Norway tightens controls over adoptions from abroad but won't ban practice as investigation unfolds

Norway's government says it has tightened controls over adoptions from abroad but will allow the practice to continue as it conducts an investigation into the legality and ethics of past adoptions. The move to allow international adoptions to continue contradicted Norway’s top regulatory body, which in January recommended a pause while the investigation takes place. Norway’s Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe said Wednesday: “The overall goal is to get answers to whether — and possibly to what extent — there have been illegal or unethical situations in connection with foreign adoptions to Norway." The probe was launched after media reports pointed to allegedly illegal adoptions, claiming some children in the Philippines were sold and given false birth certificates.