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The long road home

The long road home
Abandoned in a Romanian orphanage, Florin now lives with his adoptive mother, Clara.
While helping place Romanian orphans in foster homes, American researchers are learning valuable lessons about what impact deprivation has on the brain—and whether its effects can be reversed.
Florin lives with his adoptive family in a Bucharest apartment building where trellised grape vines arch the front path and white lace curtains filter the morning sun. A portfolio of his drawings sits by his bed; the aroma of fresh coffee fills the hall.
Lazing in PJs, this dark-haired, almond-eyed 6-year-old rests a cheek on his mother's shoulder as he watches cartoons. He wants to create them one day. "I will make my drawings more beautiful and more beautiful," he says, "and the best ones will be shown on TV." He is confident his teacher will find the best station to broadcast his pictures.
The ordinariness of Florin's life couldn't have been imagined based on where he started. Abandoned at birth in a maternity ward, he spent his first 11 months in one of Romania's infamous orphanages. Babies weren't held when crying, fed when hungry or changed when wet. Rarely did someone hum a lullaby to quiet the infants to sleep or delight them with peek-a-boo. They were left lying on their backs in cribs for hours, staring up at bare white ceilings.
Photographer Michael Carroll first visited Romania in the days after Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989. His intention was to chronicle the country's AIDS crisis, but he became so consumed with the plight of the country's orphans that he founded the Romanian Children's Relief Foundation. "It was impossible to see the conditions these children were living in and not do something about it," he says. In the 18 years since that visit, Carroll has been back to Romania dozens of times, taking photos of not just the orphans and the aftermath of the Communist regime, but also the country's beautiful countryside and striking people.
Audio Slide Show
This slide show, which is narrated by Carroll and features photos he took during his many visits to Romania, offers a description of the country and the story of Romania's orphans.
Many media outlets have produced other kinds of stories about the Bucharest Early Intervention Project and the doctors helping the Romanian orphans. Below are a few of them:
The Boston Globe, November 11, 2006
NPR's "All Things Considered" September 16, 2006
The Guardian (London) February 18, 2006
Older children fared no better. They were fed and clothed, their medical needs addressed, but they sat alone while caregivers watched TV. They ate from bowls with their hands. They slept two to a short, narrow bed, many sitting up. Boys and girls wore the same clothes, the same haircuts, the same sorrowful eyes. These were children who had rarely seen a crayon, let alone drawn cartoons.
Florin could well have been one of them. But in 2001, he became part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP)—the first randomized study in the world to investigate whether foster care could heal the emotional and behavioral wounds of severe early childhood deprivation. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation'sResearch Network on Early Experience and Brain Development, BEIP has not only delivered Florin to normalcy, it has fueled a massive overhaul of Romanian child protective services. Its findings back with hard, cold numbers the common-sense observation that children fail when deprived of normal emotional and social interaction: dismal IQ scores, high percentages of mental illness and abnormally low heights and weights.
More importantly, BEIP's initial findings suggest that consistent, high-quality foster care, begun early enough, may reverse many of these losses and salvage young lives. These hopeful findings have implications for the services developed not just for children abandoned in Romania, but for the millions orphaned by AIDS in Africa, displaced by war in Afghanistan or shunted from one inadequate foster home to another in the United States. They may deepen our understanding of normal development, too, shedding light on "sensitive periods" during which language, emotional attachment and other vital capacities must form or be lost forever.
Heartrending opportunity 
BEIP brought three prominent American researchers to Bucharest: Charles Nelson, PhD, director of research for Children's Hospital Boston's Developmental Medicine Center; Charles Zeanah, MD, chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Tulane University; and Nathan Fox, PhD, professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland. Zeanah is an expert on emotional attachment, Nelson and Fox on how early experience molds the developing brain.
"For the brain to wire correctly, it needs input," explains Nelson, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "Children living in institutions lack stimulation on a grand scale, so we expect them to experience a range of problems due to 'errors' in brain development."
When the researchers first visited Romania in the late 1990s, they saw teenagers the size of 8-year-olds, not because of poor nutrition, but because emotional and social deprivation inhibit growth. They witnessed rows of toddlers who, lying alone for hours, waved hands repetitively in front of their faces in an effort at self-stimulation. Language and attachment, learning and attention, emotion, behavior, IQ—all can be damaged when infants are denied the coos, smiles, and consistent, one-on-one care of a normal childhood.
Such problems had been reported in the literature, but when the BEIP began, research was sparse and no study had rigorously investigated one of the most critical questions: Could foster care provide an effective antidote to early deprivation? Could institutionalized children placed with families catch up verbally? Cognitively? Emotionally? Could they thrive? Romania is providing a heartbreaking but rich environment to find answers.
Tragic legacy
In the 1960s, Romania's Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decreed that the nation would be self-sufficient. Romania was to make its own bread, shoes, steel, missiles—nothing would be imported. But the state needed workers. Ceausescu mandated that all families have five children. He banned birth control and abortion and forced women to undergo gynecological exams at work to assess their fertility. He financially rewarded families for having two or more children and taxed them for every child shy of five. When families began having children they could not afford, Ceausescu built child placement centers.
By 1989, when Ceausescu's government fell, more than 100,000 Romanian children were living in state-run institutions. As images of the children's stunted bodies, blank eyes and disturbed behavior began flooding the media, Romanians were as stunned and appalled as the rest of the world. The post-Communist government began improving conditions in the placement centers.
Saving the children 
By the time Nelson and his colleagues arrived a decade later, the government had begun reuniting children with their birth families, cutting Romania's institutionalized population in half. But the country had only the beginnings of a foster-care system and no tradition of adoption. Indeed, anyone who took in another person's child was assumed to have only the darkest intentions. But a passionately committed Minister of Child Protection, Cristian Tabacaru, understood the value of family-based care and was determined to move children out of institutions and into the community. When the American researchers outlined their ideas for the BEIP, he recognized that their study could provide scientific data to convince local officials and professionals of the value of family-based care. Tabacaru offered enthusiastic support, including space for offices and a lab.
The researchers decided to follow three groups of children: those institutionalized, those moved from an institution to foster care and a control group of children who had always lived at home. The idea was to evaluate them on every conceivable developmental dimension: brain activity; emotional, intellectual, behavioral and language development; attachment to caregivers; and mental health.
But could they succeed? The team would be running this complex, multi-year project from 4,000 miles away. They needed a project coordinator, preferably bicultural, who could manage the local research staff. They needed to train that staff: Most psychologists and social workers in Romania have only undergraduate degrees and no research training. The American researchers also needed to negotiate the legal, cultural and ethical issues of studying the abandoned children, and establish a foster care network. They didn't even know if the children would cooperate or if the electrical power would be sufficient to run their equipment.
Nelson, Fox and Zeanah had visited the placement centers, however, and had seen children lying in their cots—often crying—unattended for hours. They had witnessed the consequences. As scientists, they recognized a unique opportunity to study a phenomenon that had received little attention. As men, as fathers, they were drawn to help. "I kept thinking, things happened to these children that were entirely preventable," says Nelson. "It was a conscious decision to rear them like that."
"It was impossible to go into those orphanages and not have rescue fantasies," adds Fox. "The first time there I saw a little girl with black curly hair. The parents who had abandoned her were visiting, then they just left her, abandoning her again. I wanted to put her in my suitcase and get her out of there."
A program launched
Thanks to the cooperation of the Romanian government and the child welfare agency SERA Romania, plus the political and organizational savvy of BEIP's first director, Sebastian Koga, MD, the project completed a successful pilot study in 2000 and began work in earnest in 2001. The researchers had identified 69 qualified foster families, so were able to enroll 136 institutionalized children in the study. Another 68 children from the community served as controls. All were between 5 and 30 months old.
The institutionalized children were randomly assigned to either remain in the placement center or to enter foster care. Florin was one of the lucky ones placed in foster care. His foster mother remembers when he first arrived. At 11 months, he could not sit up. He didn't smile. This little boy who now avidly describes each detail of his paintings did not babble as an 11-month-old baby should. "He would only say 'na, na, na' when I changed his diaper," recalls his mother. "He didn't like being touched."
Yet Florin was in better shape than many. Nelson and his colleagues assessed all the children before any were placed in foster care. Compared to typically developing children in the community, those in the orphanage had dramatically lower IQs (an average of 65 compared to 103) and substantially higher rates of mental illness (43 percent versus 14 percent). They smiled less, laughed less and were less likely to initiate or respond to social interaction. Their language skills were blunted, as was their ability to form healthy relationships with caregivers. Their brains reflected this paucity of development, showing significant reductions in electrical activity.
The consequences of living in the emotionally sterile institutional environment were not surprising. But the findings gave urgency to the researchers' most important question: Could foster care reverse the damage? The answer has been emerging over the past five years.
Signs of success
The BEIP provided what Nelson dubs "super-duper foster care." The project gave each family a stipend and paid for diapers and toys. A pediatrician was on call 24/7, and a social worker was sent to each home every seven to 10 days. Weekly videoconferences with the researchers back in the States let the Romanian team troubleshoot problems beyond their expertise.
Children's researcher Charles Nelson, PhD, and colleagues first went to Bucharest, Romania, in the late 1990s. Their goal was to see what effect extreme social, emotional and physical deprivation had on the country's orphans.
When the children turned 9 months old, then 18, 30, 42 and 54 months, the researchers repeated the initial assessments. They are still analyzing data (and planning a follow-up study when the children turn 7 to 8 years old), but the results so far are encouraging. The foster-care children show huge gains in intelligence, with jumps as great as 10 to 12 IQ points. They've also shown improvements in language development; the ability to form healthy relationships, even if they were withdrawn in the institutions; and improved mental health, with rates of anxiety and depression having plummeted.
Researchers have also found that the age at which a child went into foster care matters: Those placed before age 2 are talking nearly as well as their community peers; those placed later are barely improving. Similarly, IQ, weight and height gains are greatest for children placed at younger ages.
Some problems remain stubbornly unchanged regardless of the child's age at placement, however. To children with a disorder called indiscriminate friendliness, for example, all adults are interchangeable. "I remember one little boy who acted like I was his father even though he'd never seen me before," recalls Nelson. "I was there, so he grabbed my hand. He needed an adult to take him somewhere." Children like this boy are not forging the trusting relationships with specific caregivers that form the basis for intimacy throughout life.
And while many children with depression and anxiety get better, those with behavioral disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don't seem to be improving. This could be because the developmental window for shaping attention and behavioral control slams shut very early, before the children entered foster care, explains Nelson. But it could also be that behavioral disorders simply take longer to resolve.
The researchers are planning a new follow-up study to explore this question, among others. "Everything could change dramatically when we see the kids at 8 years," says Nelson. "Our intervention may have had a huge effect at first, but over time, the children could regress. It's equally possible, though, that they're holding their own or continuing to improve. We need to find out."
A lasting impact
For Florin, the gains have been enormous—and they've included a permanent family. His foster parents adopted him in 2004. "We loved him from the very first day," says his mother.
Florin is one of 10 BEIP children who have been adopted so far. But for every Florin, another 3,000 Romanian children remain in institutions. The bleak orphanages in which teenagers the size of 8-year-olds once languished in row after row of metal-barred cribs are long gone, but the institutions that remain can still elicit rescue fantasies. A dorm in which 5- and 6-year-olds sleep is a sea of wooden bunk beds, each with a thin mattress blanketed in blue or red. No teddy bears or books, no Winnie-the-Pooh pillowcases or finger paintings proudly taped to bedposts adorn these beds. The anonymity is bearable. The gagging odor of urine and sweat is not.
The government is working vigorously to provide alternatives for these children. It continues to reunite biological families and has built a network of foster homes and small group residences. Spurred by BEIP findings, it has banned institutionalization for children younger than 2, unless they are profoundly handicapped.
The government has also initiated programs to identify and support mothers at risk of abandoning their kids. But poverty, illiteracy, homelessness and the habits of the past have left the rate of child abandonment unchanged. According to a 2005 United Nations report, 9,000 Romanian children are left in hospitals and maternity wards each year.
Thirty years of Communist rule gutted the country's capacity to cope with this problem. A staggering amount of money, research and education are needed to develop appropriate residential, educational and medical services for formerly institutionalized children and to train staff to provide them. This is where BEIP researchers hope to have their most lasting impact. They and their Romanian partners are transforming the lab and staff developed for the BEIP into the core of a permanent Romanian Institute for Child Development (ICD).
The ICD is modeled after the renowned Developmental Medicine Center (DMC) at Children's, and will import the DMC's model of integrated and collaborative clinical services, research and training. "We want to create a landmark institution that can train Romanian child development specialists, do the research and develop the services that will give these kids the best possible chance," says Nelson.
But more than that, the BEIP researchers and their Romanian colleagues want to see that the tragedy of Romania's institutionalized children is not repeated —not there, not anywhere. They are committed to making the ICD a beacon for child development specialists around the world. "In Romania, I've seen how quickly science can be translated into policy," says Nelson. "I can no longer do research without asking, how will this impact the lives of kids?"
Nelson hopes the ICD's research will translate into programs and social policy that encourage every child to flourish, transforming Romania's tragic legacy of child abandonment into one of hope.
To learn more about supporting Charles Nelson's PhD's, work in Romania,
please contact Sara Kelly in the Children's Hospital Trust 
at (617) 355-2562 or sara.kelly@chtrust.org.
Charles A. Nelson, Ph.D.
Bucharest Early Intervention Project
Romania

US adoptive mother says she is not guilty of cruel treatment of Russian boy


US adoptive mother says she is not guilty of cruel treatment of Russian boy


28.01.2011, 22.31

LOS ANGELES, January 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Jessica Bigley from Anchorage, Alaska, the adoptive mother of a Russian boy, says she is not guilty of cruel treatment of the child.

Her lawyer said on Friday she did nothing punishable under the child abuse law. The lawyer made the statement at the pretrial hearing at the Anchorage court.

Bigley said in a TV show in late December that she was straightening her disobedient child with pouring cold water over him and mouth washing with hot pepper sauce. The boy was eventually identified as Daniil Bukharov adopted by a U.S. couple in Magadan. Apart from Daniil and his twin brother Oleg, the Mormon family has another four children.

The lawyer said no one would have uttered a word if not for the Dr. Phil Show. Some think it is bad to spank a child, but she did not do even that, he remarked. The adoptive mother did not attend the hearing, and the lawyer was her representative. He stressed that the ‘straightening methods’ did not hurt Daniil.

The Anchorage police were informed about the situation on November 17, 2010. An investigation was held, and detectives saw the video-clip in which Jessica was shouting at the boy and he was crying of pain. The detectives also questioned Jessica, her husband and the six children. Prosecutors have no doubt that the cruel treatment charge is founded.

By Anchorage laws, this is an administrative offense punished with up to one year in custody or a fine of $10,000.

The Russian consulate general in Seattle, Washington, is controlling the investigation of a new case of violence upon a Russian child in the United States.

The new case of U.S. adoptive parents’ violence upon a Russian child accentuates the need for the immediate signing of an adoptions treaty with the United States, Russian Children’s Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said in comment on the situation of seven-year-old Daniil Bukharov from Magadan.

“Russia is unable to control the position of adopted children without that treaty. Four rounds of negotiations were held, and the draft agreement is being coordinated at Russian and U.S. departments. All the disagreements have been settled, and now we have to handle technical formalities. Hopefully, the treaty will be signed soon and we will protect Russian children in the case of abuse,” he said.

Otherwise, “Russia will have to consider the suspension in the adoption of its children by U.S. families or even the full ban on such practice,” Astakhov said.

“This is a case of harsh treatment of a child, not a way of strict upbringing the adoptive mother claims,” Astakhov said on the Vesti FM radio. “Urgent measures must be taken to protect the small Russian citizen who has found himself in a difficult situation. He must be protected from harsh treatment,” the ombudsman said. “Such treatment of a child must be described as torture and punished by U.S., Russian and international laws,” he noted.

Astakhov said that his office and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were coordinating efforts in the assistance to Daniil Bukharov. “The Russian consul general in the United States is visiting the hometown of the adoptive family by the minister’s instruction to provide legal and other assistance to the boy,” he said.

According to the consulate general in Seattle, it is necessary to find out whether Daniil, his twin brother and other children are satisfied with their life in the Bigley family, a consulate representative told Itar-Tass.

The Russian Children’s Rights Ombudsman Office applied to the U.S. authorities for the immediate protection of the boy and the prevention of further risks to his health and life, Astakhov said. If the culpability of the adoptive parents is proven, it will be necessary to ensure the return of the Bukharov brothers to Russia, he noted.

Astakhnov ordered Magadan Regional Children’s Rights Ombudsman Nikolai Zhukov to verify the lawfulness of the adoption of Daniil.

“Seventy-five percent of children adopted in the Magadan region go to foreign families, while Russia’s average rate is around 30%,” he said. “Seventeen children adopted by U.S. families have died,” he added.

“Some 80,000 Russian children have been adopted by foreign families in recent years. The United States leads by the number of children adopted from Russia,” State Secretary – Deputy Education and Science Minister Yuri Sentyurin said earlier. “However, adopted children encounter a number of problems. Some of the foreign parents are simply not ready for the enlargement of their families.”

Thus, the inter-country adoption agreement will add an element of stability, he said. “For instance, the agreement will help regulate and control the activity of adoption intermediaries,” he noted.

U.S. Consul General in Moscow Richard Beer called for stricter control over families that adopt children. He also said that the agreement must correspond to the laws of the United States and Russia. The U.S. is very much interested in signing this agreement, but it will take some time to elaborate it, he said.

“The new agreement will be a legally binding document ensuring control over the security of children,” according to head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s U.S. desk Alexander Zakharov.

A total of 3,800 Russian children were adopted by foreigners in 2009, including 1,432 in the United States. At the same time, the number of foreigners wishing to adopt children from Russia dropped by 60% in the past six years, and the number of Russian families wishing to adopt a child grew by 27%. No information for 2010 is available as yet.

The Family Code defines an inter-country adoption as a temporary measure for children who cannot be adopted in Russia. Inter-country adoption is possible exclusively on the basis of bilateral treaties.

According to Education and Science Ministry department director Alina Levitskaya, U.S. citizens have adopted about 50,000 Russian children in the past 20 years.

The problem came to the forefront after a U.S. foster mother returned a seven-year-old boy to Russia. The President Barack Obama administration said they shared the indignation of Russians over several deaths of Russian children adopted by U.S. adoptive and the latest refusal of adoptive mother Torry Hansen from seven-year-old Artyom Savelyev. The woman put the unaccompanied boy on the plane to Russia.

The Department of State said though that it did not want a moratorium on the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens because it could have a negative effect on parentless children.
Russia, United States of America

Appearance on Dr. Phil show leads to child abuse charge against Alaska woman

Appearance on Dr. Phil show leads to child abuse charge against Alaska woman

By The Associated Press (CP) – 1 hour ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage woman is charged with child abuse because of a "Dr.Phil" TV show appearance in which the audience saw video of her disciplining a 7-year-old son by putting hot sauce in his mouth and forcing him into a cold shower.

The methods chosen by Jessica Beagley were unreasonable, said municipal prosecutor Cynthia Franklin.

The lawyer for the 36-year-old mother said the city is intruding into a family matter.

"She has not done anything that would warrant a criminal charge for child abuse," said attorney William Ingaldson. "If this hadn't showed up on 'Dr. Phil,' there wouldn't be anybody saying anything about it."

Beagley is pleading not guilty at Friday's arraignment, he said.

"Some people think spanking your child is wrong, and she doesn't even do that," Ingaldson said.

Neither the child in the video nor five other children in the home have been removed by the Office of Children's Services, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.

Beagley's husband, Gary Beagley, is an Anchorage police officer. He's not under investigation, said the department spokesman, Lt. Dave Parker.

"Ultimately, a jury will have to decide if that's the case," Parker said.

In the video, Beagley is punishing the boy for "pulling three cards," a reference to three reports from his school of bad behaviour.

"We've tried timeouts with (him)," Beagley says in a YouTube video from the "Dr. Phil" appearance. "That is a big joke."

In the video, Beagley goes on to explain that those previous methods of discipline — timeouts, spankings, forced exercise, soap in the mouth — didn't stop the boy from acting out and lying, so she turned to hot sauce.

When she's at her wits' end, the boy gets a cold shower, Beagley says.

Municipal law on child abuse lists several factors in determining what is reasonable parental discipline. One example of unreasonable discipline included in the code is the scalding, branding or burning of a child.

Though the code does not mention hot sauce specifically, the section on burning applies to hot sauce, according to the prosecutor's office.

The Beagley children haven't had physical injuries or medical care for injuries, the defence lawyer said.

The case has attracted the attention of Russian media because the boy and his twin brother were adopted from Russia when they were 5 years old, said Franklin, the prosecutor.


Russia, United States of America

Italy rushes in law to ban 'spare part' baby sales

Italy rushes in law to ban 'spare part' baby sales 
By Bruce Johnston in Rome 
(Filed: 18/05/2003)
Italy's government has vowed to push through legislation to stop the sale of 
human organs after a female gang auctioned off a newborn child near the 
southern port of Bari, possibly so that its organs could be used for 
transplants.
The three-strong gang of Ukrainians, including the baby's mother, sold the boy 
for 350,000 euros (£250,000) while he was still in the womb, not realising 
that the successful bidders were undercover carabinieri police officers.
The police are now investigating several Italians for expressing an interest in 
buying the child for its organs. "The terrible case of Bari confirms the 
urgency. A bill is before the justice committee of the lower house which 
explicitly envisages cases not only of sexual exploitation but also the removal 
of organs," said Stefania Prestagiacomo, minister for equal opportunities.
Doctors at Rome's Babbino Gesu paediatric hospital said that both the heart and 
liver of a newborn baby would be suitable for transplant, although the heart 
would only help another infant.
Last week Pier Luigi Vigna, the head of Italy's anti-Mafia commission, said 
that there was "more than just a suspicion" that the group was attempting to 
traffic human organs.
Last January the gang offered the unborn baby to startled officers posing as 
drug runners. "There's a five-month parcel waiting for you if you're 
interested," they announced.
The bidding began at €50,000 (£35,000) but the price swiftly started to rise 
as investigators struggled to keep pace with rival bidders. Their overriding 
interest, they said last week, was to secure the "purchase" and save the baby's 
life.
On the evening of May 9, the "parcel" was born in a flat in Giovinazzo, near 
Bari, and given to the carabinieri for cash after they outbid rivals, an 
unnamed Italian couple.
Last week the three gang members, and their male bodyguard-cum-driver, were 
arrested and charged with attempted enslavement. The child's mother, a 
28-year-old prostitute, is being held in prison along with Olena Kaurova, 62, 
and Nadia Tkachenko, 46, the suspected gang ringleader. Their bodyguard, 
Mykhaylo Mamot, 30, was also held for illegal possession of arms.
Investigators believe that the traffickers might have sold other children for 
illegal adoption whenever one of the prostitutes they controlled became 
pregnant.
Police suspicions were raised by the expert delivery and "surgical precision" 
with which Kaurova cut the umbilical cord in the kitchen of the flat, which led 
them to believe that the gang had previously performed the same tasks on other 
babies.
Italy

“We don’t know all cases of Russian child abuse abroad” - Ombudsman

“We don’t know all cases of Russian child abuse abroad” - Ombudsman

 
Jan 28, 2011 15:14 Moscow Time
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Pavel Astakhov. Photo: RIA Novosti
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Russia's Children's Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has called for a halt to adoptions of this country's children by foreign families until bilateral agreements to regulate adoptions are signed.

Without such bilateral agreements Russia is unable to lok after the Russian children adopted by foreigners and protect them from abuse.

Russia and the US have a 16-year history of international adoption and during this time more than 600,000 Russian children have found a new family in the US.  However the cases of abuse and mistreatment of Russian children in the US adoptive families has become a regular thing. 

The last scandal, which added fuel to the legal disputes, was the case of 7-year old Daniil Boukharov. Adopted by Gary and Jessica Bigley, the boy was forced to drink Tabasco sauce as a disciplinary measure. And this is not the most terrifying story, Astakhov says.

In the US 17 children have been killed by their adoptive parents. The law of large numbers can’t be applied here with 600,000 being adopted and only several killed. No! The US ambassador in Russia John Beyrle said that even one case is more than enough for Russia to act the way it is acting now. I agree with him. We do not have such problems with other countries, only with the US.  Moreover, we do not know about all the cases. We have learned there is a ranch where adopted Russian children rejected by their US parents are sent to. And nobody tells us about it. That’s a fact – we do not know what is going on with more than 400 children because the primary adoption was cancelled and after that the child “got lost”.

As at now, only Ireland has officially refused to sign a bilateral agreement on child adoption with Russia and adopt Russian children. France, Great Britain, Finland and Spain are ready to sign such agreements.  But until the agreements are signed, it is necessary to halt the adoption and make the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, introduce amendments to the Russian Family Code, Pavel Astakhov says.

Today it is necessary to add new provisions to the Family Code to stipulate that only children who were not adopted in Russia may be put up for international adoption. But this should be predicated on the relevant bilateral agreement being in place.

The Children’s rights ombudsman admits that it is impossible to now ban the international adoption of Russian children. Though the law provides  for such an option there is a powerful international lobby, making big money on protecting international adoption, which is a very profitable business. For example in the US, the services for finding an adopted child in Russia costs between $ 50,000 and $70,000.

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Russia

Court ruling could mean equal adoption rights for gay couples

Photo: DPA

Court ruling could mean equal adoption rights for gay couples

Published: 28 Jan 11 11:38 CET

Gay couples in Germany are not allowed to adopt children together – only one partner goes on the papers. But a higher regional court ruling that deemed the law unconstitutional this week may change this.

While homosexual couples are allowed to adopt their partner’s own biological children thanks to a Constitutional Court ruling in the summer of 2009, the same rule does not apply to non-biological adopted children. 

But the Hamburg upper regional court (OLG) called this “unequal treatment of marriage and civil unions in current adoption law” that is neither constitutional nor in the child’s best interest, broadcaster NDR reported. 

Straight couples face no restrictions when it comes to adopting non-biological children together.

The ruling, published this week after it was decided on December 22, 2010, found that the inheritance and maintenance claim rights gained through adoption by both parents provide additional safeguards for children, the broadcaster said. 

The issue has been sent off to the country’s high court for review, but so far no date has been set, a court spokesperson said. 

Meanwhile politicians from the environmentalist Green party called for the government to quickly write a new draft law to ensure equal adoption rights for gay couples.

Parliamentarian and Green party spokesperson for human rights issues Volker Beck told NDR that Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger must “finally” make a change that “ends the discrimination of homosexual parents and their children.”

The failure to do this puts children from such families at a disadvantage, he said.

“The adoption ban for gay and lesbian couples endangers child welfare and must therefore be ended,” said Beck, who is also the party’s chief whip. 

The Local/ka

 

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

Germany

Mother Cries At News Of Twin's Death Mar 24 2004

Mother Cries At News Of Twin's Death Mar 24 2004
By Sandra Murphy
THE tragic Romanian baby twins who were adopted by Portadown couple Gwen and 
Geoffrey Briggs were adopted without their mother's knowledge or consent, a 
documentary revealed last night.
A BBC Spotlight investigation tracked down David and Samuel Filipache's mother 
in a Romanian village. She claims her sons were not orphans as is commonly 
believed.
Mrs Filipache told reporters she believed the children were in a home in 
Slobozia, about an hour's drive from her village, and was unaware the twins had 
left the country.
The twins were adopted in 2000 but less than four months after arriving in Co 
Armagh, David died in the care of his adoptive parents.
The child's mother had no knowledge of the baby's death until the programme 
makers informed her.
Weeks after his death his brother Samuel was brought to hospital with a 
fractured skull after Geoffrey Briggs punched the child for refusing to take 
some medicine.
A distraught Mrs Filipache said she believed David should be buried in his 
homeland of Romania.
Briggs was jailed for grievous bodily harm for the assault on Samuel but no one 
has ever faced charges over David.
The programme revealed that Briggs, a former missionary, paid $24,000 for the 
adoption process.
The Filipache family, who have seven other children, live in a village several 
hours away from Bucharest in grinding poverty.
Local child protection authorities took the twins into care due to the living 
conditions of the family at the time.
They were unable to specify what help had been offered to the Roma gypsy family 
to help them keep the twins.
Under Romanian law of the time international adoption was supposed to be the 
last resort for children who were taken into care after other possibilities, 
such as reintegration into the family, fostering or domestic adoption, were 
exhausted.
Although the adoption consent for the Filipache twins was signed only a week 
after an emergency care order was enforced, officials stress the process was 
entirely legal and that the paperwork was signed in the presence of a public 
notary.
However, Mrs Filipache, who the authorities acknowledge is barely literate, 
claims she thought she was signing a form to renounce any family allowance from 
the government for the twins.
"They never told me anything, and they wouldn't tell me for fear I might send 
them to jail. They made me sign something, but God knows what I signed," she 
said.
Romania, Ireland

Judith Kilshaw: Internet adoption scandal woman now wants IVF at 57!

Judith Kilshaw: Internet adoption scandal woman now wants IVF at 57!

by Kelly Rose Bradford Jan 28th 2011

Categories: Latest news

Judith KilshawWho could forget the Kilshaws? Solicitor husband Alan and his wife Judith, who, in 2001 BOUGHT mixed race twins from a 'baby broker' in the US for £8,200, and then went on the run from UK social services.

The babies were eventually returned to the US, where a judge branded the Kilshaws 'media obsessed' and with no interest in the children's welfare.

A decade on, and Judith Kilshaw is back in the news. Having divorced husband Alan, she has gone on to marry her toy-boy lover, Steven Sillett, 13 years her junior. And now she wants to 'cement' their relationship with a baby.

Speaking to the Daily Mail - and bizarrely pictured with her new husband AND her ex - Judith reveals she wants to go to Italy to undergo IVF.

Alan, Judith says is still very much part of her life. 'We're all here together. It's an absolutely unique situation', she says. Indeed - for it was Alan who gave her away at her wedding to Steve, and together they are claiming damages from Flintshire County Council over what they brand the 'unlawful' removal of their adopted daughters.

Following the case, Alan - then a solicitor - was struck off by The Law Society. The couple claim the furore led to the breakdown of their marriage and had a detrimental affect on their health.

'I want £1million for me and the same for Alan,' Judith tells the Mail, also revealing she does not 'miss' the twin girls she had to give up, saying simply 'time has moved on' and 'there's no point in missing them'.

Of her IVF plans Judith says: 'It's getting later and later. I think it would be nice to cement our relationship.'
United Kingdom

Adoption auf Haiti: Grego hat nicht geweint


Adoption auf Haiti: Grego hat nicht geweint
Als 2010 beim Erdbeben auf Haiti mehr als 200.000 Menschen starben, wurden tausende Heimkinder wie Grego obdachlos. Eine Adoption auf Haiti.
Als das Flugzeug startet, fangen die Kinder an zu schreien. Es ist der 27. Januar 2010. Ein Mittwochabend. 15 Tage zuvor hatte die Erde in Haiti gebebt. Und nun vibrieren wieder die Wände, die Maschine dröhnt, und eine unsichtbare Kraft drückt die kleinen Körper mit voller Wucht nach hinten in ihre Sitze. Es riecht nach Kot und Urin. Die meisten Kinder haben Durchfall. Und sie haben Angst.
Grego gibt keinen Laut von sich. "Grego pas crié", nicht geweint, wird er später erzählen. Er hat den Kopf gesenkt, starrt grimmig vor sich hin, eine tiefe Falte zwischen den Augenbrauen. Auf seinem Schoß ein Flugzeug aus Stoff mit einem lachenden Gesicht. Alle größeren Kinder haben so eines beim Einsteigen bekommen. Der weiße Mann neben ihm hält seine Hand. Manchmal rüttelt er ihn und fragt: "Alles klar?" Grego nickt dann. Und der Mann sagt etwas in einer fremden Sprache.
Grego ist vier Jahre alt. Er weiß nicht, wer diese Weißen sind. Aber er weiß, dass seine neuen Eltern nicht unter ihnen sind. Einige der Kinder glauben das. Sie sagen Mama blanche und Papa blanc zu den Ärztinnen und anderen Betreuern, die sie aus dem Heim mitgenommen haben.
Grego kennt seine neuen Eltern von einem Foto, das sie ihm geschickt haben, sein einziger Besitz. Es ist eine Fotomontage seiner zukünftigen Familie, aufgeklebt auf einer orangefarbenen Karte, mit bunten Abziehbildchen am Rand. Das Foto zeigt ein lächelndes Paar, einen Jungen, der auch dunkelhäutig ist, und Grego. Jemand hat ihn da hineingebastelt. Für ihn soll es so aussehen, als gehöre er schon dazu.
"Ihr macht jetzt eine weite Reise zu Mama und Papa", hatten die Fremden gesagt, als sie die Kinder zwei Tage zuvor mit Bussen abholten. 63 Jungen und Mädchen, das jüngste vier Monate alt, das älteste sechs Jahre, jedes mit einem Plastikarmband, auf dem Name und Geburtsdatum vermerkt waren. Aufgesammelt in den Häusern des Kinderheims "Don d'Amour" und "Maison des Anges" in Haitis Hauptstadt Portau- Prince. Die Stadt war zerstört, ganze Straßenzüge verwüstet. Mittendrin: die drei Häuser des "Don d'Amour", die nicht zusammengefallen waren. Bis auf Schürfwunden waren die Kinder unverletzt geblieben. Grego hatte sich am Kopf gestoßen, als er aus dem wackelnden Haus lief.
Niemand ging danach mehr in die rissigen Gebäude hinein. Die Kinder schliefen auf Matratzen im Hof. Hinter den Hofmauern lagen Trümmer und Leichen. Es gab keinen Strom, kein sauberes Wasser, keine Toiletten. Einige Kinder hatten Fieber, viele litten an Austrocknung und bekamen Infusionen. Selbst die größeren unter ihnen waren so schwach, dass sie von den deutschen Helfern getragen werden mussten.
Das "Don d'Amour", was übersetzt "Heim der Liebe" heißt, ist kein Waisenhaus, sondern eine Einrichtung, die Kinder von armen Eltern aufnimmt, wenn diese sie zur Adoption ins Ausland freigeben. Oft sind es die Kinder alleinerziehender Mütter. Nüchtern betrachtet, ist das Heim ein Umschlagplatz für die Träume von Eltern. Die einen erhoffen sich ein besseres Leben für ihre Kinder. Die anderen wollen sich ihren Traum von einer Familie erfüllen. Manche sagen, Auslandsadoptionen sind ein Markt, von dem viele Erwachsene profitieren, nur die Kinder fragt niemand. Die andere Wahrheit ist: In Haiti schicken viele Eltern vom Land ihre Kinder zu Verwandten in die Stadt, wo sie als Haussklaven arbeiten müssen. Vor dem Erdbeben waren es laut Unicef rund 300 000 Kinder zwischen sechs und 14 Jahren.
Es ist eine spektakuläre Rettungsaktion, organisiert von "Help a child" und "Eltern für Kinder", zwei deutschen Vereinen, die seit Jahren Adoptionen aus Haiti vermitteln. Innerhalb von zwei Wochen nach dem Erdbeben gelang es ihnen, von den deutschen und haitianischen Behörden die Genehmigung für die Evakuierung der Kinder zu bekommen, deren Adoptionsverfahren bereits liefen. Bei einigen wurde das mindestens ein Jahr dauernde Verfahren stark verkürzt, wichtige Unterlagen mussten hier noch nachträglich besorgt werden. Einige internationale Hilfsorganisationen kritisierten diese beschleunigten Adoptionen, denn viele der leiblichen Eltern waren nach dem Erdbeben verschwunden und konnten nicht mehr informiert werden. Außerdem warnten sie vor gut gemeinten, aber rechtswidrigen Adoptionen von verwaisten Kindern ohne Papiere - wie viele Kinder auf illegale Weise vermittelt wurden, darüber gibt es keine verlässlichen Zahlen, weil die Grenzen zwischen beschleunigten und illegalen Adoptionen fließend sind.
Nicht nur Deutschland, auch zahlreiche andere Länder evakuierten Kinder, bei denen die Adoptionsprozesse noch liefen. 1200 kamen in die USA, 489 nach Frankreich, 107 in die Niederlande. Bei neun der in die Niederlande vermittelten Kinder standen noch keine Adoptiveltern fest - unzulässig, weil nach haitianischem Recht die leiblichen Eltern stets einwilligen müssen, dass ihr Kind zu einem ganz bestimmten Adoptivelternpaar kommt. Erst danach beginnt in Haiti der behördliche Adoptionsvorgang.
Daheim: Grego schaut sich Fotos aus der Zeit an, als sein Adoptivbruder Pytagore (rechts) aus Haiti nach Solingen kam.Daheim: Grego schaut sich Fotos aus der Zeit an, als sein Adoptivbruder Pytagore (rechts) aus Haiti nach Solingen kam.
Während die Maschine aus der Karibik durch den Nachthimmel fliegt, fahren Christine und Martin Krause zum Frankfurter Flughafen. Zum ersten Mal in ihrem Leben werden sie dort Grego begegnen. Sie hatten sich das anders vorgestellt. Der Junge war seit zwei Jahren im Heim. Seine Dokumente - darunter die zweifache Einwilligung in die Adoption durch die leiblichen Eltern, Pass und Visum - waren bereits fertig. Im April 2010 wollten sie nach Haiti fliegen und ihn dort abholen, so, wie sie es vor fünf Jahren auch bei ihrem ersten Adoptivsohn Pytagore gemacht hatten. Ein paar Wochen im Land sein, ein Abschiedsfest im Heim feiern, sich langsam aneinander gewöhnen. Wahrscheinlich wären sie viel lockerer gewesen als beim ersten Kind. Als sie damals den unterernährten Jungen mitnahmen, der drei Tage kein Wort sprach und nachts einnässte, hatten sie ständig Angst, etwas falsch zu machen. "Ist es überhaupt richtig, ein Kind aus Haiti zu adoptieren?", fragten sie einen Haitianer, mit dem sie sich angefreundet hatten. "Ja", sagte er, "denn ihr rettet ein Leben." Damals half diese Antwort. Heute sagt Martin Krause, 46: "Die Adoption ist zunächst eine ganz egoistische Sache gewesen. Wir wollten ein Kind, weil wir keine eigenen bekommen können."
Das zweite Kind war ein Geschwisterwunsch. "Könnt ihr nicht noch einen holen - so einen wie mich?", fragte Pytagore, als er fünf war. Das hieß, noch einmal den psychologischen Eignungstest machen, viele Papiere ausfüllen und rund 16 500 Euro aufbringen - so viel kostet eine Adoption aus Haiti beim Verein "Eltern für Kinder". Das Ehepaar Krause, Doppelverdiener, beide sind Architekten, konnte sich das ein zweites Mal leisten.
Um zehn Uhr landet das Flugzeug. Sechs Kinder müssen sofort in ein Krankenhaus. Die anderen werden in eine Halle auf dem Flughafengelände gebracht. Ein Vorhang trennt die Halle in zwei Hälften. Auf der einen Seite warten die Kinder mit ihren Betreuern, auf der anderen rund 60 Ehepaare. Säuglingsgeschrei dringt durch den Vorhang. Eine Stimmung wie im Kreißsaal. Eine Frau verteilt Gummihandschuhe und Desinfektionsmittel, wegen der Krätzegefahr. Damit sollen sie ihr Kind begrüßen? Christine Krause, 48, steckt die Handschuhe gleich wieder weg.
Zuerst werden die Paare alle nacheinander aufgerufen, eine Stunde vergeht, die Krauses warten immer noch, dann geht die Faltwand endlich hoch. Pytagore stürzt als Erster auf Grego zu. Der Achtjährige sagt sofort Bruder zu dem Kleinen und nimmt ihn an die Hand. Andere Adoptiveltern stehen etwas verunsichert herum. Ihre Kinder wollen nicht mit ihnen gehen. Sie klammern sich an die Menschen, die sie seit drei Tagen durch die Gegend getragen haben. Grego hält sich an dem Rucksack fest, den Christine Krause ihm mitgebracht hat. Blau-gelb gestreift mit einem "Winnie Puh"-Bild. Darin: ein Buch, ein Spielzeugauto, ein Stofftier, eine Tüte Gummibärchen, die er gleich aufisst. Die nächsten Wochen wird Grego nirgendwo ohne diesen Rucksack hingehen, nachts steht er neben dem Hochbett. Oben schläft sein Bruder Pytagore, unten Grego. In den Lattenrost über seinem Kopf klemmt er das Foto, das er aus Haiti mitgebracht hat. Er schläft bis zum nächsten Morgen durch.
Sie hatten sich den Anfang schwieriger vorgestellt. Pytagore war in den ersten Wochen nur auf dem Arm eingeschlafen, die Eltern wechselten sich dabei ab, nachts wachte er ständig auf und weinte. Würde Grego es überhaupt im Haus aushalten? Womöglich konnte das Erdbebenkind nur noch im Zelt schlafen. Und draußen liegt seit Wochen Schnee. Doch Grego ist mit sicherem Überlebensinstinkt gleich in das Kinderzimmer hochgegangen.
In den nächsten Tagen erkundet er das neue Zuhause in Solingen. Schön ist es, hell, in bunten Farben gestrichen. Wohnzimmer und Küche im Erdgeschoss trennen keine Wände, im Wintergarten steht ein Kicker. Es gibt zwei Katzen, Lilli und Schröder. Eine Oma und einen Opa, die direkt nebenan im Schieferhaus wohnen. Einen Bruder mit Rastalocken, mit dem Grego auf Kreolisch sprechen kann. Und Mama und Papa. Er nennt sie sofort so. Frau Krause spricht Französisch, was vieles leichter macht. Sie hat eine weiche Stimme, graublonde Haare und trägt fließende bunte Stoffe. Herr Krause ist zum Umarmen da. Grego sitzt am liebsten auf seinem Schoß und spielt mit seinen Haaren. Nur einmal sind alle ratlos. Sie wollen zum Einkaufen fahren in die Innenstadt von Solingen, aber Grego will nicht ins Auto. Er schreit und zerrt an den Eltern, bis sie verstehen, dass er Angst hat, sie würden ihn wieder wegbringen. Manchmal erzählt er vom Heim. Und meistens geht es darum, dass die Erzieherinnen ihn auf den Hintern gehauen haben, wenn er etwas falsch gemacht hatte. "Grego en Haiti?" Ob er wieder dahin zurückmuss, fragt er dann immer. "Nein, musst du nicht", beruhigt ihn Frau Krause.
Unterwegs: Samstags fährt die ganze Familie zur Bücherhalle, Grego hat wie immer seinen Rucksack dabeiUnterwegs: Samstags fährt die ganze Familie zur Bücherhalle, Grego hat wie immer seinen Rucksack dabei
Er ist acht Wochen da, als er das erste Mal allein mit dem Roller nach draußen geht. Es ist Samstagnachmittag, die Krauses sitzen im Wintergarten und trinken Tee. Durch die Glasscheiben können sie sehen, wie Grego auf dem benachbarten Schulhof seine Runden dreht. Ein kleiner Haitianer mit Daunenjacke und blauem Sturzhelm, der versucht, das Gleichgewicht zu halten. Zwischendurch kommt er zurück, klingelt, dann verschwindet er wieder. Später präsentiert er stolz seine neuen Schuhe: "Win, guck ma, ça c'est Grego. Nur für draußen." Breites Grinsen bis an die Ohren.
Warum der Junge so fröhlich ist? Warum er scheinbar so unverletzt durch alle Katastrophen in seinem Leben gegangen ist, können sich die Eltern nicht erklären. Offenbar verfügt er über eine Eigenschaft, die Psychologen als Resilienz, ein Gedeihen trotz widriger Umstände, bezeichnen. Resiliente Kinder sind Krisenmeister. Sie besitzen außergewöhnliche innere Stärken, die ihnen dabei helfen, mit erfahrenem Leid umzugehen. Doch nicht allein ihre Persönlichkeit spielt hierbei eine Rolle, sondern auch, wie eine Familie reagiert. Wenn sie optimistisch ist, gibt sie auch ihren Kindern Kraft. Die Krauses strahlen diese Zuversicht aus. "Wir schaffen das schon", ist ihr Lebensmotto. Ob Grego diesen Optimismus schon bei seinen leiblichen Eltern gespürt hat? Herr und Frau Krause wissen es nicht. Aber sie würden sowieso nicht öffentlich darüber sprechen. Grego soll nicht aus der Zeitung von seinen Eltern in Haiti erfahren, sondern von ihnen, wenn er größer ist.
Intuitiv machen sie und ihr Mann vieles richtig. Das war schon bei Pytagore so und jetzt bei Grego. Sie vermitteln ihnen Sicherheit. Sicherheit heißt für Grego in den ersten Monaten: Es ist immer einer zu Hause, beide Eltern gehen abwechselnd ins Büro. Es gibt feste Strukturen, mittags essen die Kinder bei den Großeltern nebenan. Abends bringt Herr Krause die Jungs ins Bett. Mit dem Zeigefinger der rechten Hand dreht er die Rastalocken von Pytagore, in der linken Hand hält er Grego, so lange, bis beide eingeschlafen sind. Und nie ist einer der Eltern über Nacht weg.
Sie investieren viel Zeit und Liebe in ihre Söhne aus Haiti. Außerdem Geige und Tennis für den Großen. Deutsch lernen mit dem Kleinen. Sie unterscheiden sich darin nicht von anderen Eltern ihrer Generation mit hohem Bildungsanspruch. Doch das Paar bleibt dabei gelassen. Rundumbespaßung für Grego sieht Martin Krause nicht ein. In den Monaten, bevor der Kleine in den Kindergarten geht, arbeitet er an zwei Tagen in der Woche in seinem Homeoffice. Grego muss sich dann allein beschäftigen - was ihm hier im Eldorado des Spielzeugs sichtlich nicht schwerfällt. Und die Eltern pflegen weiterhin ihre Hobbys. Seit 18 Jahren gehen sie auf Open-Air-Konzerte. Jetzt eben mit Kindern. Christine Krause sagt: "Ich bin keine Glucke." Wenn Grego durch das ganze Haus "Mama" ruft, springt sie nicht gleich auf.
Im Juli fährt die Familie zum "Erdbebenkindertreffen" in ein Feriendorf im Westerwald. Die Mitglieder der beiden Adoptionsvereine treffen sich dort jeden Sommer, nur sind diesmal Eltern dabei, die alle auf einen Schlag ihre Kinder bekommen haben. Satte grüne Hügel, flirrende Hitze, dazwischen ein Dutzend Bobby-Cars mit kleinen Haitianern darauf, die die Asphaltwege runterbollern.Die Heimmutter Gina Clodomir, eine rundliche, resolute Frau, ist aus Port-au-Prince angereist. Als Grego sie sieht, versteckt er sich hinter seiner Mutter. Frau Clodomir braucht Geld, um in Portau- Prince neue Häuser für das Heim zu bauen. Ein halbes Jahr ist seit dem Erdbeben vergangen. Noch immer wird im Hof gezeltet. Das "Don d'Amour" ist inzwischen wieder voll belegt mit Kindern, die von ihren Eltern nicht mehr versorgt werden können. Und die Heimleiterin hat Fotos vom Erdbeben mitgebracht.
Die deutschen Eltern wollen von ihr vor allem Informationen über ihre Kinder. War das Mädchen schon immer so scheu? Es lässt sich kaum anfassen, schreckt vor jeder Berührung zurück. Und hat der dicke Junge schon immer so viel gegessen? Er stopft alles in sich hinein.
Nicht bei allen Adoptiveltern verläuft der Alltag so undramatisch wie bei den Krauses. Manche Eltern sind nur noch müde. Ihre Kinder finden nachts keinen Schlaf. Sie fürchten sich davor, die Augen zu schließen, weil nichts schlimmer ist, als sich selbst und die Welt in der Dunkelheit zu verlieren. Die Krauses haben das selbst einmal erlebt. Jetzt machen sie anderen Mut. Grego macht weiterhin Fortschritte. Im September klingt sein Deutsch wie Gesang, mit hellen Vokalen, die er so lange dehnt, bis er Luft holen muss. Zum ersten Mal sagt er: "Ich will". Und er testet Grenzen aus. So lange, bis auch Frau Krause sauer wird. Das ist gut so. Er fühlt sich jetzt so sicher, dass er auch mal eine "böse Mama" riskiert. Und wenn er Mist gebaut hat, lügt er sie nicht mehr an. Sein Bruder hatte in so einer Situation schon mal gefragt: "Schickt ihr mich jetzt auch weg wie meine Eltern?" Sie habe ihm dann erklärt, dass seine Eltern ihn auch lieb hatten, aber nicht ernähren konnten, sagt Frau Krause.
Die größte Hürde steht der Familie noch bevor. Die Pubertät gilt bei Adoptivkindern als explosive Zeit. Da wird die über Jahre geknüpfte Bindung zu den nicht biologischen Eltern oft vor eine Zerreißprobe gestellt. Pytagore hat das schon mal ausgetestet: "Du hast mir nichts zu sagen, weil du nicht meine richtige Mutter bist!" Frau Krause hat sich davon nicht kränken lassen: "Tja, da hast du Pech gehabt, denn ich sage es dir trotzdem." Grego hat bisher noch nicht nach seinen Eltern in Haiti gefragt. Wenn es so weit ist, werden die Krauses ihm eine Mappe geben, in der sie alle Informationen über seine Vergangenheit gesammelt haben. Sie haben auch Fotos und Berichte von Grego an die Heimleiterin in Haiti geschickt. Ob die Eltern sie sich angesehen haben, wissen sie nicht. Die Stadt liegt noch immer in Trümmern. "Aber wir wissen, dass Gregos Mutter lebt."
Es wird Herbst, als Grego das erste Mal wieder fliegen soll. Urlaub auf den Kanaren. Schon Wochen vorher redet er davon. Er hat Angst, wieder weggeschickt zu werden. Die Familie versichert ihm immer wieder: Wir kommen alle zusammen zurück. Am 10. Oktober schickt Martin Krause eine SMS: "Flug war gut, Jungs mit großen Augen am Fenster." Zwei Wochen später: "Letzter Gruß aus der Sonne. Grego besteht jetzt vehement darauf, nach Solingen zu kommen. Kalt und Regen sind egal. Er WILL jetzt nach Hause."
Haiti - ein geschundenes Land
Meistgelesene Artikel
Ein Erdbeben der Stärke 7,0 erschütterte am 12. Januar 2010 den karibischen Inselstaat Haiti. Mehr als 220 000 Menschen starben, über 300 000 wurden verletzt. Die Katastrophe traf ein geschundenes Volk: Haiti gilt als ärmstes Land der westlichen Hemisphäre, rund 50 Prozent der Bevölkerung sind arbeitslos, etwa 80 Prozent müssen mit weniger als zwei US-Dollar pro Tag auskommen. Politische Instabilität, Korruption und Misswirtschaft ruinierten den einst wohlhabenden Staat. Immer wiederkehrende Naturkatastrophen wie Überschwemmungen und Zyklone, zuletzt im Jahr 2008, verhinderten außerdem, dass sich das Land erholte. Fast ein Jahr nach dem Erdbeben leben in der Hauptstadt Port-au- Prince noch immer Hunderttausende in Zeltstädten, ohne Strom, sauberes Wasser, ohne ein funktionierendes Abwassersystem. Erste Cholera-Fälle treten auf, am 22. Oktober 2010 bestätigt die Regierung den Ausbruch der Seuche. Ende November sind bereits mehr als 1200 Menschen daran gestorben, tausende infiziert, es kommt zu Aufständen gegen die Blauhelme. Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation in Genf warnt, dass der Höhepunkt der Epidemie noch bevorstehe.
Der Verein "Eltern für Kinder" möchte mit Spendengeldern ein erdbebensicheres Haus für das Heim "Don d'Amour" aufbauen - derzeit schlafen die Kinder noch in Notunterkünften aus Holz. Der Verein plant zudem eine Einrichtung für behinderte und kranke Kinder, die nicht für Adoptionen vermittelbar sind. Spenden für diese Projekte von "Eltern für Kinder" an: Bank für Sozialwirtschaft, BLZ 100 205 00; Konto Nr. 33 83 604; Verwendungszweck "Haiti".
 
Haiti, Germany
Eltern für Kinder (Parents for Children)

Romania and the International Adoptions Issue

Romania and the International Adoptions Issue

Posted on 26 January 2011 by ?tefan D?r?bu?

For many years, international adoptions have been blocked by a moratorium in Romania. At that time (back in 2002) this was the only way to stop the trade with children which was booming in the country. It was the best kind of “business”: little investment, and a lot of income generated for international adoption agencies, which were eager to get as many children as possible abroad.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was ignored. Article 21 (b) recognises that “inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child’s care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child’s country of origin”. In spite of this article, siblings were split, kids were taken abroad, without any preparation, without even meeting the adoptive parents. It was a time when adoption was done in the best interest of the adoptive parents, not in children’s best interest. There was hardly any post-adoption monitoring and supervision and not seldom did Romanian adopted kids get into institutions in the countries they were taken to, also because the written reports given by agencies to the adoptive parents were incorrect and misleading. Suddenly, once international adoptions were banned, the Romanian government was able to produce a viable law, which allowed the proper development of family-based, alternative services for children in state care. Mother and Baby Units were developed, the foster care system was created and ways were found to look after the kids in their own country of origin.

Now, the issue is back on the agenda again. However, many years have gone and we do need, I think, to re-visit the adoption legislation, with a view to bring some supplementary nuances, which would follow the lead of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is not as harsh as the Romanian adoption legislation is at present. For example, those kids who still wait to go abroad to adoptive families they met and want, should be allowed to take this step. Also, there are children with special needs who could benefit from a family abroad, as long as the adoption process and the preparation process are done in the best interest of the child as an imperative.

The only fear that still remains, is that the re-opening of international adoptions would lead to a new beginning for the adoption of children as trade. Because this is pure and harsh abuse upon children, under an umbrella of legality.

Hope & Homes for Children
Romania
Stefan Darabus
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