Romanian Grandmother looking for her Grandchildren

The Romanian newspaper Curentul today published an article and video about alleged child trafficking for adoption by Klaus Werner Iohannis, who is a candidate to become Romania's new Prime Minister.

... The Iliuţ family tragedy begins in the years 1990-1991, when, taking advantage of early loss of parents of three children, appears on the line school inspector Klaus Werner Iohannis. He, together with his wife, Carmen Georgeta Iohannis brokered at the time more adoptions of children in the county of Sibiu for Canadian and American citizens. About these children nothing is known today, says "Justice". The Committee on Research of Abuses, corruption and Petitions of the Chamber of Deputies investigated the case, and in 2004 Maria Iliuţ was heard, the grandmother of three brothers adopted by a Canadian family through the gang of Iohannis, together with another girl aged only two months...

Full article in Romanian HERE

Recommended reading:

Mirah Riben about how the US treats its children:

Suffer the Children:
The Exploitation of America’s Most Vulnerable

by Mirah Riben / November 23rd, 2009


“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest—tost to me,”

And we will send you ours?

Full text HERE

Madagascar. Adoption of a child. A mother victim of a scam

One by one, mothers who saw their children disappear for intercountry adoption are speaking out. This time a mother from Madagascar, whose child is somewhere in Europe.

Yesterday I read the following statement:

Should original mothers on this planet ever stand up en masse and demand their children back, there will be a revolution the likes of which this planet has never seen.

Let's spread the word, let's give these mothers a voice

Madagascar. Adoption of a child. A mother victim of a scam

By signing papers without having read, Olivia Rakotoarison, the biological mother of Elisa has made the greatest mistake of her life. She wants to see her little girl.

Six years after the "abduction" of her daughter, Olivia Rakotoarison is tired and comes out of her silence. She gave birth January 28, 2003 to little Haja Elisa Andrea. Feeling the victim of a process she calls a plot, Olivia wants to reconnect a close relationship with her daughter and her adoptive parents.
"I confied, in 2003, my daughter to Madame Jacqueline, also called Mother, who was presented as being responsible for a rehabilitation center for children. We agreed that Eliza could stay at the centre, this after having signed an Act before a police officer. Now, I realized that I made a big mistake in signing papers I did not even know the content of, "says she.

For the record, starved and exhausted by a long march they had made, Olivia and her little girl stopped not far from home "Mother" in Ambohimiandra Mahazoarivo. Playing the good Samaritan, Madame Jacqueline supported them.
After a few exchanges the two women agreed that Elisa would be entrusted to Madame Jacqueline, a staff member of a rehabilitation center for children.
"At the police office, Mother asked me already if I wanted the adoption of my daughter by a foreign couple. I replied in the affirmative, provided they would allow me to stay in touch with my Elisa and especially with her adoptive parents, witnesses Olivia, while not remembering having given a precise answer on the subject.

A few days after concluding the agreement with a police officer, Ms. Jacqueline and Olivia went to the court. "I was asked about the reason for my decision to leave my child in a center, but there was no question of adoption. I remember, however, that a European couple was also in court, but their presence did not attract my attention. However, I confirm that I have not signed anything when we were in court, "Olivia insisted...

Full text in French on Abandon & Adoption

“Gotcha” from a mother's perspective

I strongly recommend Jane Trenka's article What does “Gotcha” mean?, in which she gives her mother a voice.

It is no longer a secret that intercountry adoption, in the past and present, is not about 'saving orphans', but about taking children from vulnerable families.

The abuses of the Korean adoption system, spelled out in THIS ARTICLE are not typical for South Korea. They can be found in most if not all other sending countries. Same system, same abuses.

What does “Gotcha” mean?
By Jane Jeong Trenka | Published: November 3, 2009


Lee Pil-rye, Trenka's "birthmother"

November is National Adoption Month. What would such a celebration of adoption, whether in the U.S. or another country, mean to my Korean birthmother?

At the time my mother became a “birthmother,” I was six months old, and my sister was four years old. Because she passed away about nine years ago, I will take the liberty of imagining what she might say about the meaning of adoption in her life, if she could read other people’s blogs in English, and if she could blog back.

What Adoption Means to Me
By Lee Pil-rye


I did not give birth to my child “with my heart.” I gave birth to my child with my body – painful, and tearing.

I did not “give” my child to another mother as a “gift.”

I was desperate and without the means to earn enough money myself. I and my children were victims of domestic violence. There was nowhere for us to go. No one would help us. We were so alone. I had no other choice but to relinquish my children.

But my children did not feel relinquished. They felt abandoned. I am so, so sorry.

FULL ARTICLE

See also: Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea TRACK