Danish MPs back review of time limits for adoptees’ claims

Denmark’s parliamentary Social Affairs Committee has agreed that the government should examine whether to remove limitation periods in cases involving official failures toward children, DR reports. The proposal could give adoptees whose cases were previously ruled out as too old a chance to seek legal review.

Murugasan Nielsen and David Kildendal were both adopted from India to Denmark in 1979 through the same children’s home, without their biological parents’ knowledge. Nielsen says his claim was rejected earlier this year without being examined because it was considered time-barred.

Current limitation rules prevent people who experienced official failures as children from seeking compensation, the article says. If the proposed change is adopted, it could affect thousands of adoptees.

Nielsen says he is not seeking money. He and a lawyer have sued the state to obtain an apology and recognition that officials acted wrongly. Kildendal says he wants a legal assessment of his case, but is cautious about the committee’s agreement, which is only to examine the possibility of changing the rules.

Both men appeared in DR’s 2024 documentary The Great Adoption Theft. International adoptions to Denmark have been suspended indefinitely following criticism of the country’s only adoption agency, DIA, which has since closed. An independent investigation into the sector is under way.