Another loving family for Mihaela

Ann McElhinney reports on new revelations regarding Romanian orphan Mihaela and her life before Ireland and the Hughes family

DOLLS and teddy bears line a bedroom overlooking the garden of a detached house in Romania. But the child who owns the toys is in Dundalk with a family who love her and don't want her to go home.

Mihaela Florica-Porumbaru is four-years-old and oblivious to the diplomatic storm brewing around her. But her name could soon become a by-word for the already fraught relations between Romania and Ireland.

The child has found herself at the centre of a tug-of-love battle between her temporary Dundalk family and her foster family in Romania.

While thousands of Romanians come here every year seeking asylum and a new life, Mihaela is different.

Mihaela, who was abandoned at birth and is paralysed from the waist down, was sent here to get medical treatment. But now the Dundalk family who have generously cared for her want to keep her, much to the concern of her foster family back in Romania.

Briege Hughes, a mother of five, mounted a vigorous campaign to keep Mihaela in Ireland after she was taken from Mrs Hughes' Dundalk home by social workers and gardaí on Monday. They were due to return Mihaela to Romania, but a ticketing mix-up prevented her return and she was taken back to Dundalk.

On Monday, Mrs Hughes told reporters she believed Mihaela was being forced to return to Romania to a life of misery in a squalid orphanage. Some reports said she would even be incarcerated in an adult psychiatric ward because her place at the orphanage was not available.

However, it has since emerged that Mihaela has been fostered for over a year by a Romanian family and has a comfortable life in a detached house with a garden.

Corneliu Voica, Vice President of Dambovita Child Protection Agency, said he could not understand reports from Ireland about the child's situation in Romania.

"Since August 1, 2000, Mihaela has been in a family of foster parents who are very good, kind and dependable. She has not been in an orphanage for over a year and there is no question of her being sent to a mental institution," he said.

He also said the organisation which organised Mihaela's visit to Ireland had signed a sworn statement promising to bring her back on Monday and the Child Protection Agency was obligated to seek her return.

In the detached house three hours north of Bucharest, Mihaela's foster parents are missing her dearly. Elena Gherase, 49, and her husband Vasile Gherase, 49, live in Glodeni Vale village, Targoviste, in a house which sits on an 1,100 square metre site.

Mrs Gherase works as a full-time foster mother for the Targoviste Child Protection Agency who inspect Mihaela's progress twice a month.

SHE has two married adult daughters, one of whom is a schoolteacher. Mrs Gherase also looks after her granddaughter Andra, who is four years old. Mrs Gherase said Andra had formed a particular bond with Mihaela and is anxiously awaiting her return.

"She says every time she sees a plane, that's the one that will bring Mihaela back. Mihaela doesn't call me mummy but granny just like my granddaughter Andra," Mrs Gherase said.

Mrs Gherase said Mihaela cried when she was told she was going to Ireland for a summer holiday.

"She said I don't want to leave Granny ... and I tried to explain to her that she is going to Ireland to get her legs fixed so she can play again with Andra.

"I would love to have her back, we can hardly wait to have her back. We love her a lot and we miss her. We think of her like our own child," said Mrs Gherase.

Briege Hughes said she only learned yesterday that Mihaela had another foster family.

"I was not aware of it," Ms Hughes told RTE Radio. "I was unaware that she was in this situation. I have told the truth about Mihaela, how I found her, everything up to date."

Briege said she told her solicitor she wanted to adopt Mihaela after her first Christmas visit to Ireland in 1999.

"I was told after her last Christmas visit that she didn't settle when she went back and she was placed with a family. I didn't know whether this was on trial or whether it was a fostering situation.

"I would like to do the best we can for this little child and it has always been my intention. I would still like to keep her and to help her. This medical treatment would be ongoing and she would have to have appointments to continue that treatment and be monitored.

"I think for the moment, we should keep her here. Perhaps I can get in touch with my solicitor and clarify this situation."