History

Approximately 10,000 international adoptions occurred between 1990-2004. There is overwhelming evidence that these children have grown up in healthy, happy homes. However, a moratorium began in 2001 as Romanian government tried to discern how to regulate the international adoption process that was riddled with corruption because of bribery of officials, a minority of unscrupulous agencies, and poverty stricken Roma families willing to sell their offspring for profit.

During this unregulated period, international adoptions continued to be processed under emergency clauses. That abruptly ended in 2004 when the EU liason positioned her anti-adoption bias as a requirement for entry into the European Union. Thus, there were 1200 registered, legal adoptions in process when the new legislation took place that is still unresolved as of today.

Today

Romania is the only member state of the 27 member EU that does not allow international adoption. Although Romania has signed the Hague Convention which stipulates that every child has the basic right to a family, abandoned and orphaned children in Romania are still being denied that basic right. There have been less than 1000 national adoptions of abandoned children each year in Romania from the tens of thousands of abandoned children in the country. 

To appear to be reducing the number of kids in state care, harmful policies of forced reintegration with natural families are putting previously abandoned and abused children back in harms way. Many are forced to disregard their education so as to beg, steal, work, and prostitute themselves for their guardian "family” member. Livada is committed to helping Romania find a balanced position on this issue so that tens of thousands of abandoned children can find a permanent, safe place to call home.