Limburg woman files a complaint about adoption fraud after a Colombian boy turns out to have a sister

A Limburg woman has filed a complaint about adoption fraud against strangers after a Colombian boy she adopted turned out to have a sister in his home country. That’s what Het Laatste Nieuws writes.

Source: The Latest News, BELGA

Today at 11:46

The woman in question is said to have discovered in Colombian documents in her adoption file last fall that her adopted son had another sister. The boy is said to have occasionally referred to his sister before, but this was initially dismissed as fantasy. The mother now feels cheated because she never intended to separate a brother and sister.

The adoptive mother already filed a complaint with the Flemish Growing Up Agency in November and states that the complaint has now also been deemed well-founded, but that nothing further has been done. The woman therefore now turns to the court to find out exactly how the fork is attached to the handle. The complaint also revolves around possible forgery.

Mother did not respond to the invitation to discuss

However, after the investigation, the adoptive mother did not respond to an invitation to talk, Opgroeien states. “We have investigated the complaint, which had various elements, very thoroughly,” said Nele Wouters, spokesperson for the Growing Up agency, in a response. “We have collected a lot of information and invited the person concerned for an interview to share that information with her. However, she never responded to that.” The woman then allegedly requested the information through open government, and has now apparently gone to court.

The agency says it cannot comment further on the contents of the file or the investigation, for privacy reasons and especially because a minor child is involved. In general, Opgroeien states that in the event of a complaint about possible adoption fraud, it “would not hesitate to go to the public prosecutor’s office” if there were “elements pointing to irregularities”.

Partly because of the Colombian file, Flemish Minister of Welfare Hilde Crevits (CD&V) imposed an “adoption pause” at the end of last year. However, this will in principle soon come to an end, also for adoptions from Colombia.