Researchers

Sabine Bitter studied History and German Language and Literature at the University of Basel and the Free University of Berlin between 1983 and 1989. Since 2000, she has been working as a freelance historian, focusing on research related to international adoptions from Tibet, Sri Lanka, and India. From 2005 to 2008, she contributed to the Swiss National Science Foundation’s research project on Verdingkinder—a historical practice in Switzerland where children from poor or socially marginalized families were placed on farms and subjected to forced labor.

In 2018, together with journalist Nathalie Nad-Abonji, Bitter published a study on Tibetan children adopted in Switzerland. The following year, in collaboration with journalist and freelance sociologist Annika Bangerter, she co-authored a report on international adoptions from Sri Lanka to Switzerland between 1973 and 1997. This project, led by Prof. Nadja Ramsauer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, examined the role of Swiss private adoption agencies and authorities. Commissioned by the Swiss Federal Department of Justice, the report was published in 2020. It prompted the Swiss Federal Council to formally express regret for past illegal adoption practices.

Between 2022 and 2024, Sabine Bitter collaborated with social anthropologist Prof. Andrea Abraham from the Bern University of Applied Sciences on a commissioned research project about adoptions from India to Switzerland. This project, led by Prof. Rita Kesselring at the University of St. Gallen, was conducted on behalf of the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau.

E-mail-address: bittersab@gmail.com

Bitter, S., Abraham, A., Kesselring, R. (eds.) (2024). Mutter unbekannt. Adoptionen aus Indien in den Kantonen Zürich und Thurgau, 1973–2002. Bern: Chronos-Verlag. Available at: https://www.bfh.ch/en/research/reference-projects/adoptions-1973-2002-cantons-zurich-thurgau/

Bitter, S. (2022). “Switzerland Takes First Steps to Deal with Illegal Intercountry Adoptions.” In Loibl, E., Smolin, D.M. (eds.), Facing the Past: Policies and Good Practices for Responses to Illegal Intercountry Adoptions. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing. Available at: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/files/232904139/9789047301882_WEB.pdf

Bitter, S., Bangerter, A., Ramsauer, N. (2020). Adoptionen von Kindern aus Sri Lanka in der Schweiz 1973–1997: Zur Praxis der privaten Vermittlungsstellen und der Behörden. Zürich: Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. Available at: Adoptionen von Kindern aus Sri Lanka in der Schweiz 1973 – 1997 : zur Praxis der privaten Vermittlungsstellen und der Behörden. Historische Analyse betreffend das Postulat Ruiz 17.4181 im Auftrag des Bundesamts für Justiz

Bitter, S. (2019). Die Vermittlerin. Die Kinder-Adoptionen aus Sri Lanka von Alice Honegger und die Aufsicht der Behörden (1979–1996). St. Gallen: Amt für Soziales des Departements des Innern des Kantons St. Gallen. Available at: Adoptionen von Kindern aus Sri Lanka in den Jahren 1979 bis 1997 – Bericht von Sabine Bitter.pdf   

Bitter, S. (2018). Tibetische Kinder für Schweizer Familien. Die Aktion Aeschimann. Zürich: Rotpunktverlag. ISBN 978-3-85869-779-0

SRF, Postcast “Die «Sri Lanka-Adoptionen» – Ein Schweizer Skandal”, 21.04.2020, available at  https://www.srf.ch/audio/kontext/die-sri-lanka-adoptionen-ein-schweizer-skandal?id=844b3dbb-5e43-444f-8068-00943f867750 (german).