Diplomat rejects allegations he gave up adoptive daughter 18/12/2007 00:00

Dutch vice-consul in Hong Kong and his wife deny they deliberately gave up their adoptive daughter before returning to Netherlands.

14 December 2007

AMSTERDAM - Dutch vice-consul in Hong Kong Raymond Poeteray and his wife Meta denied Thursday that they deliberately gave up their adoptive daughter before returning to the Netherlands.

The couple issued a declaration published in the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf in response to accusations published in the Hong Kong media earlier this week.

News reports in the South China Morning Post said that after their Korean-born daughter developed behavioural problems, the couple decided to give her up in 2006.

Jade was adopted in 2000, when she was four months old. Later the Poeterays had two children of their own. The girl has been placed in foster care with a non-Chinese family in Hong Kong.

In their declaration, the Poeterays rejected the allegations, and said their eight-year-old daughter Jade was suffering from what they called "commitment anxiety".

They wrote that "contrary to what has been written in the media, we do not want to get rid of our daughter. We never even considered giving her up."

In mid-2006, they said, "certified medical specialists, social workers, the adoption organisation Mothers Choice as well as the Hong Kong Social Services, recommended we place her in foster care temporarily."

They said they were still undergoing therapy, as was their daughter. Jade, they added, was not in contact with them at the moment.

The specialists were not certain whether Jade could ever return to her parental home, Poeteray wrote, adding: "We continue to hope she will. We will do our utmost to find a solution so that Jade can find happiness in her life."

[Copyright dpa 2007]

Subject: Dutch news