INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was not long into a research trip to Bangladesh, on behalf of an organisation seeking to reunite children adopted abroad with their birth
relatives, when Kana Verheul found herself huddled in a cafe toilet, comparing birthmarks with a stranger.That trip seven years ago was one
of many that Verheul, 49, had taken to the country of her birth since she was 16 years old, travelling back to Bangladesh for the first time
After decades of trying in vain to find her siblings, Verheul joined forces with other people in her situation to set up an organisation
called the Shapla Community, creating a network of hundreds of Bangladesh adoptees raised in the Netherlands
If she could not find her own family, she could at least help others find theirs.View image in fullscreenFrom left: Kana Verheul, Asad van
Gelderen and Suma de Heij
All three were adopted from Bangladesh and are now involved with the Shapla Community
Photograph: Noor Alam/The GuardianVerheul was among those from Shapla who spent hours interviewing Bangladeshis with extraordinary stories
about their children, many of whom claim they were taken for adoption abroad without their consent
It was one of these interviews that led her to the cafe meeting with a woman from the area where she was born.Verheul tried to see if there
was any family resemblance with the woman, but could not see any
I truly believed that Kana was my real Bangladeshi name because it was in my birth papers
still not convinced, so she asked if there were any birthmarks
from Bangladesh and grew up in the Netherlands
Photograph: Noor Alam/The GuardianVerheul returned to the Netherlands and anxiously awaited the results
Two weeks after they met, a DNA test confirmed they were sisters
I was driving on the highway when the doctor called
I could finally accept that this was my sister
Immediately I got a huge headache
I had to stop next to the road
From all over, from my ears, from my toes, from deep inside me
Verheul how she came to be adopted abroad as a baby
The story she shared horrified Verheul, but it also confirmed suspicions that she had had for years.In February 2021, the Dutch government
temporarily suspended the adoption of children from abroad to the Netherlands after a lengthy investigation found children from Bangladesh,
Colombia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Brazil had been stolen or bought from their birth parents
In the case of Bangladesh, it was the culmination of many years of claims that children had wrongly been adopted between 1973 and 1981
Police in Bangladesh launched in investigation into the adoptions after the Guardian reported on the allegations last year.Through the
2010s, as social networking grew, Bangladeshi adoptees from the Netherlands began seeking each other out online
A forum was established and the adoptees began exchanging information
But now we had each other
Shapla helped to reunite with her child, pictured Photograph: Noor Alam/The GuardianOnce those on the forum connected, Verheul says a number
of adoptees realised that they had siblings within the group
Shapla was officially founded, to help adoptees find their relatives in Bangladesh
found each other in Bangladesh and within the Netherlands
One adoptee discovered she had an identical twin who arrived in the Netherlands at the same time as her, but the pair were split up and
But there are small clues dotted around the home she shares with her family, about half an hour from Amsterdam, that the happy upbringing
she had was not the end of her story
A large blackboard hangs in the kitchen, with details written in chalk of an upcoming search mission
She explained that her father had three wives, and one of them had convinced him to take Nasima to a daycare home nearby when her mother was
away because she had become ill and needed medical care
She had been adopted by a couple in the Netherlands who believed she was an orphan
The joy of finding her sister is tempered by the fury and deep sadness she feels about her past
But nothing makes up for the loss you had to endure
campaigning to put an end to intercountry adoption altogether
The group believes that instead of international adoption, the focus should be on supporting vulnerable families, strengthening youth care
systems, and improving quality of care in countries of origin so children can be cared for in familiar surroundings
Their argument is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises the right of children to grow up in their own
of land in the village named in her passport
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
