The first thought after Wednesday's news that Sweden may eventually ban international adoptions was that it feels backwards, says Alexander Forselius.
One can still regulate this in some way, I think, he says about the irregularities in the industry that are behind the discussions about prohibition.
According to a report, which has not yet been released to the public but which the newspaper Expressen has taken part of, the adoption commission set up by the previous government is investigating various arguments that could lead to Sweden stopping international adoptions.
Can reach another conclusion
In recent years, several alarms have been raised about irregularities in the adoption industry, which have shown that economic interests – and not the child's best interests – have been governing in several cases.
"To counteract the risks that exist in international adoption activities, strong governance and control of the activities are required. We can, however, establish that despite great efforts to secure the system, irregularities in international adoptions still occur", it says in documents from the commission, according to Expressen.
The leader of the investigation, Anna Singer, says to TT that the commission's work is not yet complete. It is therefore possible that the investigation reaches a different conclusion than proposing a ban.
Many children have been adopted in Sweden and we know that for many of them, it has gone very well, says Singer.
"Collective punishment"
Alexander Forselius came to Sweden in December 1994, after nearly four years in an orphanage in Romania. He is very positive about his own adoption.
Instead of banning adoptions, more emphasis should be placed on controlling the industry and ensuring that everything goes right, he thinks.
This becomes collective punishment instead.
