7 Adoptions That Went Terribly Wrong

General1

4 – Romanian Laws Make Adoption Virtually Impossible,

4a

  • Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was hell bent on creating an army of subservient workers so he made contraception illegal and demanded that all women bear at least five children.
  • Of course, most Romanian families were unable to look after so many children, so abandoned them at orphanages. When Ceausescu was executed, the world learned of the horrible conditions these children lived in.
  • Many international families tried to adopt these kids, but the European Union became concerned the process was too easy and that orphans might end up with the wrong sorts of people.
  • They encouraged Romania to tighten its adoption laws to protect vulnerable orphans, but the resulting law was a logistical nightmare and many children were left abandoned, stuck in legal loopholes with no one to give their consent. Thousands of adoptions were stalled, and as of 2012 Romania has nearly as many orphans as it did in 1989.

3 – Post-Adoption Depression,

3c

  • Brad and Angelina make it look easy, adopting rug-rats from every corner of the globe and developing instantaneous family bonds. Unfortunately this is rarely how international adoptions go.
  • Take Julia, a little girl adopted from a Siberian orphanage in 2003. Julia’s mother admits her daughter never showed her new family any affection and sometimes refused to respond when spoken to. “It was like she was there, but wasn’t,” her mother said.
  • This sent the mother into a spiralling depression and caused her to doubt whether she was cut out for her new role. The family was forced to hire a nanny and no one could figure out the girl’s aloof personality.

2 – Rosie Wood,

2a

  • In 2009, Sue Wood told the Daily Mail of the ordeal she faced when she and her husband adopted the cherub-faced angel, Rosie.
  • In their first meeting, Rosie’s blue eyes met Sue’s and, out of the blue, she whispered, ‘Do you like hurting people?’ This chilling remark set the tone for what would follow and even Sue’s experience as a police detective could not prepare her for the difficulties that lay ahead.
  • Rosie’s violent, profanity-laden tantrums lasted hours and pushed the couple to the brink of exhaustion. On one occasion, Rosie deliberately ran across the road into oncoming traffic just to get Sue’s attention. In supermarkets, she would rip things off shelves and in cinemas she would stand on her chair and scream to cause a disruption.
  • Rosie had no concept of bedtime, using cutlery, or speaking softly. She was frightened of everything; even Disney movies made her cower under her chair. It was as if she was raised by wolves.
  • Social services never mentioned any particular behavioural problems. Fortunately Rosie is showing signs of progress, but the journey to get there has been hell.

1 – Extreme Dysfunction,

1d

  • In 2014, Iris made a heartbreaking forum confession: she had grown to hate her adopted son. She and her partner had adopted the boy in 2009 and their lives have been completely dysfunctional ever since.
  • Iris provided a laundry list of issues with the boy, including stealing, lying and bullying. Despite being raised to respect others, he exposed himself to a teacher’s assistant at twelve years old, threatened to bash the neighbour’s daughter’s head in with a rock, plucked all of the family bird’s feathers out and set a salamander on fire in front of younger children. The boy also has a serious porn addiction, and ordered $100 worth of porn on the family’s cable connection every morning during his school vacation. Unsurprisingly, he has been suspended from school multiple times.
  • Desperate and at breaking point, the couple terminated their parental rights and returned the boy to foster care following years of failed therapy. They are now going through counselling to help themselves heal through the difficult situation.

Sources

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