Philomena author on scandal of Ireland’s 60,000 babies ‘sold’ by nuns to rich American families

Adoptionland NewsAdoption, Adoption Survivor, Adoption Trafficking, Agency Complaints, Excerpts, Long Lost Family, Rights

The film Philomena, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, tells the true story of a mother’s quest to find the son taken from her by the Catholic Church in 1950s Ireland. She was one of an estimated 60,000 women whose babies were given to new parents in exchange for cash donations. As part of a new BBC2 show, Martin Sixsmith, …

Uganda tightens foreign adoption rules to thwart child trafficking

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May 14, 2015.  REUTERS/JAMES AKENA KAMPALA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Child rights campaigners in Uganda have welcomed a new law that restricts fast-track foreign adoptions in which children – often with living parents – can be whisked overseas in a matter of days. Lawmakers passed a bill this week that requires foreigners seeking to adopt children to live in the …

Uganda: New law makes it hard for foreigners to adopt kids

Adoptionland NewsAdoption, Adoption Trafficking, Excerpts

AMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill that says only Ugandans can be legal guardians of orphaned or destitute children, in a move aimed at stemming the rising number of adoptions by foreigners. The bill eliminates a legal gap that allowed foreigners to apply for and get legal guardianship within days of arriving in the country, said lawmaker …

Anti-adoption activists defy popular opinion

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`Scared and vulnerable’

“I’ve never seen anyone more scared and vulnerable than a pregnant woman without resources,” he said. The problem is, “if they ask for help, more than likely they are advised to give up their child.”