NGO asks to repeal Article 123‑a so adoptees can access the Book of Births
The NGO Building the Future wants adults adopted in North Macedonia to see the Book of Births; a meeting with the Ministry is scheduled today.
An NGO has asked lawmakers to repeal Article 123‑a of the Family Law so adults adopted in North Macedonia can access the Book of Births and learn the identities of their biological parents.
Request aims to open sealed adoption records for adoptees aged 18+
Ilija Jovanović of the NGO Building the Future told reporters the provision, which treats information about established adoptions as an official secret, prevents adopted people from finding their origins after they turn 18.
“We push this so that brothers, sisters, relatives in the first, second and third degree do not enter into a romantic relationship. They become acquainted, get married. After some time, through their DNA they discover that they were actually brother and sister and separated because of their adoption,” Jovanović said.
The NGO says its research found that between 90,000 and 95,000 people in North Macedonia are searching for biological relatives; some of those were adopted abroad during the Yugoslav era, when foreign citizens could become adopters. The group also warned that original identity documents for many adoptees are missing.
“Disappearance of medical records, of the maternal health booklets, the ties, the tags on the mother and the infants. But that research will be promoted to the relevant institutions,” Jovanović added.
Officials from a state commission in Serbia that investigates newborn disappearances said Article 123‑a dates back 24 years and was adopted after revelations in Serbia about babies stolen from hospitals in the 1980s.
“Given that we lived in a common state someone thought of this, and we have information that children taken from Serbia through certain centres were adopted in Macedonia, then returned to Serbia,” said Radisa Pavlovic, chair of the State Commission for the Collection of Facts on the Status of Newborns Suspected to Have Disappeared from Maternity Wards in Serbia.
“A very large percentage of movement of children is between Macedonia and Serbia. Between Croatia and Serbia. Then comes Slovenia. But, in principle, Macedonia and Croatia are in advantage,” said Milanka Momchilović, a member of the same commission.
Two years ago a Skopje resident, Mirjana Mitrevska, secured a favourable ruling at the European Court of Human Rights after challenging Article 123‑a; the court invoked Article 7 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, which guarantees respect for private and family life.
Today the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy will host a meeting with Jovanović and guests from Serbia and Slovenia to discuss the proposal. The ministry said it will issue a statement after the meeting concludes.
Photo: press material from the event
