“Mother unknown”: Study on adoptions from India in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, 1973–2002

The Federal Statistical Office has been keeping records of the number of foreign children adopted since 1979. Between 1979 and 2002, 2,278 children were adopted in Switzerland from India, 256 of them in Canton Zurich and 30 in Canton Thurgau. The adoptions were mainly arranged by Roman Catholic organizations in India. During the period under investigation, India was the most important country of origin for international adoptions in Switzerland.

Failures of the authorities in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau

In their study, researchers Rita Kesselring (University of St.Gallen) and Andrea Abraham (Bern University of Applied Sciences) and historian Sabine Bitter come to the conclusion that the two cantons did not adequately fulfil their responsibilities regarding adoptions from India. They point out legal violations that began even before the Indian children were taken in, continued during the foster care relationship, and ended with the adoption decision. 

It is striking that in many cases the authorities approved an adoption without being in possession of the legally required waivers from the Indian parents or mothers. The analysis of 48 adoption cases shows that this is a systematic deficiency that also has significance for adoptions from India in other cantons. These findings fundamentally question the legality of such adoption decisions.

In Zurich and Thurgau, the granting of a license to an adoption agency in the canton to place children from India throughout Switzerland also turned out to be deficient. While the canton of Thurgau at least supervised the placement agency properly, the supervisory authority in the canton of Zurich did not fulfil this responsibility.

The situation in India

The Swiss agencies worked with selected Indian institutions, providing them with financial support. Single motherhood was a key reason for children being adopted. To this day, Indian society remains silent about the exact circumstances of separation. Women who became pregnant out of wedlock often received help only at a high price: the separation from their child.

Adoptive families in Switzerland

Married couples in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau primarily adopted children because they had no children of their own, for family-related idealistic reasons or for humanitarian reasons. India as the child's country of origin was not a criterion. The adoptive families received little support from health and educational institutions and were largely left to their own devices with bonding problems and experiences of racism.

Search for origin

Tracing requests often fail due to missing or false information, the monopoly of information of the adoption agencies, and the closed archives of Indian courts. In addition, there is the legal and moral question of whether the right of children to knowledge of their origins should be given higher priority than the right or presumed will of the mothers to anonymity.

Conclusion

The stigma of childless marriages in Switzerland and the stigma of illegitimate motherhood in India created an adoption market of supply and demand, which was also influenced by financial interests. The Swiss authorities were aware of numerous cases of problematic or even illegal adoption placements from India. The research results raise the question of the legal validity of adoption decisions made under such circumstances. Child abductions and disappearances cannot be ruled out if children have been given up for adoption without proof of their origin.

Recommendations

The researchers were commissioned by the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau to make recommendations. Rita Kesselring, Andrea Abraham and Sabine Bitter therefore make the following suggestions:

• The legality of adoption decisions made without the presence of the Indian parents or mothers is to be reviewed. This must not result in any disadvantages for the adoptees. An institutionalized, interdisciplinary task force will review documents at the request of adoptees and support their search for their origins. Switzerland is working with India to clarify how those affected can gain access to their Indian court files in order to assert their right to knowledge of origin.
• Swiss adoption agencies, together with their affiliated aid organizations and foundations, are being asked by the supervisory authorities to disclose their financial flows. The supervisory authorities are fulfilling their duty to secure the files of the agencies when they cease their activities.
• Switzerland will only allow adoptions of children from countries that have ratified the Hague Adoption Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and can prove that women can assert their reproductive rights and have freedom of choice.
• A national research program is conducting an in-depth country-specific review of international adoptions. Current reproductive practices such as surrogacy and other forms of family formation with their transgenerational consequences are also being examined.

The website www.adoptionsforschung.ch accompanies the research project and makes the results available to a broader public. It will also be available in English in January 2025. With additional interviews, photos, audio and video material, it offers a scientifically based, vivid insight into the topic of international adoptions from India.

The book “Mother Unknown: Adoptions from India in the Cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, 1973–2002” (Andrea Abraham, Sabine Bitter, Rita Kesselring, eds.) is published by Chronos Verlag. The book can be downloaded free of charge as an e-book (open access). The English translation will be published as an e-book by Chronos Verlag in January 2025.

Image: Chronos Verlag