Anna Singer, professor of civil law, has headed the government's adoption committee. On Monday, the proposals were submitted to Social Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M).
According to Anna Singer, everything from child trafficking to undocumented consent from parents has occurred in connection with adoptions.
The confirmed cases of child trafficking come from around ten countries. But how many cases it involves in each country is unknown. Over 50,000 adoptions have been carried out since Sweden began international adoption activities in the 1950s.
It is in the 1970s and 1980s, in private adoptions, that there are reports of children being sold, says Anna Singer.
There are also reports of child trafficking in China in the 2000s, according to Singer.
Lack of Consent
Inadequate documentation of adoptions is more widespread, but the investigator cannot say how much.
It varies between different countries and different times. But overall, you can see that in surprisingly many cases, consent from one parent is lacking, despite the parent being named in the papers, says Anna Singer.
She does not believe that international adoption mediation is still a sustainable solution for "children as a group".
For the individual child who is adopted, an adoption can be in the child's best interest, but on a group level, it is not a solution.
Singer emphasizes that Sweden cannot guarantee that irregularities do not occur in the countries with which we cooperate.
She also believes that Swedish actors have not acted forcefully enough when irregularities have been revealed earlier.
The state needs to acknowledge the human rights violations that have occurred and apologize, says Anna Singer.
The apology is intended for all adoptees.
It probably has the greatest value for those where there may have been some kind of irregularity, she says.
Fewer Adoptions
The Adoption Committee was established in the fall of 2021 by the then S-MP government. This was against the background of, among other things, DN's revelations about how adopted children from countries such as Chile, China, and South Korea were stolen from their biological parents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Is this basis sufficient to dismantle all international adoption activities?
It is, of course, too early to say before we have read this comprehensive investigation. We also want to take part in the responses from the referral bodies, says Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.
She does not rule out that there may be a state apology to all those affected.
Today, fewer children are being adopted to Sweden. Last year, the Adoption Center, which is the country's largest mediator, mediated 36 adoptive children. This can be compared to the record year 1985 when the figure was over 900.
Corrected: In an earlier version, an incorrect number of cases of child trafficking occurred.
