Netherlands to phase out international adoption over next six years

The Netherlands is to phase out international adoption over the next six years, following a 2021 report that raised concerns about potential abuse.

In the past 50 years, Dutch parents have adopted around 40,000 children from 80 countries. However, the practice has declined significantly in recent years, with only 50 adoptions from abroad in 2023, according to the independent Dutch Youth Institute think tank.

Adoptees have often discovered as adults that their birth documents are forged or lost, or that their adoptions were illegal.

The Netherlands had already frozen international adoptions between February 2021 and November 2022, after a government commission found that children had been stolen or bought from their birth parents in cases going back to the 1960s.

The lengthy phase-out is intended to allow countries of origin to adjust and to allow agencies permitted to act as intermediaries to complete procedures and continue to submit applications for overseas adoption until May 1, 2030.

Adoptees and adoptive parents will continue to receive support after 2030.

"The interests of children are best served when they can grow up in a safe environment in their own country, region or culture," the government said in a statement.