would definitively end in 2030. In the meantime, ongoing procedures will be completed while the involved agencies and countries prepare for the new situation, Struycken told parliament.
