Romania's Experience Spurs Adoption Treaty

Romania's Experience Spurs Adoption Treaty
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Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Los Angeles, Calif.
Author:PAUL HOUSTON
Date:Feb 12, 1992
Start Page:5
Section:PART-A; National Desk
Text Word Count:498

 Abstract (Document Summary)

When word reached the West of the squalid orphanages, filled due to Draconian birth-control policies, Americans, Canadians and Western Europeans flocked to Romania to adopt children. In doing so they helped create a black market of bribery, forged documents and bullied mothers; at the same time, U.S. officials were criticized for inadequate screening of many prospective adoptions from Romania, which totaled about 2,600 in the fiscal year ended last Sept. 30.
"When you've got a birth parent living in dire poverty in a country with no child welfare services, selling her child begins to look like a good deal for everybody. But the (proposed treaty) would try to make sure that children are truly in need of a new family and there are no financial inducements," said Susan Freivalds, head of Adoptive Families of America in Minneapolis, a member of the U.S. team negotiating the treaty.
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