Baby given to Turkish foster family after dispute with German youth office

A ten-month-old baby who was taken from a Turkish couple by the German child welfare office and given to a same-sex foster couple is now in the care of Turkish foster parents, the Turkish Office of the Family Attache in Dusseldorf has said. 

After months of effort by the Family Attache of the consulate general, the baby came under the care of a Turkish foster family, the office said on Thursday. 

The Turkish couple, residing in the western city of Duisburg, said earlier that their baby was taken from them on May 30 on the grounds that the infant had developmental disabilities and the mother had psychological illness. The baby was given to a same-sex foster couple living near Cologne. 

The Turkish couple, Mustafa Yolal and Aygul Kucukbiyik, said that they faced discrimination and pressure from the state. 

Stating that they wanted their child to be raised by a family in line with their culture and faith – Turkish and Muslim – they said they filed an appeal at the Jugendamt, the German Youth Office, but were turned away. 

The baby's mother contacted the Turkish consulate general in Dusseldorf for support on June 27. 

The responsible attache in the consulate general supported the mother in her legal dispute with the child welfare office.

Kucukbiyik said she felt relieved about the outcome and appreciated the help of the authorities in Dusseldorf. It is important to her that her child is being raised in line with Turkish-Islamic culture, she said. 

Kucukbiyik has underlined that she wants to continue her fight to get her child back one day.

'Ambiguous' policies

For years, the Turkish diaspora in Germany have been protesting what they call ambiguous and unfair adoption policies of the German Youth Office. 

They allege that children from immigrant backgrounds are targeted by the state and argue that children are being assimilated by being removed from their own culture through the fostering or adoption system. 

In 2015, the Ministry of Family and Social Services (previously called the Ministry of Family and Social Policy) established the Office of the Family Attache. The ministry also prepared to launch an initiative to familiarise and encourage Turkish families living abroad to foster children. 

The Family Attache's role is to give both support and legal assistance to Turkish citizens navigating German public institutions and organisations, particularly in the areas of family law, adoption, foster care, social assistance, disability support, elderly support, women's participation in social life, and domestic violence. 

READ MORE: German authorities give Turkish parents' baby to gay couple

A version of this article originally appeared in TRT Deutsch.