Romania For Export Only, the untold story of the Romanian ‘orphans’
Romania For Export Only was published in 2007. It is a diary of the years 1999 to 2006, written from daily notes and memory. It is not an official document of the European Commission.
Some names, places and dates were changed or left out, for privacy or security. The text is the 2007 edition, unchanged.
Free to read here. You may quote it with the title, the author and the year. You may not republish it as your own edition. Copyright remains with Roelie Post, 2007.
Reference as: Post, R. (2007). Romania For Export Only. Privately published. Free edition: roeliepost.eu.
Printed copies can still be ordered through the contact page.
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The untold story of the Romanian ‘orphans’ is an insider’s diary of eight years, 1999 to the end of 2006, inside the European Commission’s work on Romanian child protection.
Roelie Post kept the diary while she was charged with helping Romania reform that system. She found that intercountry adoption was a market for children, riddled with corruption. After international criticism the practice was halted. When the laws were rewritten, the reformed system had neither place nor need for intercountry adoption.
A lobby that wanted the trade to continue then stepped forward: adoption agencies, adoptive parents and politicians, using political pressure and emotional blackmail. In Romania they did not win. The government, with the support of the European Union, decided to stop exporting children. The industry has challenged that decision ever since.
The book names the tactics and the players in Paris, Rome and Washington. The German documentary Suche Kind, zahle bar (Search a Child, Pay Cash), by Golineh Atai for WDR, is based on it and won a Kindernothilfe media prize in 2010.
Readers
“As a former European Commission official, I know that it is not obvious to write such a book. It is courageous and necessary to put this story on paper, as many misconceptions about the Romanian children’s adoption issue float around and have even caused the European Parliament to adopt a misguided written declaration on this issue. Well done Roelie.”
“A dramatic, and at times inconvenient truth.”
“A shocking and forensic case history.”
“A must read.”
For a copy, write to roelie.post@gmail.com.