Romania has rejected all applications from foreigners seeking to adopt a Romanian child in line with its ban on international adoptions, authorities said today after a final review of pending cases.
The Black Sea state banned foreigners from adopting Romanian children in 2005 after a three-year moratorium in response to concerns in the European Union that a wave of international adoptions in the 1990s had triggered baby trafficking.
Would-be parents in the United States and other Western countries have repeatedly called on Romania, which wants to join the EU next year, to rescind the law.
In December the European parliament asked Romania for a final review of about 1,400 applications made during the moratorium.
"This is the final decision. There is no other solution for the foreign families who wanted to adopt children in Romania," Theodora Bertzi, head of the National Adoption Agency, said. "None of the applications were accepted."
"I am sorry for the foreign families who are now in great pain but they must understand that a local solution is better for the children who will not be psychologically affected by this," Ms Bertzi said.
Western observers have praised the radical steps Romania has taken to reform its child care and adoption policies since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.
The discovery of half-starved children in vast, filthy orphanages came to symbolise corruption during his rule.
But the ban has drawn criticism as well as praise. Many observers say Romania is not ready to take care of its orphans because of the poverty, corruption and mismanagement that haunt other reform efforts.
Thousands of foreigners had applied to adopt Romanian children during the moratorium, hoping to win an exception and some were allowed to adopt. Roughly 1,400 applications, mostly from the United States and Spain, were rejected.
Many would-be parents argued the children would suffer because they had already bonded with their prospective families. But Romanian authorities said most of the children were either not up for adoption or would be taken by local families.