Boudewijn doesn’t hesitate one second when his partner Amanda, a few months after the birth of their daughter Tess, joins the team of Sri Lanka DNA. “DNA gives hope, also for Amanda and me. Maybe one day she will also find her biological family.”
At first Boudewijn did all kinds of odd jobs for Sri Lana DNA, next to his fulltime job as a director. Soon he got more and more involved. On the ferry to Amerland, – on his way to Wendy – he writes the policy plan for the foundation. Next he becomes a member of the board.
Boudewijn knows how it is to long for your child. His eldest son, born out of another relation, is as a result of a divorce, allowed to see him one weekend per fortnight. His second child, a daughter out of a following relation dies during pregnancy. “To miss a child, I can still feel it in my entire body.”
Before Boudwijn’s eldest son is born, he is about to adopt a child. Looking back he is glad that things turned out different. He thinks adoption not the best solution. “I think it is better to facilitate families on their ground.
Therefore he is prepared to do everything possible to reunite mothers with their child, who have given up a child in Sri Lanka, through DNA research. And as quickly as possible, for those mothers are also getting older. A biological band is unique, he says. “We ourselves see it with Tess, that smile she got from you, that frown is yours. The things you pass down, your characteristics, are reflections of yourself.”
When you succeeded to connect a biological family through DNA m it is really kicking for Boudewijn. His greatest wish then, is to get more mothers from Sri Lanka registered in the DNA database. “This would really help to prevent many difficult searches and enormous disappointments.”