Article on Wexler

From Rompress Jan. 10, 2006, posted at www.idilis.ro

Congressman Robert Wexler in Bucharest to Plead the Cause of International Adoptions

Robert Wexler, an American Congressman, declared Tuesday at a round table discussion held at the U.S. embassy in Bucharest, that, "International adoptions should not be arbitrarily forbidden, but should represent an option for abandoned children in Romania, in certain cases which have been minutely investigated." He was in Bucharest to plead with the Romanian authorities regarding the requests for adoption which were made prior to the implementation of law 273/2004 which forbids international adoptions. As a representative from the state of Florida, Wexler brought to the attention of the Romanian authorities the case of the Springer family who adopted a little girl from Romania and who want to adopt her twin sisters as well.

The Springer case was publicized by the mass media in America because of the entangled feelings which accompany this unusual case. The little girl has two dolls which she has named after her two sisters in Romania. Her one wish is that they would be with her, which is also the express request of her biological mother. Not only that, the American family has paid for the biological father of these twins to make several trips from Italy to Bucharest in order to testify in favor of the adoption of the twins. The American Congressman asked, "The little girl wants to be together with her sisters. The adoptive parents desire the same thing. And both biological parents have expressed this as well. Who and why are these children being denied their right to a loving family?"

He emphasized that the decisions in these kinds of cases should not be made by politicians, but rather by those who follow what is in the best interests of the child. Robert Wexler affirmed that, although Romania has made progress with regard to the way abandoned children were treated in the early 90's, the country still has a problem with regards to the large number of abandoned children. The American official maintained that the statistics presented by the Romanian authorities -- only several hundred adoptable children -- do not reflect the reality of the situation. According to the statistics from the United Nations organization the number of children abandoned in Romania remains at approximately the same level as it was 15 years ago, said Wexler. The democratic Congressman further affirmed, "These several hundred children are those who have been legally defined as adoptable, but it does not mean that the rest of the abandoned or institutionalized children have disappeared via a miracle."

Wexler stated that Washington understands the apprehensions of Bucharest, keeping in mind the situation from the early 90's. "But", he added, "the dramatic situation of these children without families should not be transformed into a political issue, nor an issue of the relationship between the U.S., Romania and the E. U. -- and so much the more since the forbidding of international adoptions is not a condition imposed by Brussels for Romania's entry into the E.U."