Walking a Tightrope

A balancing act

Related Resources • Adopting Parents Center • Adoption Resources by Country • Inside a Romanian Orphanage • Romania Halts International Adoption

Elsewhere on the Web • European Union: Draft Report (.pdf format) • U.S. State Department: Romania Update

[In June, 2001, Romania announced it would be halting all international adoptions until laws and practices could be reviewed. The shutdown came on the heels of adverse reports from the European Union in response to Romania's application for membership. Adoption assignments made before December 14, 2000, are being processed.]

Romania's decision to suspend all international adoption activities for one year has brought an appeal from a strange source: a European Union member country. It was a report drafted by the European Union on the treatment of institutionalized children, and adoption practices in Romania that prompted the shut down.

During a recent visit to Romania, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin delivered a message from French families with "emotional, sensitive, honorable and clear motives to adopt," who seek a resolution.

Missing the Point

What have not been questioned in the EU reports are the motives of adopting parents. What are at issue are

• the means by which children come to be in Romanian institutions,
• how they are treated while there, and
• how adoption practices are conducted.

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The Romanian government is being held accountable for its policies with respect to children and adoption. It is also responsible for making changes in light of its desire to join the European Union.

Dual Role of Adopters

As too many adopting parents have learned the hard way, just because someone says it's legal doesn't make it so. And just because someone says it's ethical doesn't make it so. More and more, adopting parents are finding themselves in the position of investigated (homestudy) as well as investigator, as they try to sort through the maze of legal and ethical practices, risks, and potentially fraudulent situations. Balancing these responsibilities with the emotion of the adoption process is, indeed, akin to walking a tightrope.

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