Center for Adoption Policy - Duchess of York

November 3, 2008. Duchess of York Visits Romanian Orphanages.Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, accompanied by her two daughters and a British television crew, recently traveled to Turkey and Romania where they visited various orphanages. The scenes they filmed were horrific, particularly since Romania has been the beneficiary of so much European Union money designed to give unparented children decent lives. As reporter Chris Rogers put it, "Romania has lost its power to shock me. Now it can only disappoint." The attention that the Duchess of York brought to Romania's unparented children reminds us that while the world moved on since the Romanian ban on Intercountry Adoption, the children of Romania were unable to. More Information.