How To Adopt A Romanian Child

in 2004, romania forbade international adoption, a powerful strike against agencies involved in this business. they say the price of a child would reach a few tens of thousand euros. a business that became an industry as a former unicef director labelled it.

How To Adopt A Romanian Child, a key role in stopping the child trafficking was played by the dutch roelie post civil servant at the european commission who worked from 1999 until 2005

at dg enlargement, the romanian unit it is clear that intercountry adoptions a market which functioned became a market of children, based on demand for children. there was lots of money into this and where there is big money, there is also big corruption. because she unveiled the trade in children,

roelie post says she was moved under the pressure of the adoption agencies. she refused the new responsibilities and therefore she maintained her civil servant statute and kept her salary but she no longer works for the european commission. she says that while she worked on the romanian children file, she was continuously harassed. there were young men intimidating in a nasty manner,

they would follow me. some were arrested and questioned by the police but they did not say anything coherent. the police said that they did not know why they did that. they were paid by people they did not know themselves. it’s a network, this is how it works. although so many years have passed

since romania banned intercountry adoptions, except when children are adopted by relatives abroad, the agencies are trying to have the law changed at least for those who do not have the chance to have a family in romania such as sick children, roma children or children older than 6 years in order to have these changes done, they put pressure in brussels, says roelie post. many of these adoption agencies have very good business connections,

they know politicians, they have a lot of influence which we cannot see but we can feel. they have access at the highest level, at the top. in 2007, roelie post published a book, , ‘romania for export only – the untold story of the romanian orphans’ orphans’ which she intends to update and publish in romanian as well. from brussels, magdalena moreh, tvr.