Two-year-old girl given four days to adjust before forced move to new foster family

A two-year-old girl was given just four days to adjust to a new foster family before being permanently moved, despite expert recommendations calling for a far longer transition period, Danish broadcaster DR reports in a new documentary.

The child, referred to as Ida under a pseudonym, was removed from her biological mother as an infant and had spent nearly her entire life with foster mother Sisser Weinreich and her husband. When Sorø Municipality decided to transfer Ida to a new family—intended to eventually adopt her—the transition was completed in four days, a timeline psychologists describe as harmful.

“We can’t avoid damaging the child in this situation,” said clinical child psychologist Jytte Mielcke, who reviewed Ida’s case. “A child of nearly two, moved from the foster family they’ve known almost their whole life, will react with intense emotional distress—crying, grief, and helplessness. We’re severing emotional bonds, which will harm her ability to form close relationships in the future.”

Social worker Sandra Abild, who has managed similar cases in multiple municipalities, agreed, calling the four-day transition “deeply unfair” to the child. “Anyone can see that a two-year-old can’t build a trusting relationship in four days,” she said. “She’s being ripped away from everything she knows.”

The rushed move contradicts official guidelines. Denmark’s Adoption Board recommends transitions last at least 14 days, while Viso, a municipal advisory unit, advises 3–5 weeks for toddlers, with breaks to ease separation from their familiar foster family. Yet such rapid transitions occur repeatedly, according to Abild.

Weinreich described the final separation as traumatic. “She clung to me like a little monkey,” she recalled. “We had to wrestle her into the car. She screamed and screamed—it was horrifying.” For a week afterward, Weinreich woke nightly to the sound of Ida’s cries in her memory.

A year later, Ida still recognizes her former foster mother. “I think we’re deep in her heart,” Weinreich said. Sorø Municipality, while declining to comment on the case, acknowledged that forced adoptions are complex and never have easy solutions.

The case is featured in DR’s documentary series “When the State Adopts Away” (“Når staten bortadopterer”).