The Beginning

When the first cameras entered the Romanian orphanages in 1990 the world was stunned by what was revealed.   Children tied to cribs and chairs, often cold, underfed and smeared with their own feces. The pictures of starving, unloved children had a huge impact.

 

Thus began my journey into the world of adoption.  Those very cameras going into those orphanages.  I was watching.  I was 19 and a sophomore in college. I begged my mom for weeks to adopt one of those babies from Romania.  The pictures have remained etched in my mind.

Not all the children in the orphanages were actual orphans.  Many had been abandoned by desperately poor families who had been forced to have more children than necessary as past of Ceausescu's insane population building policy.

 

Psychological damage and developmental delay

Imagine what is could be like to be brought up in an institution in Romania in the worst circumstances.  You could be cold and bored, with meagre and unvarying meals, bleak mealtime experiences fighting for food or your bottle propped up in a cot.

You had nobody to call your own, to look forward to seeing, to love and hold you.  The strict regimentation left no time for personal attention or affection and there was very little color or variety.

This could be made worse by disability, illness or abuse.

You may have often had sores and infestations.

Psychological damage suffered in this type of institution is deep-rooted and more difficult to address than physical effects.  Many orphans are far from recovering psychologically.  This lack of human contact, color, variety, stimulation, understanding and concern almost always leads to developmental delays.

  (The information was taken from www.relieffundforromania.co.uk)  

*http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/10/europe/romania.php

So here I am 18 years later, about to adopt from China and not Romania.  If you are wondering how that happened, you're going to have to check back.  I am new at this blogging and I would be embarrassed to tell you how long this post has taken me:-)