The controversial tests, which are criticized for lacking scientific validity, are disproportionately carried out on families in Greenland.
When Keira’s daughter was born last November, she had just two hours with the baby before the child was taken into state care.
“As soon as she was born, I started counting the minutes“, recalls Keira, 39. “I looked at the clock all the time to see how much I had left.”
The moment Zammi was taken from her arms, Keira says she cried nonstop, asking her daughter for “sorry.” “It was as if a part of my soul had died.”
Today, Keira is one of several Greenlandic mothers living in mainland Denmark who are fighting to reclaim their children who have been removed by social services.
In these cases, babies and children were removed from their families after parental competence testsknown in Denmark as FKUs, used to assess whether parents are able to care for their children.
In May this year, the Danish government banned the use of these tests in Greenlandic families after decades of criticism, but they continue to be applied to other groups in the country.
These assessments, which often take months, are used in complex social care cases when authorities believe there is risk of negligence or violence.
They include interviews with parents and children, a series of cognitive tasks such as repeating a sequence of numbers backwards, general knowledge quizzes, and assessments of personality and emotional state.
Advocates of the method say it offers a more objective assessment, compared to reports considered anecdotal or subjective from social workers and other experts.
Critics, however, say the tests cannot reliably predict whether someone will be a good father or a good mother.
Opponents have also long maintained that the exams are based on Danish cultural norms and note that are applied in Danishnot in Kalaallisut, the mother tongue of most Greenlanders. This can lead to misunderstandings, they say.
Greenlanders are Danish citizens and can live and work on the continent. Thousands of them live in Denmark, attracted by job opportunities, education and access to healthcare.
Greenlandic parents living in the country have a risk 5.6 times greater than Danish parents, according to the Danish Center for Social Research, a government-funded institute.
In May, the Danish government announced that it intends to review around 300 cases of Greenlandic children forcibly removed from their families, including those where FKU tests were administered.
But in October, the BBC found that only 10 cases in which the tests were administered had been reviewed, and none resulted in the children being returned to their parents.
General culture tests
Keira’s assessment, carried out in 2024 during her pregnancy, concluded that she did not have “sufficient parenting skills to care for her newborn independently”.
She recalls that among the questions were: “Who is Mother Teresa?” and “How long does light from the Sun take to reach Earth?“.
Psychologists who defend the tests say that questions of this type assess parents’ general knowledge and understanding of everyday concepts.
Keira adds that “they made me play with a doll and criticized me for not maintaining enough eye contact” and alleges that, when asking why she was being evaluated in that way, she was told by the psychologist: “To see if you are civilized enough, if you can act like a human being“.
The local authority responsible for the case said it does not comment on individual situations and that decisions to place a child in care are made when there is serious concern for the “health, development and well-being” of the minor.
In 2014, Keira’s other two children, then aged nine years and eight months, were removed from the home after an FKU test concluded that their parenting skills were not advancing quickly enough to meet the children’s needs.
The oldest, Zoe, now 21 years old, returned home at 18 and currently lives in her own apartment, but sees her mother frequently.
Keira hopes to soon be reunited permanently with her daughter Zammi.
The Danish government said the ongoing review will look at whether there were errors in the administration of FKU tests to Greenlandic families.
Meanwhile, Keira can see Zammi, who is in the temporary care of another family, once a week for an hour.
Each visit, he brings flowers and, sometimes, Greenlandic food, such as chicken heart soup.
“Just so that a little of her culture be with her“, it says.
In theory, there is no pass or fail on FKU tests. They are just one of the factors considered by local authorities when deciding whether a child should be taken to a shelter.
But psychologist Isak Nellemann, who administered the FKU tests in the past, says that, in practice, they “are very important, almost the most importantbecause when the result is bad, in around 90% [dos casos] parents lose their children.”
Nellemann states that some tests lack scientific validity and were developed to study personality traits, not to predict parenting ability.
Turi Frederiksen, a senior psychologist whose team currently administers the tests, defends the method and says that, although they are not perfect, “they are valuable and comprehensive psychological tools” and also denies the existence of bias against Greenlanders.
“I will not stop fighting for my children”
Danish Social Affairs Minister Sophie Hæstorp Andersen told the BBC that the government will not reopen adoption cases because these children are now living with a “loving and caring family“. Asked about the progress of the review, she states that “it seems slow, but we are starting”.
According to her, decisions to remove and place children for adoption are part of a “very rigorous process, in which we evaluate the family’s ability to care for the child not for one or two years, but for a long period“.
The argument is echoed by Tordis Jacobsen, coordinator of social assistance teams at Aalborg Kommune, in northern Denmark. She states that the removal of a child in Denmark never done lightly.
According to Jacobsen, signs of risk are usually first identified by schools or hospitals. And, in cases of final adoption, the decision must be approved by a judge.
Keira is now preparing for Zammi’s first birthday, away from home. You are building a Greenlandic traditional sled handmade wooden frame, with a polar bear drawn on the front.
Earlier this month, he learned that his daughter will not be returning home, at least for now, but he remains hopeful.
Keira still keeps a crib next to the bed and another in the living room, with framed photos of Zammi on the walls, as well as baby clothes and diapers.
“I will not stop fighting for my children. If I don’t finish this fight, it will be their fight in the future.”
