American Ambassador to Bucharest: "reopening international adoptions will be the priority of my mandate"

American Ambassador to Bucharest: "reopening international adoptions will be the priority of my mandate"

While the mobilization of local associations for the pro-adoption petition continues, the American ambassador in Bucharest Mark Gitenstein has taken a stand to support the reopening of international adoptions of Romanian abandoned minors. The ambassador, on the sidelines of a hearing in the Senate, yesterday expressed his desire to exert pressure on the Bucharest government on the delicate issue of adoptions.

In an interview with the international agency AFP Gitenstein, he stated that the reopening of international adoptions in Romania has become one of the priorities of his mandate.

"I am aware of the story of 300 Romanian children who could be adopted right away but cannot find a Romanian family willing to do so. The authorities in Bucharest have given me some information on their situation: it appears that only 40 of them will have the opportunity to be adopted. I am carrying out a series of investigations to understand what their state of health is, what are the treatments they receive in the structures where they live, what are the chances of being adopted. However, the situation is complex: the current law does not facilitate their adoption, I find it absurd that these children do not have the opportunity to be welcomed as soon as possible. My wife works as a volunteer at the center of a hospital that takes care of abandoned babies in the maternity wards where these babies are cared for in their first year of life. These children deserve a family just like everyone else living under the state protection system. "

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