The fate of the two Bulgarians adopted in the United States must be decided by mid-September
The fate of the two Bulgarians adopted in the United States must be decided by mid-September
posted on 26.08.19 at 09:26 Author: Tonya Dimitrova
Parents are accused of child abuse.Photo: www.ky3.com
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Report by Tonya Dimitrova in '' Before All ''
By mid-September, the fate of two US-adopted Bulgarians who were removed from their family and under the protection of the Missouri Department of Children and Family Affairs must be decided . What will happen to the two girls will be decided by the US court, with the first hearing scheduled for September 6, 2019.
The case is a precedent for the Bulgarian institutions.
"She was dirty, not well dressed, she had no shoes. She ate two peanut butter sandwiches and a few packets of chips in a hurry and continued to ask for more food." Sheriff Darin Braulley's story from Shannon County, Missouri, about his first date with one of the two twins. She is found by a neighbor on a dirt road not far from the house of the McGregor family, with greasy hair, scarring and bleeding feet, thirsty and hungry. The girl and his sister live with the 8 children of 56-year-old Mark Magregor and his 40-year-old wife Melissa. The two Bulgarians were kept in a dark room for hours, allowed to use pillows only in good behavior, eat mostly raw vegetables, were hit with kitchen utensils in front of their biological children, had to seek permission to bathe and dress. There is no such attitude towards biological children. Two charges have been filed against Mark and Melissa McGregor, leading to a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison. The couple is currently under $ 100,000 bail. And Bulgarian girls aged 14 with initials R. and K. are placed in a home for children deprived of parental care.
"The children themselves have an appointed guardian from the state of Missouri, that is, a person who directly cares for their rights and interests," said our consul in Chicago, Ivan Anchev. He met with them and said that the children were calm and feeling well:
"The conversation was entirely in English. From the very beginning, I asked them how they wanted to talk - in Bulgarian or English, and they preferred English, so this testifies to the level of adaptation of the children in the local environment."
The twins were adopted in 2012 at the age of 7. They have dual citizenship. The Consul explained:
"A very specific moment, because being a foreign citizen, we cannot make those requests that we would make to a person who has only Bulgarian citizenship. At the same time, they retain their Bulgarian citizenship, so we have an interest in these children. But you know that America is a state created by immigrants, everyone there is of Irish descent ... etc. So every one - we didn't have a problem with the local and state authorities in Missouri. "
Our consular office in Chicago monitors two cases on the case - the criminal case against the MacGregor family and the civil case concerning the fate of the twins. The first hearing on the fate of the children took place on September 6th.
"One option is to go to a foster home that is licensed by the state to receive children with similar problems. The other option is to stay in this home for children deprived of parental care until they are 18 or 21 years old."
International adoptions in Bulgaria begin as early as the 86th year. They are carried out by organizations licensed by the Ministry of Justice. Both Bulgaria and the United States have signed the Hague Convention, which provides for the recognition of foreign public acts, and the entire adoption process is based on trust between the institutions of both countries. In international adoption, the Bulgarian side relies on information provided by US institutions, said Nelly Gancheva and Milena Kuzeva, lawyers specializing in international adoption and chairmen of the Vesta and Anido organizations.
Milena Kuzeva:
"Checks are not made - what is done is that the documents are translated and certified and submitted to the Ministry of Justice. That is, the check is done by the state of residence. The family prepares their entire file, the social services check them, specifically in the US, a FBI-wide fingerprint check is done and the file is sent to Bulgaria ready. "
The adoption decision is taken by the Council of the Ministry of Justice and the post-adoption period is 2 years.
Nelly Gancheva:
"Specifically, in the US, there are no 4 visits within 2 years every 6 months, and five first are two weeks after arrival and then every 6 months and a detailed report is sent."
In these checks, the two Missouri twins show that they are attached to the MacGregor family and are feeling well. According to Milena Kuzeva, this is a completely normal children's reaction:
"The relationship between these children and adoptive parents can potentially be a problem in any family, whether they are adoptive parents and biological children. There are cases of abuse, but for these children they remain the best parents, they are the only parents."
The investigation also revealed that the MacGregor couple is being investigated in another state on suspicion of violence against their biological children. Lawyer Nelly Gancheva explains that the US side has no obligation to inform the Bulgarian authorities that such an investigation has taken place:
"The main idea of ??adoption is to equate children with biological ones, since they are already there and are American citizens - the American side has the full rights and obligations to handle this case."
At the moment, the Bulgarian institutions have no instrument to intervene in the fate of the two Missouri twins. There can be no talk of termination of adoption. This happens…
Milena Kuzeva:
"Only when, in fact, the Ministry of Justice can be the initiator if the child has not been granted legal status, if the adoption decision is not recognized and this happens in a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention."
Bulgaria is facing such a case for the first time, and the Ministry of Justice has requested, as a preventative measure, accredited organizations for international adoptions to submit reports on problematic adaptation of children adopted after 2017. New requirements have been set and required in the social report for future adoptions to present a plan of action for crises in raising a child. It is the first time a consulate in Chicago has encountered such a case.
The United States is extremely important as an adopting country for Bulgaria. Unlike Europeans, Americans do not seek mass adoption only because they cannot have a child of their own, but do so from a humanitarian point of view. And the register for international adoption includes mostly older children or those with special needs, says lawyer Nelly Gancheva:
"In practice, we have cases where children go to the United States to save lives. An ambulance partner brings the child to the plane, a nurse accompanies him throughout the flight to have a life-saving operation. So when it comes to international adoptions, it's nice to look at the other side, which is actually typical. "
The Justice Department declined to comment on the case, as it is about American citizens and the powers are entirely in the hands of US institutions.
Were there any gaps in the adoption procedure, did the Bulgarian state have any tools to act in such cases? Tonya Dimitrova is looking for answers to these questions - hear the report from the audio file.
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