Sri Lankas baby farms Inter-country adoption

racket exposed !

For tourists the paediatric ward resembled a supermarket

When a DNA database is created it was certain that our papers were
fraud, because through DNA we have the proof of family ties.
Sometimes these contact persons say I have located your mother, but
they dont reveal the address.
The adoption agencies from western countries treated me as a profitable
thing, instead as a person.
Nobody can tell me, that Sri Lanka or India cant take care of its children.
Another child has been shown a fake mother and the association has
continued for 6 years.
Adoption isnt a transaction and therefore parents cant accept money.
A child has a right to know its biological parents.
 The biological parents lose the right for a child if it was given for adoption
voluntarily.

Friday, 13 October 2017 17:00

A recent documentary by Zembla, a Dutch current

affairs programme, brought to light an adoption fraud during the latter part of
the 19th century. Previously in 1983 a documentary was made based on the
adoption scandal by Flash, a Dutch adoption organization that made massive
profits by selling children. News reports from 1987 highlight that a baby farm
had been raided and the police found 20 newborns and 22 women. The report
further revealed that the babies had been purchased for about $30 and was sold
abroad for about 30 times that value. However neither the Sri Lankan
Government nor the receiving Governments have taken any worthwhile steps
to address the issue, until recently when Health Minister, Dr. Rajitha
Senaratne admitted to the revelations of the documentary makers that there
had been baby farms and that he will investigate into the issue and take the
initiative to set up a DNA bank.
It is claimed that around 11 000 babies had been sold during this period. Children
had been stolen from the arms of their biological mothers. One woman, who
requested anonymity, said that her child was stolen at the Ratnapura Hospital.
This was during the JVP insurrection. The hospital didnt give me my child. There
was no one to inquire from because the doctors were on strike. The baby was
stolen, she said.
In certain instances fake mothers have handed over the child and now the
adopted children have the information of this mother who is acting as their
biological mother. In certain other instances the birth mothers had been
deceived or coerced into giving the babies for adoption. There is also concern
that women have been raped for the adoption market. Further, sources
told Dailymirror that during the time referred to in the documentary the
practice of tourists walking into the hospital and picking babies for adoption
had existed.
Most mothers have given their children for adoption due to lack of support in
raising the children on their won. Gallaguruge Sirimawathie said that she had to
give her child for adoption because she was helpless. My husband and his family
were abusive. I had nowhere to go and I had to give the child up for adoption,
said a weeping Sirimawathie. I dont want anything from the child. I only want to
see the child before I die, she grieved.
Further, though agents from adoption agencies, help children locate their
mothers and vice versa, mothers and adopted children told us that they werent
trustworthy and were money-minded. Sirimawathie has traced her child through
the birth certificate and knows that the child lives in Sweden. However, the agent
who had located the whereabouts of the child had refused to provide her with
further information claiming that the child didnt want to meet the mother.
Sirimawathie is suspicious of the agents trustworthiness.

Another woman, W.P. Leelawathie from Homagamasaid that when she gave up
her son for adoption the agent promised her that the son would return to her one
day. But she has received no news of him to date.
Renuka Abeysinghe from Matugama, who had given her daughter for adoption
voluntarily, said that she only wanted to see the child, but added that she has no
information about her whereabouts. I was given a letter thanking me and the
letter also said that I will receive photographs. But I have received nothing. The
child must be big now. I only want to see her, she pleaded.
The documents that were prepared, such as the birth certificate, contain
erroneous details which are misleading. A 40-year-old adoptee, who is currently
living in Belgium and didnt wish to be named, said that his family name, mothers
name and the birth date were false in the adoption papers and in the hospital
register. However he has succeeded in locating his biological mother from
Wellawatte.
When asked about the difficulties he had to endure as a result of the irregularities
in his adoption he said that when he wanted to marry he didnt have a birth
certificate, but only adoption papers. He added that these papers were
inadequate when dealing with the local Government. Basically, I had to prove
that I existed. After living here, attending school, playing sports, and becoming a
world champion, I wasnt allowed to marry because I didnt have the necessary
documents, he said.
Shirani van den Berg, living in the Netherlands, said that her adoptive mother was
unstable, alcoholic and often made her feel unwanted. A mother has the right to
know where the child is living and the child has the right to know its biological
mother and its medical history, she asserted. In the light of the recent
revelations the Dailymirror spoke to some concerned parties.

Women were raped for the adoption market

The filmmaker of the Dutch documentary made by Zembla, Sanne Van Rossen is
Sri Lankan born and was adopted by Dutch parents.
-Sanne Van Rossen
Filmmaker of the Dutch Documentary
There were a lot of false things in the papers regarding the adopted children. For
instance, when they did the DNA Test the mother they traced through their
papers werent really the biological mothers. Sometimes the birth place would be
wrong. That is why I did the research, the 32-year-old told Dailymirror in a skype
interview
Women had been picked up from the street and had been raped to produce
children for the adoption market. Some women had been paid while some
werent. The story that revolved around these adoptions suggests that adoption
was illegal. You can consider it to be legal because of the papers which had been
documented by lawyers or very powerful people. These were court adoptions.
But these adoptions are illegal because women were raped for the adoption
market. They had to give their babies away either because they were forced or
they were made to believe the children would return later with money, she said.
I have documented an incident involving the Flash adoption organization where
the mother refuses to give the baby away. Instead they gave her money and
asked her to shut up, she said referring to the documentary she had made. In
another incident involving a twin brother and sister, one baby had died, but the
corpse was replaced by another, so that they appeared to be twins, she said.
I have documented an incident involving the Flash adoption organization where
the mother refuses to give the baby away. Instead they gave her money and
asked her to shut up
Flash, was an adoption agency back in the 80s and the 90s. They were selling
babies. Flash would arrange a baby in 3 or 4 months. There were around 4 or 5
such adoption organizations with the history. They did the same thing, she said.
According to her the cost of an adoption was as much as 15 000 at that time.
Flash no longer exists.
Everyone is saying that he or she didnt know or that it is not his or her fault,
she said.
Now that these adopted children are in search of their mothers the people who
were previously involved in the adoption market have offered root searching
which again seems to have become a lucrative business. We do root searching
through people from Sri Lanka who were involved with Flash back in the 80s. We
need to pay a lot of money and its not trustworthy. Its better to go by yourself
and search for yourself. Sometimes these contact persons say I have found your
mother, but they dont provide the address, she said.
She started her own search for her biological mother in 2010. Her birth certificate
states that she had been born at the Rathnapura Hospital. Accordingly she traced
her birth mother and a DNA Test proved the biological connection. However her
mother had given birth to her at the Karawanella Hospital.
Children were turned into commodities

The Executive Director

of Against Child Trafficking(ACT), Arun Dhole, said that though this scandal was
reported in the media in the 1980s neither the Government in Sri Lanka nor the
Governments in the receiving countries had addressed it. ACT is a child rights
NGO established in 2008 at the suggestion of the European Commission.
According to Dhole, children were manufactured not just in Sri Lanka, but also
in South and Middle America, India, Nepal, Thailand, Romania etc.
-Arun Dohle
Executive Director of Against Child Trafficking (ACT)
Theres a demand for children, so supply is created. In a market- even when
regulated- its forces are stronger than the interest of the children and their
families, he explained.
The problem regarding these adoptions is that some children appear to be
bought, the paperwork is fabricated and there is no information about consent
being given etc.Essentially children were turned into commodities, he
added. He suggested that the Government of Sri Lanka should open a full-
fledged investigation into the adoption practices from the past. The biological
families as well as the adult adoptees need assistance in tracing each other and
there should be compensation. For todays children, Sri Lanka should just stop
Inter-country Adoption and strengthen the implementation of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, he said.
Article 21(b) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states
that inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative means of childs
care, if the child cant be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any
suitable manner be cared for in the childs country of origin. Nobody can tell me,
that Sri Lanka or India cant take care of its children, he said.
The problem regarding these adoptions is that some children appear to be
bought, the paperwork is fabricated and there is no information about consent
being given etc

Dhole was born in India and was adopted by German parents in 1973.
The biological mothers from Sri Lanka do not have the financial means to
participate in the DNA bank
When asked about the progress to set up a DNA database, so that the DNA of
the biological parents, relatives and the adoptees could be stored to trace one
another, one of the pioneers of the Sri Lanka Family Project, Rowan Van
Veelen, said that though most European adoptees were rich enough to
participate in the process, the biological parents didnt have the finances to do
the DNA test on their own.
-Rowan Van Veelen
An adoptee and pioneer of the Sri Lanka Family Project
They dont have the financial means to participate in this DNA bank. This makes
locating family members nearly impossible, he said.
If the biological family from Sri Lanka cant join this DNA bank, we are left with
the only option of locating brothers and sisters in the west, he added.
Therefore the main goal of the Sri Lanka Family Project is to get the DNA of the
biological parents, so that they dont incur expenses.
Through our organization we focus on bringing families together. Its important
to remember that it is not only the adopted children who have the urge to locate
their biological families, the same goes for the families back in Sri Lanka who gave
up their children for adoption either willingly or after being forced. When the
database is created it will no longer be a hassle to know whether there was fraud
in connection with our papers, because the DNA Test will provide proof of family
ties, he explained.
Through our organization we focus on bringing families together
The adoption system is based on making a financial profit per baby. For me, as
an adoptee, the worst thing about being adopted through this system is that
when I was most vulnerable and dependent no one involved seemed to care
about me and my well-being. The adoption agencies from western countries
treated me as a profitable thing, instead as a person. So many terrible human
rights violations were made and are still being made, he claimed.
People would come, buy and go. She used to take money from these people.
Consultant Pediatrician, former Chairman of the National Child Protection
Authority (NCPA) and the Presidential Task Force on Child Protection, Prof.
Harendra De Silva said that when he was an intern medical officer back in 1975
the paediatric ward was more like a supermarket for tourists.
-Prof. Harendra De Silva
Former Chairman of the NCPA
They came in couples, walked across and somebody would be showing the kids.
Then the couple would say I want this one. This was the practice at that time, he
reminisced.
He recalled an incident where a baby, who was just a few days old, who had been
abandoned in a train, was brought to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital by a policeman.
Later he (The policeman) was coerced by the Director of the hospital to handover
the baby to a European couple, which he had refused to do. A European couple
visited the ward. We werent even bothered about going behind them because it
was routine for people to come and take children. This couple wanted the baby. I
refused to handover the baby. The Director of the Hospital insisted that the child
be handed over to the couple though I didnt have any document, he said. The
Director had threatened to penalize him for disobeying orders of a superior.
This couple wanted the baby. I refused to handover the baby. The Director of the
Hospital insisted that the child be handed over to the couple though I didnt have
any document
An Australian woman had been managing a house in Pamankada which was full of
children at the time. Prof. De Silva had volunteered to examine the children.
Today, looking back, he realizes that this place would have been a baby farm.
People would come, buy and go. She used to take money from these people.
There were lots of young Australian boy volunteers who were in their twenties or
late teens who had come to work in this place. There were also orphaned girls
who fell into the age rage between16-18. I realized that there was something odd
going on. Then I decided not to visit the place. This would have been a baby
farm, he said.
They have coerced the mothers to handover their children saying that children
will be brought up in a better place
Andrew Silva is a tour guide who drives tourists around in his van. In year 2000
he was asked by a Dutch family to look for the biological parents of their
adopted child. The search had been successful and gradually Silva was asked by
several other adoptees to look for their parents. He is 60 years old and hasnt
been involved in the adoption fraud. He helps children and mothers locate each
other as a social service. So far he has been able to reunite about 40 children
with their mothers. Around 125 mothers, in search of their children, have
approached Silva. When the met him in Negombo he explained the adoption
fraud in detail referring to information he possessed of biological mothers and
the adopted children. Holding out a birth certificate Silva said that though the
certificate claimed that the baby had been born in Kalutara, the mother had said
that the baby was born in the Karawanella Hospital in the Sabaragamuwa
Province.
-Andrew Silva
Volunteer Root Searcher
There have been brokers at the Karawanella Hospital. They have coerced the
mothers to handover the children saying that the children will be brought up in a
better place with luxuries. He further said that a broker at the Karawanella
Hospital had offered mothers Rs.1000 to handover their children.
In another case the birth certificate had been prepared claiming that the baby
was born at the Kalubowila Hospital. But this information isnt mentioned in the
registers at the Kalubowila Hospital.
In some birth certificates the name would be correct, but not the hospital. If
there are three names one would be correct. Or the fathers name would be
incorrect, he explained. Some mothers dont know where the child had been
taken to nor the childs name,he said.
In some birth certificates the name would be correct, but not the hospital. If there
are three names one would be correct
In another instance a woman was traced to be the mother of twins who had been
given away for adoption. However the mother claimed she had given birth to only
one child. Accordingly a DNA Test was done and the results proved that the two
children werent twins. Further, it was found that the woman wasnt the mother
of either of the children.
Another girl, who was searching for her biological parents, contacted the
adoption agency which had directed her to a person who was presented to her as
the biological mother. However after few years this woman couldnt be located.
Then Silva had been asked to make inquiries. He got an article published with the
name of the biological mother. Then the real biological mother had contacted
him. Later a DNA Test was done and the results had been conclusive.
Similarly in another case, a woman claimed to be the mother of the child, but
when requested to undergo the DNA Test had admitted that she wasnt the
mother. Another child had been deceived for 6 years and made to believe that
the fake mother was the actual mother. In another case the intermediary
connected with an adoption organization has promised to handover money to the
biological mother. The adopted child had asked Silva to make the inquiries
independently and after a series of events the woman who had been presented
had admitted to Silva that she wasnt the mother and that she had been asked to
act as the mother by the intermediary.
Silva stressed that the Ratnapura Hospital was a hub where adoption fraud took
place.
In 2007 a child was kidnapped, by the midwife, and taken in a paper bag, from the
Godakawala Hospital in Ratnapura. She was nabbed, but the mother saved
herself from prosecution saying that she had given her consent,he said.
Pic by Pradeep Pathirana
Adopted children have a right to know about their biological parents
M.A.M Hakeem, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public and International
Law, Faculty of Law, Colombo said that once the child is adopted there is no
relationship between the biological parent and the child.
-M.A.M Hakeem
Legal expert
So the birth certificate is amended. If a proper procedure is adopted then the
consent of parents is present. They know to whom they have given their children.
So they know where the children are,said Hakeem.

Referring to baby farms he said if women had been abducted, raped or their
children were stolen, then it is a criminal act and criminal prosecution should take
place. In such situations the biological mother has a right to know because she
had been kept in the dark and doesnt know what happened to her child, he
said.
The Ministry of Justice can advise the Attorney General to take necessary steps to
prosecute and expose who were the culprits behind these baby farms
He added that the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Health,
the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can get together to
investigate into such issues.
The Ministry of Justice can advise the Attorney General to take necessary steps
to prosecute and expose who were the culprits behind these baby farms, he said.
Under Section 360c of the Penal Code Amendment of 1995, buying, selling,
bartering people for money or any other consideration is considered trafficking
and is punishable.
If there are no local parents willing to adopt the child, the request is referred to a
foreign adoption
Probation and Child Care Services Commissioner Chandima Sigera said that if an
adopted child was searching for the biological parents the department would
assist. However, if the biological parents sought assistance the Department
wouldnt assist because the child had been given away voluntarily.
-Chandima Sigera
Commissioner of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services
She pointed out that it was only after 1992, when the Adoption Ordinance was
amended, that a proper procedure was introduced. However she added that
during adoptions, prior to 1993, there could be instances where the birth
certificate contained erroneous details. The department cant take the
responsibility for the authenticity of the information in birth certificates. If the
children have birth certificates with wrong details we cant trace the parents, she
said.
There cant be such errors today because the adoption takes place following
proper legal proceedings. We obtain the information through the provincial
probation commissioners. We take children from childrens homes for
adoption,she said.
Under the 13th Amendment, the childrens homes come under the purview of the
Provincial Probations Commissions. When a request to give a child for adoption
comes from a home, it is placed before several placement committees, so that
local couples can adopt the child. If there are no local parents willing to adopt the
child, the request is referred to foreign adoptions. If there are local parents then
there wont be a foreign adoption.
Posted by Thavam