After debates in the Flemish Parliament, apologies from the Belgian Catholic Church and requests investigation, the matter disappeared from the media.
[1] The case returned to the public spotlight on the Belgian scene in December 2023 with the podcast Kinderen van de Kerk (Children of the Church), published by the media Het Laatste Nieuws.
[2][3] According to the Mater Matuta association, 30,000 children, particularly in Flanders were affected by these abandonments and forced adoptions.
[4][5] After giving birth in Catholic institutions, in Belgium or northern France, biological mothers had to abandon their children, who were then sold to adoptive families.
Mater Matuta claims that adoption agencies exchanged children to prevent them from finding their biological mothers.