Europe Gets It: "Preventing the first form of violence against children: abandonment at birth.

THIS report is from the June 27, 2009 Council of Europe's meeting. The first part of the meeting is titled "Preventing the first form of violence against children: abandonment at birth."

It contains a wealth of material. The report addresses adoption, maternity homes, anonymous infant abandonment, along with affirmations for supporting unmarried mothers and their children.


A quote:

Mr HANCOCK (United Kingdom)rapporteur.

..."I agree entirely with Ms Woldseth that trafficking and selling of babies is an obscene act. Turning babies into a commodity and making money out of them is evil."


..."I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw in Ukraine. The Ukrainians tried to bring couples together again but, more important, to bring mothers and babies together again, giving them sustained help – funding them and looking after them for a two-year period. Some of the mothers we met were only 14 or 15-year-olds and had given up their children but, because of the support they were able to receive, they had been reunited with their child only three or four months later. They lived in caring communities of six mothers with close support. One of the girls had gone back to school and was hoping to go to university. She was looking after her baby, and I am delighted to say that the baby now has recognition from his father. That was due to the determined efforts of the mother to make something of her life and because Ukrainian society had put in the resources to make that happen. I should like such examples to be followed in many different places. They are small projects but there is much hope arising from them."


..."In all instances, I am sure that every mother wants to keep her child with her if it is at all practical or possible. Even in the direst situations, they hold on to their children. One of the most tragic scenes I have ever witnessed was in Ethiopia in 1984. A mother had walked across the desert for 10 days during the worst of the famine on the borders of Eritrea and Ethiopia, carrying her child. She was a young woman in her early 20s and her baby was very weak and sick. The baby had literally drained her mother of all the fluids in her body. For 10 days, the mother had walked across the desert. When she arrived at the aid station where I was privileged to be, the baby was taken from her and was saved. The last words that the mother said to the Ethiopian nurse who was looking after her were, “Will my baby live?” Within minutes of being told that her baby would live, she died. I do not know where that girl is now, but I hope that she always remembers the sacrifice that her mother made to keep her alive."

These speeches were made prior to a vote taken on "Preventing the first form of violence against children: abandonment at birth (Doc. 11538.)" You can read the entire resolution here.

Item 4 of the resolution states:

4. The Assembly notes that adoption has become a market and that the shortage of adoptable babies in the west makes matters worse. Adoption is closely tied up with abandonment, just as it is with child trafficking. Non-governmental organisations often complain that mothers in distress are not sufficiently well informed about the options open to them and that their vulnerability is exploited to persuade them in effect to abandon their newborn children. (Emphasis added.)

The resolution passed 29/1/0.

It's good for all of us to take a moment to reflect on the fact that even though at times it seems as though the adoption industry has effectively created an alterative version of reality regarding adoption and its outcomes in this country, rational people elsewhere do get it. European leaders are making it clear that they, at least, refuse to live in a Potemkin Village in AdoptionLand.