2nd December 2010

UN finds irregularities in Guatemalan adoptions
A United Nations anti-corruption commission has found irregularities in Guatemala's adoption program despite government efforts to prevent fraudulent adoptions.
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RIP Betty Jean Lifton.....

22nd November 2010

Adoption watchdog to enforce new rules
A HIQA-STYLE inspection unit to ensure bodies approved to provide adoption services meet strict new regulations is being considered by the Adoption Authority. 
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15th November 2010

Cautious welcome to work on adoption law
THE Government’s confirmation that work has started on tracing and information legislation for adopted people and natural parents has a received a cautious welcome from adoption support groups.
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6th November 2010

New legislation has left voluntary adoption agencies in limbo
When the Adoption Board was replaced by the Adoption Authority on Monday, agencies, prospective parents and children up for adoption were left in a state of uncertainty, writes KATE HOLMQUIST 
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5th November 2010

The Adoption Act
"But much work remains to be done, notably in bringing into being an information and tracing system for those who were adopted in Ireland decades ago. The Minister’s commitment to legislation in this area should be acted on quickly." 
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4th November 2010

Adoption Options
Click here to read Mari Steed's excellent response to a letter to the Irish Times from a priest seeking to promote adoption as an alternative to abortion.

2nd November 2010

Authority chief draws line between humanitarian aid and adoptions
THERE must be a clear distinction between humanitarian aid and individual adoptions in any future dealing with countries involved in inter-country adoption, according to the chairman of the new Adoption Authority of Ireland, Geoffrey Shannon. 
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Pressuring countries on adoption 'can lead to trafficking'
Putting pressure on countries to sign up to adoption agreements could potentially lead to child trafficking, a childcare expert warned yesterday.  
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Adoption body takes child-first approach
THE ADOPTION Authority, which came into existence yesterday, will ensure that the best interests of the child prevail in all adoptions, according to its chairman, Geoffrey Shannon. At the core of that must be consent, he said.
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Gran of Madonna's adopted daughter threatens suicide
THE gran of Madonna’s adopted daughter has threatened to kill herself unless the child is returned to Africa.
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1st November 2010

New Adoption Authority launched

Click here to view the RTÉ News Report on the Adoption Authority launch, including an interview with Susan Lohan of Adoption Rights Alliance.

Click here for details on the members of the board of the new Adoption Authority.  Adopted people are still not represented.

Vietnam adoption procedures treat children as ‘commodities’
CORRUPT adoption procedures in Vietnam had reduced the country’s children to a commodity worth "less than a pig".
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"The Waiting Game"
SINCE May of last year, countless headlines have reported the clamour amongst lobby groups for adoptive parents, politicians and scores of couples left in limbo to reopen Vietnam as a country from which Irish couples can adopt. In May of last year, following concerns about adoption procedures, Minister for Children Barry Andrews decided not to renew Ireland’s bilateral agreement with Vietnam on intercountry adoption.  Amidst accusations of an information vacuum on the subject and calls for a new bilateral, Mr Andrews stood firm, citing concerns about adoption procedures in the country.
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Andrews launch of the Adoption Authority of Ireland
Click here to read the Minister for Children's Press Release on the enactment of the Adoption Act and the launch of the new Adoption Authority.

New Adoption Authority appointed
The establishment of a new Adoption Authority from today is a key element of a “complete overhaul” of the adoption process in Ireland, Minister for Children Barry Andrews has said.
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13th October 2010

Mari Steed's Interview on TV3 News
Click here to see Mari Steed's interview with TV3 News during her visit to Ireland.

12th October 2010

No probe into illegal adoption files
THE Adoption Board has said it has no intention of inspecting all adoption files held by the HSE and private adoption agencies, despite the HSE admitting some files contain evidence of illegal birth registrations.
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27th September 2010

Adoptees battle to get copies of birth certificates
ALMOST half of all adopted people who applied for a copy of their original birth certificate in recent years have not received the vital document.
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1st September 2010

Bill slated by adoptees and birth parents
THE newly passed Adoption Bill has been heavily criticised for failing to include information and tracing rights for more than 42,000 adopted people and birth parents.
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Government inaction revealed over child vaccine trials
It has emerged that the Irish government was made aware of the secret vaccine trials at least six years ago but failed to investigate the issue.
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Lynott's son's joy as Phil's family recognise him
THE son of Phil Lynott has spoken of his happiness after finally being acknowledged by the family of the singer.
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Philomena Lynott overcame extraordinary odds to raise her beloved 'only boy'. Now she tells of the second son and daughter she gave up for adoption - and why she kept them secret for 50 years."  
The whole world knows how hard Philomena Lynott fought to keep and raise her son Philip – and what a job she made of it.
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Adoption heartbreak
Everyone wants to know where they come from, who they resemble and whose genes are responsible for the bits of themselves they don't like, and I am no different. I was born in Belfast on March 7, 1975. My birth mother had resided in an institution for unmarried mothers for much of her pregnancy with me and I had been baptised in a church in the south of the city.
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Woman denied pill on "religious" basis
A KERRY woman had to travel to Cork to get the morning-after-pill after she was refused the emergency contraception on "religious grounds".
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27th August 2010

Paddy Doyle: We need to know if we were used as guinea pigs
I can still smell iodine and surgical spirit as if it was under my nose as I write these words. IN recent weeks, new investigations carried out by the Irish Independent have raised the question of whether or not children placed in industrial schools were subjected to vaccine trials by multinational drug companies. This issue has been put to one side since the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, under the chairmanship of Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, was prohibited from including it in its original terms of reference. Following a successful court hearing taken by doctors named as having taken part in the experimental vaccination, the issue was allowed to fade into the background.
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Truth needed on vaccine trials  
THE Government must disclose all that is known about controversial vaccine trials carried out on children in the care of the State in past decades.
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More vaccine trials were kept secret by the State  
Harney under pressure to order full investigation
THE Government was told about secret vaccine trials at least six years ago but has refused to investigate them ever since.  
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Pressure for inquiry into trials of vaccines
PRESSURE was last night growing on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into controversial vaccine trials carried out in the 1960s and 1970s. The Adoption Rights Alliance joined the growing chorus of survivors and politicians calling for a new probe into the trials, which were conducted on behalf of a multinational drugs company.
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Files go missing in child vaccine inquiry
Howlin can't remember probe or its findings
THE deputy chairman of the Dail was last night at the centre of a new controversy over child vaccine trials.
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Drug victim seeks justice to right 50-year-old wrong
WHEN Mari Steed gave up her baby for adoption as a teenager, it sparked an emotional search for the identity of her own birth mother. But she had no idea that the journey into her past would throw up stark revelations about her involvement in a controversial vaccine-testing regime as a baby.  
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Readers call to tell their stories  
SEVERAL victims contacted this newspaper yesterday after revelations about child vaccine trials.  
People from across the country, and abroad, rang the newsroom to tell their own story.
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Call for vaccine trials investigation  
Former residents of orphanages and mother and baby homes have called for an independent inquiry into vaccine trials carried out on children in the 1960s and 1970s. The call came after it emerged that a number of people who were involved in the trials are to take legal action against the drugs company involved.  
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20th August 2010

Victim in legal battle over infant drug trial  
'I was used as a guinea pig in child vaccine scandal'
A WOMAN subjected to a controversial vaccine trial as a baby without her mother's consent broke her silence last night to reveal her traumatic decades-long fight for justice.
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The forgotten children of Ireland's hidden scandal
SUSPICIONS that vaccine trials had taken place on vulnerable Irish children -- many of whom were in state care -- first surfaced in the early 1990s.
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Three trials across 13 years tested drugs on young boys and girls
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Calls for closure to vaccine scandal
The Government must bring closure to victims of the vaccine scandals of the 1960s and 1970s, Fine Gael Deputy Denis Naughten said today. The call came after it emerged that a woman adopted from Ireland in 1961, who was involved in a vaccine trial as a baby without the permission of her mother, is to take legal action against the drugs company involved.
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No surprise Irish babies of single mothers were guinea pigs for drug testing
The news that Irish babies in the 1960s born to unmarried mothers were used as guinea pigs in a drug trial without their parent's consent is truly shocking.
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14th August 2010

I had no birth cert so why was my adoption allowed?
CAROL O’KEEFFE has known from a young age she was adopted. However, last December she was horrified to discover the Adoption Board granted her adoption in July 1972 without one key piece of documentation – her birth certificate – and in the knowledge that her birth had never been registered.
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Scandals at home and abroad have shaken board
THE Adoption Board has been at the centre of a number of scandals concerning how domestic and foreign adoptions have been carried out since adoption was made legal in 1952. According to its website, the Adoption Board is "responsible for registering and supervising the registered adoption societies and for maintaining the adoption societies register". However, the level of supervision it actually carries out is questionable.
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12th August 2010

Civil servant to take over Adoption Board reins  
A TOP civil servant has been drafted in to take over the running of the Adoption Board following the sudden departure of the chief executive last month.
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23rd July 2010

Adoption Board chief executive leaves post
THE chief executive of the Adoption Board left the post at the beginning of July, it has been confirmed.
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1st July 2010

Adoption Bill
The Adoption Bill passed through the Dail on Wednesday 29th June.  A debate is expected in the Seanad on Friday 2nd July.  Adopted people are extremely disappointed that this Bill contains no provision for their rights.  The campaign will continue into the summer to ensure that Barry Andrews follows through on his commitment to bring forward an Information Bill.  

Watch this space for developments.

11th June 2010

Adoption authorities to audit tracing records
THE Adoption Board has confirmed it is to carry out an audit of its information and tracing service records to identify any cases involving illegal activity.  
The audit comes following the Irish Examiner’s investigation into the case of Tressa Reeves, whose son was illegally adopted and falsely registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents. This was facilitated by St Patrick’s Guild adoption agency, which remains fully accredited by the Adoption Board, despite it being aware of the case since 2001.  
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A Chennai slum dweller's fight for her Dutch son
CHENNAI:  On June 15, when Nagarani Kathirvel leaves the squalor of a Chennai slum for the first time and appears in a court hall in Zwolle-Lelystad in the Netherlands, she would still be a long way from the end of her bitter, traumatic struggle. But it would be a beginning — to establish in a foreign court of law that she is the mother of a 12-year-old Dutch boy. About 10 years ago, Rohit Shivam Bissesar was Satheesh Kumar, a toddler living in the Pulianthope slums, that is, until he was kidnapped and given away in adoption to a Dutch couple. Earlier this month, a court in the town of Lelystad in the Netherlands summoned her to appear before it.
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Joan tells of painful search for birth mum
DUBLIN TD Joan Burton has revealed her pain at trying to find her birth mother. Ms Burton (below) has made an impassioned plea with the Department of Health to introduce new laws that will make it easy for adopted people to find their biological parents.
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Devastating aftermath of State’s intrusion
A DNA test confirmed everything. When the report came back positive, James felt numb. Had they not had a child, they would have said nothing. But this is too real, too raw, to be left lie. "JAMES” MET “Maura” seven years ago, when he moved to the town where she worked. They started going out and Maura introduced James to her parents and brother. Two years later, they had a son, “Mark”.
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9th June 2010

Illegal Adoptions
In light of Adoption Board chairman Geoffrey Shannon's commitment to deal with the issue of illegal adoptions on RTÉ’s Prime Time (May 20^th, 2010)  we are advising people who were illegally adopted and natural parents whose sons/daughers were illegally adopted, to contact Geoffrey Shannon.
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Openness and Transparency
On 31st May 2010 Adoption Rights Alliance wrote to Geoffrey Shannon and the Adoption Board regarding the issue of illegal adoptions, specifically referring to one particular case which the Board (previously under the chairmanship of Jim O'Sullivan) has ignored for five years (despite being alerted by us in 2005).  To date, no response or acknowledgement has been received.  Click here for specific questions put to the Adoption Board.

4th June 2010

1901 Census Access
Millions get access to free census records while adopted people are denied basic human rights. Adopted people are outraged as Mary Hanafin, the same minister who sought to criminalise them, glibly acknowledges the importance of being rooted and having access to history and heritage. Click here for Claire McGettrick's reaction and click here for the Irish Times report.

1st June 2010

Adoption Bill Report (Final) Stage
Report Stage of the Adoption Bill is taking place tomorrow, 2nd June after 11.30am.  Please contact your local TDs and ask them to consider adopted people's rights in their deliberations on the Bill.  Click here for details on how to help.  To view the debate live from Dáil Éireann click here

27th May 2010

Adoption Bill Report (Final) Stage
Report Stage of the Adoption Bill commenced today and is now adjourned until next week. This means it's not too late to contact your local TDs and ask them to consider adopted people's rights in the Adoption Bill.  Click here for details on how to help.  

26th May 2010

Adoption Bill Report (Final) Stage
Report Stage of the Adoption Bill is taking place tomorrow, 27th May at 10.30am.  Please contact your local TDs and ask them to consider adopted people's rights in their deliberations on the Bill.  Click here for details on how to help.  To view the debate live from Dáil Éireann click here

21st May 2010

Press Release:  Adoption Rights Alliance Welcomes Shannon’s Commitment to Deal with Illegal Adoptions
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20th May 2010

Prime Time coverage of adoption
RTÉ's Prime Time will cover adoption tonight.  Click here to watch online

Adoption judgements uploaded here and background/other legislation uploaded here

Report stage of the Adoption Bill is taking place next week.  Click here for details on how to help. 

4th May 2010

New blog by Mari Steed added: Adopted 'Children' and Parents: at age 50?
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2nd May 2010

Letters to Barry Andrews:
Click here for letters to Barry Andrews written by adopted people and their families

28th April 2010

Adopted People are demanding medical cards for themselves and their children so long as the government, the Adoption Board and the adoption agencies conspire to keep our medical histories secret thus obstructing us from taking preventative measures with regard to hereditary diseases. 

Click on the thumbnails below for examples of the attitude towards adopted people's medical history.  One says: "Fam Hx: (ie family history) not relevant (adopted)" and the other says "Fhx (ie family history) parents* well.  She's adopted".  These scans are from actual medical files.
(*refers to adoptive parents)

Can you think of any other scenario where this is acceptable?  Why is this considered acceptable treatment for adopted people?  

26th April 2010

Open letter to Barry Andrews from Claire McGettrick
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Adoption Board Website:
The Adoption Board website has been deemed a threat by both Google and Mozilla Firefox for over a week and counting.  In the meantime their website is unavailable to those who need it.  See the screenshots below. 

21st April 2010

Barry Andrews Opinion Piece, Irish Examiner
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Surge in calls to adoption helplines
ADOPTION support groups have received a surge of calls to their helplines following the Irish Examiner’s special investigation into the issue of illegal adoption.   As part of the investigation we revealed the heartbreaking story of Tressa Reeves and her 50-year search for an illegally adopted son.
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20th April 2010

Anecdotal evidence
Anecdotal evidence of practices of adoption agencies and societies encountered by Adoption Rights Alliance#
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Adoption Rights Alliance Opinion Piece: Unlike horses, we've no right to a birth cert
Adopted people have no legal rights to their birth certificates and will most likely remain ignorant of their natural parents, writes Susan Lohan and Claire McGettrick. 
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A hidden heritage
"OUR whole social history as a nation is in those files and some of it is not pretty but it’s my heritage and it’s the heritage of 42,000 other people." The words of Angela Murphy, an adopted person, who like so many adopted people and natural parents is deeply frustrated at what are felt to be woefully inadequate tracing and reunion services.
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Irish Examiner Letters: Same old shameful story of lies, cover-ups and denials
I JUST would like to say thank you to Tressa Reeves for having the courage to tell her story (April 19) to the nation in your special investigation.
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Legacy of illegal adoption
When I wrote for a previous incarnation of this newspaper a number of years ago I used to touch regularly on the topic of adoption. Some time around the year 2000, through a series of coincidences, I found myself involved with adopted people and birth parents. I was not impressed with what I learned. Much of it not only saddened and angered me, but made me somewhat ashamed to be Irish. 
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19th April 2010

Tortured journey
TRESSA REEVES stares at the framed piece of paper on the wall. The birth cert takes pride of place in her home. After a battle with the state lasting almost 50 years, she finally has official recognition that she gave birth to a boy in 1961. 
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Illegal adoptions - A chance to make amends
THERE are few enough events in life as traumatic has feeling obliged to give up a newborn child for adoption.
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In search of a long-lost boy
TRESSA REEVES was born Teresa Mary Donnelly in England to an Irish father and an English mother. In 1960, at the age of 20 and unmarried, she became pregnant. She had been involved in a relationship with an older man which did not last. Given the stigma which surrounded unmarried mothers and so-called "illegitimate" children at the time, Tressa’s mother made arrangements with nuns in their local convent in England and she was sent to Dublin to enable the birth to be hidden from neighbours and relatives and be placed for adoption.
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