As expected, anti-adoption forces have come out swinging against the memorandum created by the Romanian Office for Adoptions (ORA), recommending that certain children be allowed to find families outside Romania.
The article below was run by the Romanian-language newspaper Gandul on Friday, October 16th. Thanks to Peter Heisey for providing the translation.
Our Romanian ministry directors, Corina Caba and Adi & Lavinia Dreana, expressed their personal thanks for your gifts this October, in response to our emergency appeal. Read their notes below:
The Romanian newspaper Gardianul, in an excessively biased article, is reporting the demise of the initiative to re-open international adoptions from Romania.
The article (translated below) quotes Bogdan Panait, the director of the Romanian Office for Adoptions, saying in effect that his initiative will not proceed due to the opposition of the Prime Minister. However, the reporter seems to greatly exaggerate Panait’s statements, saying that he has “turned against his own initiative.”
The Romanian Office for Adoptions (ORA) seems to be the only department of Romanian government with an understanding of the true situation facing abandoned children today. This week, the ORA submitted a memorandum to the government, suggesting that intercountry adoption be re-opened only for those children who are unable to find families in Romania.
Acknowledging that after four years under the current adoption laws, problems have become evident, the ORA suggested only opening the possibility of ICA in certain cases. “Those would be children older than six years of age, children belonging to certain ethnic minorities, children with severe health conditions or those who are more than two siblings and for whom Romanian adoptive families are hard to find. All such children stay in special state care until the age of 18,” the memo read.
Today the government responded negatively to the proposal. The administration of prime minister Emil Boc, who is in the process of being ousted from his job by a vote of no confidence, released a statement saying: “The current government has not debated the memorandum and therefore has not made a decision. Acting Prime Minister Emil Boc believes the present laws on international adoptions are in accord with international legislation and European standards.”
The opponents of adoption often appeal to “European standards” without addressing the realities of how those “standards” are keeping real children from finding a family. We are thankful that the ORA, at least, is cognizant of the reality and is fighting for what is truly in the best interests of children.
Romania Reborn asks all its supporters to be in prayer for this issue. A restructuring of Romanian law regarding adoption, if done well, could dramatically improve the lives of thousands of parentless Romanian children.
Alin was only two years old when he arrived at Hope House late last year, but he had already suffered more than most of us have in a lifetime. Abandoned at birth and placed in the state-run foster system, Alin suffered further when he was diagnosed with cancer of the retina last August. Shockingly, after his original diagnosis, nothing was done to treat Alin. His untreated cancer progressed quickly, spreading to his other eye and then to his brain.
When Alin finally left his neglectful situation and came to Corina Caba at Hope House, he was in constant pain with a tiny chance of survival. Nevertheless, Corina, together with fellow Oradea-based foundation In Brate, determined that Alin would not spend his final days suffering in the hopelessness of an institution. With the help of In Brate, who provided several loving caregivers to stay with Alin during many of his long days in the hospital, Corina was able to take Alin into her personal care as her own child, and to seek out the best medical care she could find.