Researchers
Sabine Bitter
Sabine Bitter studied History and German Language and Literature at the University of Basel and the Free University of Berlin and graduated from university with a licentiate degree in 1989. Until today she is working as a journalist for Swiss Radio and Television.
In addition to her journalistic research, she started working as a freelance historian, focusing on foster children and adoptions. From 2005 to 2008, she contributed to a Swiss National Science Foundations’s research project on «Verdingkinder». These were children from poor and often socially marginalized families, placed on farms and subjected to forced labor. This was in line with a widespread practice in Switzerland that continued into the second half of the 20th century.
In 2018, together with the journalist Nathalie Nad-Abonji, Sabine Bitter published a study on Tibetan children adopted in Switzerland in the 1960s. This was the first published study concerning the history of international adoptions in Switzerland.
This study was followed by an investigation, commissioned by the Canton of St.Gallen, into the archive documents of the adoption agent Alice Honegger, who worked in this field for fifty years. It emerged that, amongst other things, she was involved in child trafficking networks in Sri Lanka. This report prompted further research commissions from the Swiss authorities.
In collaboration with the journalist and freelance sociologist Annika Bangerter, Sabine Bitter co-authored a report on international adoptions from Sri Lanka to Switzerland, published in 2020. This project, led by Prof. Nadja Ramsauer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, examined the role of Swiss private adoption agencies and authorities. The report was commissioned by the Swiss Federal Department of Justice. It prompted the Swiss Federal Council to formally express regret for past illegal adoption practices (https://www.bj.admin.ch/de/illegale-adoptionen-von-kindern-aus-sri-lanka).
Between 2022 and 2024, Sabine Bitter collaborated with social anthropologist Prof. Andrea Abraham from the Bern Universtity 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. The study was published in German under the title «Mutter unbekannt», in 2024 (https://www.chronos-verlag.ch/node/28771) an in English «Mother unknown», in 2025 (https://www.chronos-verlag.ch/node/28927).
Currently, she is working on a research project into domestic adoptions in Switzerland in connection with compulsory welfare measures. This study is commissioned by the Canton of St.Gallen.
Publications on intercountry adoptions
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
In the media
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).