Abandonments at the National Level in Romania - Part 1

Although those from the Ministry of Health continue to maintain that newborn children abandoned in maternity hospitals involve children with problems which necessitate hospitilization, nevertheless statistics and reality contradict such assertions. To quote prime minister Tariceanu, "these abandoned children are born with a low birth weight and one or many handicaps." But in fact, why would hospitals have need of this argument to explain the number of beds occupied [by abandoned babies].

In conformity to the UNICEF report, "The Situation Regarding the Abandonment of Children in Romania", in the whole study, 66.6% of children born have a normal birth weight or above. The prevailing rate of 34% of abandoned newborns with low birth-rates is worrisome when the low birth weight among all births is only 9%. We are obligated to explain where Tariceanu made his mistake. In the first place, 34% is not a majority. In the second place, a healthy child, even if he has a weight of 2,500 grams, does not need to be hospitalized and can be sent home. This UNICEF report also says that only "9% of the abandoned babies were born with congenital malformities." At the same time, at birth, "87% of these abandoned babies had an Apgar score of 8 or above. We ask, do these children really need to be hospitalized for months (as claimed by Tariceanu)?

In Iasi County, according to the official reporting statistics, there were 66 abandonments. But as of May 27, 2005, there are only seven active cases. "We had an explosion of abandonments in February, when we had 16 abandonments," explained Florin Ion, director of CPS in Iasi County. "But now we have only five." The numbers show the reality of the situation, but one can never quantify the desire of children to hear the voice of a mother or feel her gentle hands.

The gravity of the situation is known best by the physicians from the maternity hospital "Cuza Voda" in Iasi. In fact, this facility has become an "orphanage" for children who have remained "without a mother". Dr. Mariana Nica told us that "In 2003, we had 17 abandonments of children, in 2004 we had 27, and in the first quarter of 2005 we've had 18 already." "These statistices worry us," he said, "and all these abandonments [under the new law] turn us into detectives more than doctors.

"In Cluj, there are about 100 abandoned children in maternity and pediatric hospitals. By June 13, 2005 there were already 41 additional cases of abandonment. This contradicts the National Adoption and Child Protection Committee report which said that there were only six. Thirty of these 41 cases involve newborns. The other 11 are very young children between the ages of 4 months and 5 years who have been "conveniently forgotten" at the hospital, by their mothers. All the ones in the maternity hospital are healthy. "The major problem is not the new law, which is good," maintains Monica Filip the director of CPS for Cluj County. The problem, she maintains, is in the implementation of the law. "Our problem is that every case has to have a service plan for the birth-family and the child." Another problem is that in Cluj County there are only 170 approved foster parents, and this number is totally insufficient, even assuming that each foster family receives two children. At this time there are 582 children in institutions and another 216 in foster care. In 2004, of the 95 cases of abandonment, only 20 were reintegrated in the birth family. The rest are waiting either in institutions or foster care. At this time, not even one of the abandoned children has been declared adoptable. Monica Filip told us, "The new procedures under the new law are more difficult. The declaration of adoptability must be made by the courts, and up to this time we haven't had even one sentence handed down regarding adoptability in our whole system here in Cluj.

"In the two maternity hospitals in Giurgiu County, there were two cases of abandonment registered in the first five months. Reintegration in the natural families or extended families is an extremely long process. The more permanent process of internal adoption is even more difficult and long. Veronica Gavrila from the CPS says that there are 14 adoptable children in Giurgiu county. However only one case has even been begun with respect to adoption. She said, "There is very little manifest interest in adoption." Only eight families have even declared their intention to adopt.

In Sibiu County children under two years of age who have been taken out of hospitals are put in the Community Service Orphanage until they can be placed in foster care. Sibiu County reports three cases of active abandonments in the first five months of 2005. The greatest problem is finding the parents or relatives. Adriana Barza, spokeswoman for Sibiu CPS says, "It's toilsome labor and usually many months and even years pass until we manage to find relatives. In many cases we never do find the parents or relatives." At the end of April, 2005, 904 children were under the supervision of Sibiu CPS. In orphanages there are 561, 19 are in an emergency care shelter, and 279 are in the care of foundations. As of July 2005, there are no children declared adoptable in Sibiu County.