Were we brought to Norway as tools?
Adoption abroad has seriously been put on the agenda.
The latest revelations in the media make us on the board of the organization UTAD feel humiliated and disempowered.
Our grief in life, which is rarely acknowledged, is not prioritized as important to find legitimate answers to.
Loss of a life we never got to participate in, without even having anything to say.
Relationship breakdown, deprivation of original family, country of birth, identity, language and culture.
There are countless people who do not understand, do not try to understand, or can understand, the hurt and grief that some of us adoptees carry.
Everything we’ve lost.
It is one thing to feel this injustice, but it is quite another when it is presented in words and pictures.
Growing up, we were often able to feel on the outside as different from the majority.
Now we are again reminded that we are not yet considered equal compatriots who have a right to legal certainty and protection.
20,000 children have come to Norway through private adoption agencies.
The costs are approx. NOK 212,000 – 252,500 per barn.
Adoption is considered by many as a merciful way of dealing with presumed orphans in resource-poor countries.
Corruption and infanticide
In recent days, VG and “Norway behind the facade” have shed light on a shadow side of adoption that has not been publicly recognized until now.
We at UTAD, which is a voluntary member organization for adoptees from abroad, have on several occasions problematised the adoption practice and questioned how well the rights of adoptees and their original families are safeguarded.
For 32 years, Adriana’s mother has been looking for her
Several countries in Europe have launched investigations into their international adoptions and found corruption, infanticide and human trafficking. UTAD believes that Norway is hardly an exception.
Following VG’s revelations, Minister Kjersti Toppe has said they will now open up an investigation into the specific cases that have been presented.
To NRK told Toppe that Bufdir has been commissioned to carry out an internal investigation to discover whether there is a need for an independent investigation in Norway.
However, TV 2 now points out that the ministry had already ordered an investigation into Bufdir in May and that the ministry was recommended to carry out a thorough and independent investigation.
Bufdir stated that they cannot or should not carry out the investigation. The directorate legitimized that it can be involved, and that it is neither confidence-inspiring nor confidence-inspiring.
This is completely in line with what UTAD and other adoptees have expressed. It suggests that Bufdir has, after all, had good insight and understanding.
Norway behind the facade
Ep
Season
TV 2 Play
Hair raising
The answer from the ministry is that there is no money for an independent investigation, and they are asking Bufdir to find the cheapest solution.
Bufdir is thus put to work on terms they themselves have advised against.
That Toppe can stand behind this as legitimate is hair-raising.
One can question which forces are at work, when Bufdir nevertheless embarks on work that they themselves have been critical of.
That the authorities do not see adoptees as a group worth spending resources on, they showed when designing the national budget.
Bufdir originally recommended allocating NOK 9 – 11 million for a proper post-adoption offer, but the government set aside only NOK 3.5 million with arguments that adoptees in Norway are not a large group.
Human life
This is a clear example of how the voices of minorities are silenced.
A lack of funding for post-adoption services and a reluctance to conduct independent investigations testify that adopted lives and fates are not taken seriously.
The rule of law Norway does not take responsibility for its actions. Adoptees from abroad have a right to know that their adoption has been done legally.
Falsified the age of adopted Magnus: – Quickly realized that something was not right
The legal protection of foreign adoptees is not a service that must be put out to competition, where the cheapest player wins the tender round. This is about human life.
It is very provocative to witness that foreign adoptees are consistently misled.
The four of us on the board of UTAD were all adopted here to Norway in the late 80s and early 90s.
Knowing that illegal adoptions were carried out in the same period hits hard.
The Norwegian authorities have been complicit and kept it hidden, gives a nasty aftertaste.
The whole thing is also a tragedy for adopted original families. When we find out what the practice has been like, we feel like a piece in a game.
When Bufdir is told to find the cheapest possible solution for an investigation, we can entice whether our human dignity is on offer.
Are we reduced to just being a tool for building families?
Reply to the chronicle? Are you on fire with something? Send us your opinion at [email protected]