Adopted Romanian To Testify On Success

Adopted Romanian To Testify On Success

By SHELLEY PRESTON

The Ledger

Published: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 6:45 a.m.

Life as an orphan in a Romanian orphanage is a shadow of the past for Sara Romine.

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Romanian Sara Romine, 16, will speak next week before the European Union in favor of making international adoption from Romania legal again.

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CINDY SKOP/The Ledger

When she was adopted by a Lakeland family at age 2, Romine had the skills of a 6-month-old. Now 16, she has overcome learning and health disabilities to become a successful student at the Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Lakeland and dreams of becoming an actress.

Romania banned international adoptions in 2000 leaving thousands of orphans with uncertain futures. Furious over the ban, Romine wrote a letter published last month in Romania's Daily News about the success of her adoption and implored politicians to change the law.

Romine's passion and conviction garnered attention from European officials fighting to make international adoption from Romania legal again. She and her mother, Lily, will testify next week in Brussels before the European Union.

Before she leaves Friday, Romine will speak along with highlighted student speaker Breonte Williams from the Pace Center for Girls on Wednesday at a Junior Achievement breakfast at the Lakeland Yacht & Country Club at 8 a.m. Junior Achievement is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to providing children with positive adult role models who illustrate ways to build self-confidence, develop skills and find avenues of success in a free enterprise system." The event, which is open to the public, is free but donations are welcome. Information is available at 603-0254.

Read about Sara Romine and her honor of being asked to testify in Brussels as an advocate for international adoptions from Romania in Sunday's Life section.

Shelley Preston can be reached at 863-802-7517 or shelley.preston@ theledger.com.

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