Adoptive families do not want to say they adopted a child, study

Most of the adoptive families are unwilling to talk about the fact that they adopted a child. Most often, the children are adopted at an early age so as to keep the adoption secret. These are the conclusions of a study made by the NGO Human Rights Embassy in cooperation with a group of psychologists, Info-Prim Neo reports. The organization’s executive director Lela Metreveli told a news conference on June 12 that the study “Psychosocial needs of the adoptive families in Moldova” aims to identify the general problems of addition and to draw attention to the necessity of professional involvement on the part of the state and civil society. Psychologist Svetlana Rusnac, expert within the study, said they surveyed 51 adoptive families. “The study shows that the adoptive parents are aged about 40. All the respondents are married, with a married life of over 15 years. Many of the families resort to adoption because they cannot have their own children owing to the infertility of one of the couple member. Most of them have higher and secondary education. Most of the adopted children are aged from one month to one year and are mainly girls. The largest part of the adoptive families come from urban areas. “The parents who adopt a child want to keep the adoption secret and can easier do it in an urban area,” said Svetlana Rusnac. Psychologist Victoria Gonta said that the most serious problem faced by the adoptive families is the state’s disinterest in the adopted children. In order to improve the situation, the adoptive family should benefit from legal and psychological counseling in the process and after adoption. The adoption authorities should keep in touch with the adoptive parents so as to see how things develop and to provide assistance to them. The head of the Human Rights Embassy Veaceslav Turcan, who is a human rights expert, said that the adoption procedure in Moldova is difficult and bureaucratic and lasts for a long time. Owing to the shortcomings in the legislation and the lack of professionals, the families that want to adopt a child have to wait for months or years. A number of 51 adoptive families were questioned within the study, based on a standard questionnaire. 27 families are from Chisinau, four from other towns (Rascani, Straseni, Ungheni, and Orhei), while the other 20 families are from rural areas, including the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. 58.8% of these families have at least one biological child. The study was carried out between January and May by the Human Rights Embassy, in cooperation with a group of psychologists, with financial support from the Royal Embassy of Norway in Romania.