Babies to order – the Swiss adoption trade

Solothurn, 1966: The young, unmarried Margrit Schweizer gives birth to a child at the Obach Clinic. The day after the birth, the president of the guardianship authority stands by her hospital bed and urges her to give her daughter up for adoption.

Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2017: After several failed attempts, Sarah Ineichen finally stands before the woman who, according to the birth certificate, is supposed to be her biological mother. But the woman explains to her that she had only pretended to be her mother in court – in return for payment.

Although these two stories are half a world and half a century apart, they are linked. For what began in the 1950s and 1960s – when newborns were snatched from young, unmarried mothers in this country – developed into a global business in the decades that followed. And the Swiss authorities turned a blind eye all those years. Today, thousands of those affected are searching for their origins and their families.

The Beobachter has reopened this dark chapter in Swiss history. Beobachter editor Otto Hostettler describes how, through many years of research, he has uncovered an international network – based on the machinations of a particularly unscrupulous adoption agent and organisations that brought thousands of children to Switzerland under the guise of humanitarian aid. From November 2026, the five-part podcast series ‘Babies to Order’ will be available to listen to.

Together with those affected and experts, Editor-in-Chief Dominique Strebel sheds light on the systematic child trafficking surrounding adoptions and its impact on the lives of those affected.

Host:

• Dominique Strebel, Editor-in-Chief of the Beobachter

Guests:

• Otto Hostettler, editor of the Beobachter

• Sarah Ineichen, Back to the Roots

• Prof. Dr Andrea Abraham, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern

Journalistic research:

• Swiss babies exported all over the world

• How Terre des Hommes abused babies for experiments

• 50 years later, he finds his mother

The Beobachter is the Swiss magazine for law and justice. Our aim is to contribute to a fairer Switzerland through impartial journalism and legal expertise. We expose abuses, analyse relevant issues and help save money, time and stress. We tell inspiring stories and lead important debates. Through the Beobachter Advice Centre, we also run Switzerland’s largest independent legal advice service. Our lawyers, financial experts and social workers provide over 35,000 pieces of advice each year.

• Step-free access

• Duration: An approximately 100-minute event with an intermission

• Language: In spoken German