COLOMBIA: Children put up for adoption without parental consent

Summary: Three-hundred Colombian families have come forward whose children were allegedly given up for adoption without their consent.

[19 April 2012] - Hundreds of Colombian children were given up for adoption to Dutch and other foreign adoptive couples without the permission of their parents. 

Dutch national daily came to this conclusion after investigating the adoption of a seven-year-old called Stephen, who was taken from a Cali children’s home by his Dutch adoptive parents and has since been living in the Dutch town of Dokkum. 

De Telegraaf writes that the Colombian child welfare authorities put the boy up for adoption without the permission of his biological parents. However, it remains to be seen whether the adoption was actually illegal; Colombia is one of just a few countries where children can be given up for adoption once their parents have been deprived of their parental rights. 

The case, which was exposed by Colombian current affairs programme, has sparked an outcry in the country. Since the initial broadcast, more than 300 families have come forward whose children were allegedly taken from them in the same way. 

The Netherlands is home to about 6,000 adoptive children from Colombia, at least 15 of them were reportedly adopted without their parents’ consent. 

Further Information:

• ADOPTION AND CHILDREN: A human rights perspective (Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, May 2011)
• ADOPTION: States gathered in The Hague admit the existence of child trafficking in the context of adoption (5 July 2010)  
• The Rights of the Child in Internal and Intercountry Adoption - Ethical Principles - Guidelines for Practice  (10 March 2010)
• More on children without parental care
• More on children's rights in Colombia