DR (Danish) Article:
”Adoptees from Chile Demand 500,000 Kroner in Compensation from the State.

Author Eva Tind Is One Of The Eight South Korean Adoptees Who Are Now Seeking Compensation From The Danish State.”

>>>DR Article Link<<<

Posted to Paperslip on March 5th, 2025

Translation via ChatGPT -

”Adoptees from Chile Demand 500,000 Kroner in Compensation from the State

Danish authorities were aware of problematic conditions related to adoptions in Chile, the accusation claims.

All international adoption has been suspended because it cannot be guaranteed that everything is conducted properly (Illustration: Søren Winther Nørbæk/DR, with image from Colourbox).

Birgitte Skovlund Asmussen
Karoline Engelund
TODAY AT 06:00

The birth certificates were forged.

Their biological parents did not consent to their adoption. And they are convinced that the Danish authorities were aware of this. This is the essence of why two individuals adopted from Chile to Denmark in the late 1970s are now demanding compensation from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing of a quarter million each, totaling 500,000 kroner.

Specifically, they believe that their human rights have been violated, more specifically Article 8 regarding the right to private and family life, as a number of questionable circumstances surrounding international adoptions have prevented them from getting to know their biological families.

Lisa Dalgas Christensen from Pramming Attorneys, who represents the two adoptees, states:

  • Their birth certificates were forged, and it has been known from the Danish side fairly early on that there were some problematic conditions in Chile, specifically at one orphanage where the two individuals were also present, she tells DR.

    The Danish Agency for Family Law states in a report that Danish oversight authorities have been aware of the mentioned orphanage's "bad reputation," and it cannot be ruled out that adoptions from Chile between 1978 and 1988 occurred on an illegal basis.

    Eight Other Adoptees Demand Millions in Compensation
    The two adoptees from Chile join a chorus of a total of 10 individuals demanding compensation from the Danish state for violations of their human rights in connection with being adopted from abroad.
    In November last year, eight adoptees from South Korea were the first to submit a compensation claim totaling two million kroner.

Author Eva Tind is one of the eight South Korean adoptees who are now seeking compensation from the Danish state. She was adopted to Denmark at the age of one on fabricated adoption papers. (Photo: © Natascha Rydvald (2023))

They believe, like the two adoptees from Chile, that the Danish state has not done enough to ensure that their rights were upheld during the adoption process.

Danish adoption agencies were well aware that their South Korean partners were altering the identities of infants before they were sent to Denmark.

This was discovered by the Danish Agency for Family Law, which has overseen international adoptions since 2016, last year when they uncovered adoptions from South Korea from the 1970s through the 1980s.

This report became an important basis for the compensation claims of the eight adoptees.

Cannot Rule Out Illegal Adoptions

The cornerstone of the new case involving the two adoptees from Chile is another report from the Danish Agency for Family Law from 2021, which examined adoptions from Chile between 1978-1988.

Here, the agency concludes that children adopted to Denmark from Chile may have been illegally removed from their parents, that there are inconsistencies in the children's birth certificates, and that it is unclear whether the infants' parents actually consented to the adoption.

  • Based on the findings, the agency assesses that it cannot be ruled out that the adoption facilitation from Chile to Denmark through AC Børnehjælp during the period 1978 to 1988 has been associated with illegal behavior in Chile, the report states.

The scandalous cases in the adoption sector also include several from India, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and South Africa. As a result, all international adoption to Denmark has been suspended indefinitely.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing has not yet responded to the compensation claim from the South Korean adoptees.

'Ready to Take the Case All the Way'

The two adoptees from Chile, who filed a compensation claim this morning, have not wished to give interviews to DR.

Their lawyer, Lisa Dalgas Christensen, who also represents the eight South Korean adoptees in their compensation case, tells DR that the monetary claim should be seen as a financial "band-aid for their trauma."

  • It should be viewed as an acknowledgment that their human rights have been violated, she says.

  • It is not okay that they have been taken from their parents and denied the opportunity to get to know their biological families.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing only received the claims from the two Chilean adoptees at 6 AM this morning, and DR News is trying to obtain a comment from them.

Who Has Been Keeping Track of the Adoptions?

In Denmark, there have been several adoption agencies over the years.
Terre des Hommes Denmark had permission to facilitate children to Denmark from abroad since 1970, but the license was revoked in 2000 following revelations about forged medical records.

AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt started in the late 1960s and are the agencies that have facilitated the most adoptions to Denmark. Both agencies closed in 2014 after several scandalous cases, including revelations about the use of child harvesters in Ethiopia.

Following their closure, the adoption agency Danish International Adoption (DIA) was established in 2015 with a promise of "a fresh start" for the adoption sector.

DIA permanently closed in October this year after it was revealed that the agency intentionally circumvented Danish and international regulations in the field.

The Danish authority overseeing international adoptions has changed over the years. From 1970 to 1981, it was the Directorate of Civil Affairs that oversaw AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt. The Ministry of Justice took over oversight in 1982.

Since 2016, the Danish Agency for Family Law has had full oversight of international adoptions to Denmark.

All international adoptions are currently on hold.

Source: Danish Agency for Family Law and DIA.

The adoptees' lawyer can already say that if the ministry rejects the claim, they will sue the state and thus involve the courts.

If they do not succeed there either, they will ultimately take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, says Lisa Dalgas Christensen.

  • We are ready to take the case all the way.
    She mentions that Pramming Attorneys are also receiving more inquiries from adoptees from countries other than Chile and South Korea, and therefore "it is easy to imagine that more compensation cases" will arise in the adoption sector.”