Illegal Adoption of Newborns: Exhumation and Samples Taken

In one of the cases of illegal adoption of newborns, an exhumation has taken place and samples have been taken. This information was disclosed to journalists by lawyer Susanna Sargsyan, adding that this concerns the criminal case initiated regarding the child of Naira Aivazyan.

“We are now waiting for the results of the samples taken after the exhumation,” she said.

The lawyer has 4 cases related to illegal adoptions under her jurisdiction and assesses that they are progressing gradually.

Naira Aivazyan recounted that she found the strength to attend the exhumation process. According to her, the child in the coffin was not hers, as what she saw during the exhumation was a smaller, mutilated body of a child.

“I have seen my child, heard her cry... The child in the coffin was not my child,” Aivazyan said, adding that she is not sure that the results of the forensic examination will not be falsified.

She also recounted that she gave birth at Armenia Medical Center in 2017. The woman was told that her child had heart defects, oxygen deprivation, and several diseases, while the examinations conducted during the pregnancy did not indicate any problems.

Aivazyan recalled that when the doctors told her that the child had died after birth, they handed her a shoebox containing a mutilated, blackened body.

According to the woman, the judicial system in Armenia is flawed, which has led parents to confront a harsh reality today.

Lawyer Marat Kostanyan, who specializes in adoption cases, believes that a child trafficking mafia operates in Armenia, turning the country into an "incubator for producing children for sale." He stated that the Prosecutor's Office is obstructing their path for criminal cases to be uncovered.

The lawyer emphasized that adoption is not the only way to alienate children from their parents. Thus, according to him, it is possible that the doctor Razmik Abrahamyan, who is involved in adoption cases, has labeled the illegal sale of children as “adoption” to mislead the law enforcement officials.

It remains unclear what Kostanyan exactly meant by this. It is noteworthy that Razmik Abrahamyan, the director of the Republican Institute of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics, and Gynecology, is also under investigation by the NSS for his involvement in separating newborns from their parents.

On November 14, the NSS announced that open crimes had been revealed involving various officials in the adoption processes of children from orphanages. The investigative body has not disclosed how many children the cases of adoption refer to.

The pre-investigation of this criminal case is still ongoing.