Receiving Countries
France
In early 2021, the RAIF association (Network of International Adoptees in France) launched a petition calling for the establishment of an inquiry into past international adoptions to France.[1] The petition gathered around 50,000 signatures. On 23 June 2021, La Voix des Adoptés, an adoptee advocacy group, and Enfance & Families d’Adoption, an adoptive parents’ advocacy group, sent an official letter to three government ministers formally requesting an independent commission of inquiry on illicit intercountry adoptions.[2] In February 2023, Fabio Macedo and Yves Denéchère, two researchers from the University of Angers, published the findings of their independent study on the topic. The focus was broad, it included any countries from which children were adopted to France, particularly between the late 1970s and the early 2000s when adoption volumes rose and illicit practices were more likely.
Based on 9,600 pages of archival material from the government’s diplomatic collections, the researchers had to produce an “historical study of illicit practices in international adoptions in France.”
The report demonstrated that numerous illicit adoptions had been carried out, despite repeated warnings sent by the consular services to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.[4] The illicit practices identified covered all actions that deviated from the adoption standards and rules established in the sending and receiving countries.
The report did not adopt a strictly legal perspective but rather aimed to contextualise these practices within their historical and geopolitical framework. The researchers emphasised that irregularities were systemic and that it was difficult to assign specific responsibilities to any singular actor.[5] While the study did not provide specific recommendations or future measures, it provided a detailed historical account of how intercountry adoptions have been conducted in France and revealed the complex realities underlying these practices.
Political and policy responses
Following this study, the French government started an administrative investigation and produced in 2024 its own report on international adoption illicit practices. It proposed several measures, including the building of an organised and secure system to meet the growing demand among adoptees to access information about their origins; the strengthening of skills and coordination of all stakeholders involved in international adoption; the improvement of cooperation with countries of origin in order to make procedures more reliable; recognising past deficiencies in the protection of children and setting up an independent commission to welcome, listen and support those affected by illicit practices.[6]
While intercountry adoption has not been formally banned or entirely suspended in France, the government has acknowledged the findings and has taken steps to strengthen oversight over all the intercountry adoptions that are still taking place in the country. In particular, in February 2022, France enacted new legislation reforming adoption procedures, known as “Loi Limon”, prohibiting individual intercountry adoption procedures and introducing stricter controls for intermediary organisations. Over recent years, whenever the necessary guarantees in terms of security and ethics of procedures were considered to be faulty, France has started suspensions of international adoptions. This led to the stop of intercountry adoptions from Haiti, Russia, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Mali and Madagascar, Dominica Republic, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[7]
In 2021, Véronique and Kean-Noël Piaser, filed a complaint for “fraud, receipt of fraud, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy”, after they discovered that their adopted daughter was stolen from her Sri Lankan mother then placed for adoption.[8] Their lawsuit argued that the real wrong is institutional, not just that intermediaries committed wrongdoing but that the French state negligently allowed this trafficking ring to happen. They sent more than five hundred letters to officials, which were mostly ignored.[9] There is no statement of the final outcome of the case, which was closed in 2024.[10]
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[1] ‘Demande d’enquete sur les adoptions illegales à l’international en France depuis 1960’ (Change) <https://www.change.org/p/demande-d-enqu%C3%AAte-sur-les-adoptions-ill%C3%A9gales-%C3%A0-l-international-en-france-depuis-1960?recruiter=1180553473>
[2] ‘Trois ministers interpelés par la VDA et EFA pour l’ouverture d’une commission d’enquete indépendante sur les adoptions illegals du passé’ <https://www.adoptionefa.org/trois-ministres-interpeles-par-la-vda-et-efa-pour-louverture-dune-commission-denquete-independante-sur-les-adoptions-illegales-du-passe/> accessed 21 January 2026.
[4] ibid
[5] ‘Adoptions Illégales en France: un rapport inédit dresse l’état des lieux’ (Le Journal CNRS, 13 February 2023) <https://lejournal.cnrs.fr/articles/adoptions-illegales-en-france-un-rapport-inedit-dresse-letat-des-lieux> accessed 8 November 2025.
[6] Claire Aubin, Martine Bardet, Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes & Marie Derain de Vaucresson, ‘Mission interministérielle relative aux pratiques illicites dans l’adoption internationale en France’ (18 March 2024) <https://www.vie-publique.fr/rapport/293402-pratiques-illicites-dans-l-adoption-internationale-en-france> accessed 8 November 2025.
[7] ‘Could International Adoption Be Prohibited in France?’ (Alliance VITA, 10 September 2024) <https://www.alliancevita.org/en/2024/09/international-adoption/> accessed 8 November 2025; ‘Le choix du pays d’origine’ <https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/adopter-a-l-etranger/le-processus-de-l-adoption-internationale/le-choix-du-pays-d-origine/> accessed 8 January 2025.
[8] ‘Témoignage – Des parents victimes d’une filière d’adoption mafieuse portent plainte pour escroquerie’ (France 3 Occitaine, 16 November 2024) <https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/occitanie/tarn-et-garonne/montauban/temoignage-tarn-et-garonne-des-parents-victimes-d-une-filiere-d-adoption-mafieuse-portent-plainte-pour-escroquerie-2163424.html> accessed 8 November 2025.
[9] Charlotte Anglade, ‘“Notre monde s’est effondré”: ils attaquent la France après l’adoption illégale de leur fille au Sri Lanka’ (TF1 Info, 2 July 2021) <https://www.tf1info.fr/justice-faits-divers/notre-monde-s-est-effondre-ils-attaquent-la-france-apres-l-adoption-illegale-de-leur-fille-au-sri-lanka-2189707.html> accessed 8 November 2025.
[10] Lynelle Long, ‘Intercountry adoptees taking legal action and reclaiming our rights’ (Intercountry Adoptee Voices, 17 October 2025) <https://intercountryadopteevoices.com/2025/10/17/intercountry-adoptees-taking-legal-action-and-reclaiming-our-rights/> accessed 8 November 2025.
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Mission interministérielle relative aux pratiques illicites dans l’adoption internationale en France (Historical Study of Illicit Practices in International Adoption in France) (2023)
Report: https://univ-angers.hal.science/hal-03972497v1
Official English Report: https://hal-lara.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04130830/