Drawing Diary: 22 and 23 March 2012

22 March: I am going to fight to get my sons back.

On 8 March, I talked about a man who found "real joy" in his newborn twin boys, after him and his wife had been clean for three and two and a half years. They named the boys Benjamin and Christian. He knew every villian from Trondheim to Oslo, and none of them had those names. This week the Norwegian Child Welfare Agency (Barnevernet) came without notice and two police officers and took their months-old sons away to adoptive families. The devastated parents are now talking with a lawyer and an children´s right specialist.

23 March: Talking with a friend today, I learned that the Norwegian Child Welfare Agency (Barnevernet) will only remove the children from their natural parents when they have very good grounds for this. Their policy is to keep the children as close to their biological parents as possible. "Past sins" like drug addiction and an criminal record, did not seem like a good enough grounds to my friend. 

Hmm, Now my drawing diary is starting to look like I am starting to be a reporter, coming out with other people´s dramatic stories, and pointing to injustice in society.
Life is tabloid, at times.

Looking for something on "Barnevernet", I found this article. I understand that they are doing a very important but difficult job. Their work is to find out what is the best for both the child and their families. Anonymity and their oath of silence can make it very difficult to work through a case like this.

I must say that I have never seen "this kind" of adoption-story from this side of the "transfer". When I hear about adoptions, it is mostly from the adoptee or the adopting family.