The Flemish Welfare Minister Hilde Crevits (Christian democrat) has imposed a moratorium on international adoption after irregularities emerged in the cases of Ethiopian children that had been adopted by families here in Flanders. VRT News spoke to Noëmi Plateau and Esther Mondésir, both of whom were adopted, and Charia Chiara Candaele who carried out research into the history of adoption. We asked if international adoption is something that still should be practiced in this day and age and how it feels to be brought up in a cultural that is different to the one that they were born into.
Born in Haiti, Esther Mondésir Heurckmans (25) was adopted by a Flemish family when she was two years old. She is still in touch with her family in Haiti and started visiting them around the age of 15.
"The moment you see your biological parents and can ask the questions you wanted to ask everything falls into place. Because until they say to you, 'it is for this and that reason that I gave you up', you only hear it second hand”
"You have to see the pain, the love and the sadness in your biological parents' eyes before you can say: okay, they didn't give me up because I wasn't good enough for them."
Half this and half that
Esther is often asked if she feels more Belgian or more Haitian. “Someone said to me once that 50-50 doesn’t exist. I am 100% both: 100% Haitian and 100% Belgian. I am just as proud to be Belgian as I am to be Haitian. I am not half and half”.
"When that person told me that something fell into place. Prior to that I didn’t know what I really was. It felt like I was in a no man’s land and wasn’t one or the other. It was a very lonely existence. I am still looking for what it means to me to be Haitian”.
"When I have to explain it all to my friends, I usually give this comparison: we are plants that have been completely uprooted from our land, had all our potting soil shaken away and been replanted in new soil. People that know about plants often say that you should keep some of your potting soil to put in the new soil so that the little plant can grow better."
The downside of a moratorium on adoptions
For Esther, it is above all important that children can grow up in the right conditions. "I fully understand the importance of tackling malpractice. But the longer the moratorium lasts, the older the children in the orphanages will become and the less chance they have of being adopted."
"I think above all you should not deprive them the chance to grow up in a warm family. In an orphanage, you don't have any warmth, you are there with lots of other children and it is very difficult for a child to develop in this kind of environment. Ester’s message is clear. The moratorium
So we should especially also make sure that the adoption pause is not to the disadvantage of the children.
"You have to be thankful”
Noëmi Plateau (28) was adopted from China in 1997. She always knew she was adopted, but that doesn't make the coping process any easier. Noëmi Plateau the adoption system needs to be looked at much more critically. We also need to look at how adult adoptees are doing now. I never really was given any aftercare, I had to provide that myself. Adoption is still too often seen as a fairy tale and I do think that's a shame."
Noëmi is still searching for how she wants to give her background a place in her life. "A few years ago, I would have said that I am really very white inside. Now that I am embracing that culture more and more, I do feel it seeping in. I'm really figuring it out myself: what do you do with a culture you were born into but didn't grow up in?"
Clean sheet
Chiara Candaele (29) wrote her PhD on the history of international adoption in Belgium. She also sat on the panel of experts that advised the Flemish Government to revise the current procedures taking into account mistakes made in the past.
"In the 50s, 60s and 70s, we saw that the ‘clean slate’ principle was very much prevalent. It was believed to be better for both the child and the new family (and actually also for the birth parents) to complete that adoption as quickly as possible. Back then, it was believed to be detrimental to a child's well-being if he or she still had long-term contact with his/her biological parents. A clean break had to be made”.
It is not always easy for adopted children to go in search of their roots. "In the past, unfortunately, not all the information was always recorded and kept correctly. From my own research I have noticed that many adoptees are confronted with more questions than they get answers. As a historian, I hope that today we are much more careful about keeping records long-term”.
"It is important not only for adoptees to be able to look for their roots, but also for their descendants. Children and grandchildren also want to know where they came from and who they are descended from."